Facials Montreal

One of the biggest question people ask me, where did facials or skincare come from. Like did this exist in the past. The answer to that question is, yes. One form of facial would be just a sauna. Steaming is extremely good for your skin and people loved saunas. 

But really, what is the history of skincare and facials? 

First and foremost, facials was the very wealthy and upper class people. The origin of facial treatments and the use of natural ingredients to help rejuvenate the skin can be dated back to 1500s – 1600s. At that time, women would do everything to maintain a pale skin, which was a symbol of power and wealth. For instance, it is believed that Queen Elizabeth I, along with other members of the upper class, used Ceruse, a substance made of vinegar and white lead to help bleach the skin. However, this substance is, in fact, toxic and dangerous. Doing more harm than good, Ceruse has undoubtedly created many cases of illness, even people at that time were not aware of what was causing their illness.

Over the decades different facials came to pass. One of them being Mrs. Rowley’s toilet mask. One of the ads for the overnight mask read “recommended to ladies for Beautifying, Bleaching and Preserving the Complexion”. The product didn’t stay in favor for long after people found it suffocated the face and encouraged perspiration.

By the 1900, the moisturizing cream which was invented by Helena Rubinstein. She also invented the first lifting cream and hormone mask. The story is that Rubinstein moved to Australia from Poland at 22 years old, and her mother packed a dozen pots of face cream for her to take, worried she would run out. Her glowing complexion won the attention of some other women who started asking her for beauty advice. This inspired her to use trial and error to formulate her own facial moisturizing product and opened her first salon in 1902.