THE CLINIC:
St. Skin 304 Flinders Ln, Melbourne VIC 3000
THE SERVICE:
St. Skin Signature Journey – Superior to your average facial, St.Skin’s effective treatments immediately benefit the face, neck and décolletage.
THE THERAPIST
Carly – Receptionist and Therapist
THE EXPERIENCE
I walked into St Skin Monday morning at 1130am after getting off the train at Flinders Street station to find myself at St Skin after a 3 minute walk through Melbourne city down Elizabeth Street.
The busy bustle of a Monday morning did not continue as I walked into the clinic which is quietly tucked away beyond a glass door that leads into the warm homely feeling of the space.
Carly, was sitting behind the desk and immediately welcomed me into the clinic as I entered. Searching for a treatment, Carly explained their philosophy at St Skin was to perform a customised treatment after a comprehensive consultation and I was accommodated the next available appointment, just half hour from the time I walked in.
I was offered a cup of warm herbal tea and completed a client card which was three pages long, detailing my medical history, exercise routine, current eating habits and more. The fruit, nuts and seeds mix next to a pair of tongs and small ceramic bowls was a lovely addition to the lounge area and waiting experience for the client.
Collecting me from the waiting area and taking me through to the treatment room was Carly herself, dual receptionist and therapist, who allowed me to walk into the treatment room before me, directing me to the client chair before conversing through the consultation.
THE PRESENTATION
I notice Carly is wearing the St Skin uniform beautifully and has make up on, a clear skin complexion and her hair up. Carly is however wearing slide/sandals which is an OH&S hazard due to the use of needles during extractions. Other than the shoes and some messy hair pieces, Carly is presenting well as a therapist and has a warm and friendly approach in meeting and directing me to the treatment room.
THE CONSULTATION
Given the consultation form is quite detailed, there wasn’t too much more to elaborate on in terms of questioning me as a client, however Carly did pick up some key aspects I had noted around travelling for business, running events, having hormonally responsive skin and my stress levels.
Information was provided here about the sequence of the treatment and some key ingredients and textures Carly would be using during the treatment to treat my desired skin concerns.
Carly explains how to undress and prepare for the treatment without confusing me, asks if I have any questions prior to starting the treatment, and leaves the room whilst I organise myself onto the treatment bed.
THE DETAILS
It didn’t take Carly long before she returned to the room – a key aspect to a great treatment, attentiveness and honour of the clients time during the service.
Carly ensures I am comfortable and warm and has a lovely bedside manner of which she is gracefully walking around the bed, applies the head band and removes my hair tie from my hair. While this seems like a simple thing to get right, it is often carried out so incorrectly, with clunky therapists banging around the room and pulling hair, asking the client to lift their head as they put on the headband. Small touches like these make or break the treatment. Carly has made my treatment.
THE SEQUENCE
Cleanse
The first cleanse was performed to remove make up. I was unsure which products were being used on my skin, so I asked, to which Carly started explaining the brand was Osmosis, which too reflects their brand values of repairing and healing the skin with results based and effective treatments.
The fact that Carly knows the St Skin company values, tick. The fact that she explained why they use Osmosis and how they represent those same values, tick, and she explained them to me as a client, tick! You must have clear brand values, you must teach them to your team and your team must live and breathe them in every treatment, with every client.
This shows the Business Owners (Maryan Al Talebi and Leelah Linke) know how to train a team and instil their values flow throughout the business – well done ladies!
Skin analysis and diagnosis
Carly then turns on the magnifying light, which is hanging from the ceiling (hello space in the treatment room – genius!) and has a closer look at my skin. Touching, feeling, looking and asking further questions, the skin analysis is fantastic. My concerns are confirmed as I am told about my combination skin with dryness and slight oil flow, with superficial pigment and blackheads. The light is then turned off and we are directed into our second cleanse.
What would have made my nerdy heart sing here, would perhaps be a hand held mirror or some sort of further education with a diagram to solidify the findings to the client. This would confirm the difference between a skin specialist and a skin generalist.
Second cleanse Carly performs the second cleanse and guides me through the rest of the treatment, advising that she will next apply an enzyme exfoliant, which will start to release the compactions on my skin and allow for an easier extraction process.
Exfoliation
The Osmosis enzyme exfoliant (which smells delicious) is massaged into my skin and left for approximately 10 minutes to digest the superficial layer of skin.
Massage
During the exfoliation, Carly performs a neck and shoulder massage which is heavenly. I can tell due to her energy she is not looking around the room, she is present the entire time, something a lot of therapists miss. The massage actually works on the tension in my shoulders and stiffness in my neck, which Carly comments on. This is not a massage for the pure sake of it, Carly is working on the knots and manipulating my neck, turning it to the left and right to access all areas.
Extractions
Removing the enzyme exfoliant with a hot towel, Carly then starts extracting compactions with a needle, alcohol swab and an extraction tool. While extractions are never a pleasant experience, Carly clearly understands the skin as she is careful to only extract what needs to be removed, perform the extractions at a safe level of the skin and leaves the rest of the skin untouched.
LED light therapy
Due to the nature of extractions and my inflammatory response, Carly advises she will be utilising the LED on my skin, which will help the recovery process of the extractions and assist with general skin health. The LED is directed towards my face, as are the goggles over my eyes and then something brilliant happened – Carly took my hands and made me feel where the handles of the machine were, so that if I felt uncomfortable, I could manoeuvre the machine myself!
As someone who experiences claustrophobia, this immediately made me relax and enjoy the LED experience – I normally and counting down the minutes until the machine turns off. Carly left the room here while she instructed I ‘pretend I am laying on a beach relaxing’ – perfect wording.
I am wondering however, should we be leaving the room during LED treatments? Is there something extra we can be doing for the client here – a hot towel to the feet and foot massage, an over the blanket foot stretch sequence, a scalp massage, a hand and arm massage or even retailing products? An opportunity to bring in body treatments, body products, further educate the client or even surprise and delight with additional services. A thought worth mentioning.
Finishing products
Returning to the room, Carly applies two serums, a Vitamin B and a Vitamin C, explaining the benefits of both, an occlusive balm to protect my skin as I walk out into the polluted Melbourne city, as well as an SPF.
Scalp massage
Typically, once the SPF is applied, the treatment is over, however Carly then started a scalp massage, temple frictions and hair combining for the removal of the headband and tied up my hair. This was a nice surprise to finish the treatment.
THE CLOSE
Instructing me towards the end of the treatment, I was left to organise myself to get dressed, leave the door open and take a seat in the chair. (A brilliant way to have the client still focused on what the therapist is about to say, along with client confidentiality of prescription)
Carly returned to the room in a timely manner once the door was opened, and bought in with her a box of samples, a St Skin branded head band and a bag of the herbal tea I enjoyed during my consultation. Carly explained the samples and was giving me to go home with and had a completed prescription form which was in the box for me to read later once I returned home.
A subtle close without pushing, without prices and products, with a hint at future peel services, which was lovely. If Carly had bought in with her a mirror for me to look at the changes she created, full size products, had the prescription open for me to read and directed me to read it as she explained the menu and samples, I would have rebooked a service and purchased the products she was talking about. A small missed opportunity.
Overall, I would return to St Skin, request Carly and recommend family and friends to do the same.
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