Enjoy a lunch time skin pick-me-up with Microzone

Time starved and cash poor used to equal no treats for your skin, but not anymore. My skin was looking a bit dull after a bout of spots, too many late nights - basically in need of a bit of a pick-me-up, but with zip time and poor looking coffers I was in a bit of a quandry with a wedding fast approaching. Fear not though, the clever people at Dermologica have come up a great solution, the half hour Microzone treatment, all the good stuff of a regular facial but condensed into 30 lovely minutes. Why had I never heard of this before? Now, I like facial treatments as much as the next girl but sometimes you're just not in the right frame of mind to enjoy it or get the benefits, especially if a busy life equals a busy mind and you find yourself thinking of all things you have to do or day-to-day worries, while you should be relaxing and chilling out. Microzone seemed to me to be the perfect solution. So instead of scoffing a massive lunch, I had a sandwich and headed off to the newly opened Cara Eve salon in Sean Costello Street, just beside Sean Óg's pub, to give the Microzone facial the Treat of the Week once over. "This treatment is great for busy clients or between your regular skin treatments," according to salon owner Lisa Rohan from Coosan. "It can also be a quick fix if you have a breakout or dryness on your face all of a sudden, say you had a wedding coming up. It's very handy for that," she enthused. With over seven years experience in the industry locally, Lisa clearly knows her stuff. She told me the Microzone is very popular for all ages, with older people to tackle ageing effects, and teenagers getting the benefits if they suffer from acne. At the end, Lisa also prescribes products for home use afterwards and one of the main advantages is that it is much more affordable than a regular facial. Amid the really calming surrounds of Cara Eve, Lisa started the process with a pre-cleanse using a gentle formula that dissolves make-up, excess oil and debris off your skin and then a second round, a double cleanse if you like using the Essential Cleansing Solution to ensure your skin is really clean. I usually use a daily face wash but Lisa recommended I move to cream cleanser as I was making my already dry skin even dryer, all welcome advice for me as I'm very set in my habits in terms of skincare. She then applied one of Dermologica's best-sellers Daily Microfoliant, the mildest exfoliator out there made from rice bran and a recent inclusion in 100 Best Buys in Instyle magazine. "It is very gentle and has great skin brightening qualities. It can be used daily but for your skin, I would use it every second day and not on your cheeks as the skin there is thin and sensitive and it will only dry it further," Lisa advised. Fully relaxed at this stage, Lisa chose three different masks for my face, a multi-vitamin mask got to work on my face and neck with a collidal mask hydrating my eye area, which was looking a bit puffy to say the least, and finally a plankton mask for nose and t-zone area to absorb any excess oil. I really liked this aspect of the treatment because it wasn't a one size fits all view, the treatment and masks are customised to tackle the different areas of your skin and their particular problems. Feeling A1 after the masks had done their work, Lisa then used the Multiactive Spritz on me to freshen my face further with lovely citrusy fragrance. It can also be used over make-up during the day and is apparently extremely popular with airhostesses who use it to keep their faces fully hydrated during long flights. Interesting, I always wondered how they managed it as flying really plays havoc with any normal joe soap's skin. The final part of the treatment was a lovely massage using the Dermologica Skin Smoothing Cream moisturiser and eye cream, ensuring you get definitely the nice part of the experience without the time overkill of some facials, which can last almost two hours. Back to work with a spring in my step and a new glow, one that even two weeks later was noticeable in my skin, all in all, a half hour well spent!