A calm, hydrating facial for reactive skin
The oxygen facial is the gentlest facial on our menu, designed for sensitive skin: rosacea-prone cheeks, skin that reacts to new products, and skin that’s dry or windburned in winter. It’s about 45 minutes of pressurized oxygen delivering a hydrating serum to the surface, with no acids, no suction, no needles, and no downtime.
Consult
priced at your visit
At a glance
Oxygen facial- Appointment
- About 45 minutes, no numbing
- Downtime
- None, pink for a few minutes at most
- First results
- Immediately
- Full results
- Immediately, lasting a few days
- Sessions
- One, monthly if you like it, or the day before an event
- Cost
- Priced at your consult. Financing available
What to expect
What the appointment is like
Come as you are, with makeup or without. Your esthetician will cleanse your skin, look at it under light, and ask what it’s been doing lately. Then comes a gentle exfoliation and the oxygen pass, one section of your face at a time. It feels cool and tingly, a bit like standing in front of a humidifier. No numbing, no heat. Most people find it relaxing.
Check-in
We’ll look at your skin under light and ask about any flare, new product, or serum allergy. If there’s open skin or an active infection, we’ll reschedule for when your skin has healed.
Cleanse and exfoliate
We remove makeup and oil, then a gentle exfoliation lifts dead surface cells. Nothing harsh on reactive skin.
Oxygen and serum
The wand delivers the hyaluronic acid serum in a stream of pressurized oxygen, one section at a time. It feels cool and tingly.
Finish
Moisturizer if you need it, then sunscreen, makeup is fine right away. For tonight, stick with the products you know.
Results
A predictable timeline
You’ll see the result in the mirror before you leave: hydrated, calmer, and brighter skin. It lasts a few days, then your skin goes back to whatever it was doing, because nothing under the surface changed. That’s why there’s no set schedule.
Day 0
Hydrated and calm
Hydrated, calm, and bright. Pink for a few minutes at most, and makeup is fine.
Days 1 to 2
Glow at its best
The glow and plumpness are at their best, which is why people book it the day before an event.
Days 3 to 7
Fades to baseline
The hydration fades toward your baseline, since nothing under the surface has changed.
About a month
Rebook if you like
Rebook if you’re keeping your skin comfortable through the dry months. Skipping a visit has no lasting effect.
What it costs
Clear pricing, planned by the visit
Three things shape your cost: whether you book it on its own or as a soothing add-on after another treatment, which serum goes in, and one visit versus a package. One visit is the whole treatment. Nothing builds from session to session, so a package is only worth it if you already know you’ll come monthly through the winter.
- On its own or as a soothing add-on
- Which serum goes in
- One visit versus a package
- How often you plan to come
Oxygen and serum
Oxygen facial
Consult
priced at your visit
- One visit
- The whole treatment
- Glow lasts
- A few days
- Consultation
- $50
- Financing
- Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna
Nothing builds session to session, so book one visit at a time unless you know you’ll come monthly through winter.
Book your Oxygen facial appointmentSimilar purpose, different options
Oxygen facial or something else?
We have four facials on our menu, and each one has its own job.
A HydraFacial exfoliates wet with glycolic and salicylic solutions, clears pores under light suction, and infuses serum. It’s the facial we recommend for congestion, blackheads, and oily skin, and it has more published data behind it. If your skin reacts to acids, the oxygen facial is the better choice.
A chemical peel is resurfacing. Acid loosens the damaged top layers, they flake off over 3 to 7 days, and the tone underneath is more even. If your concern is brown spots or acne marks, the peel is the right treatment and the oxygen facial is, at most, the soothing visit after it.
Dermaplaning is a blade exfoliation for peach fuzz and flaky texture. It pairs well with the oxygen facial in the same visit, blade first.
| Oxygen facial | HydraFacial | Dermaplaning | Chemical peel | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Sensitive, red, dry, or windburned skin | Congestion, blackheads, dullness | Peach fuzz, flaky texture | Sun spots, uneven tone, acne marks |
| What it uses | Pressurized oxygen and serum | Acid solutions and suction | A sterile blade | Acid, into the upper layers |
| Reaches below the surface | No | Slightly, over a series | No | Yes |
| Downtime | None | None | None | 3 to 7 flaking days |
| Reactive or rosacea-prone skin | The first pick | With the acids turned down | Usually not | Ask us first |
| Season | Any month | Any month | Any month | October to March |
Best for
- Oxygen facial
- Sensitive, red, dry, or windburned skin
- HydraFacial
- Congestion, blackheads, dullness
- Dermaplaning
- Peach fuzz, flaky texture
- Chemical peel
- Sun spots, uneven tone, acne marks
What it uses
- Oxygen facial
- Pressurized oxygen and serum
- HydraFacial
- Acid solutions and suction
- Dermaplaning
- A sterile blade
- Chemical peel
- Acid, into the upper layers
Reaches below the surface
- Oxygen facial
- No
- HydraFacial
- Slightly, over a series
- Dermaplaning
- No
- Chemical peel
- Yes
Downtime
- Oxygen facial
- None
- HydraFacial
- None
- Dermaplaning
- None
- Chemical peel
- 3 to 7 flaking days
Reactive or rosacea-prone skin
- Oxygen facial
- The first pick
- HydraFacial
- With the acids turned down
- Dermaplaning
- Usually not
- Chemical peel
- Ask us first
Season
- Oxygen facial
- Any month
- HydraFacial
- Any month
- Dermaplaning
- Any month
- Chemical peel
- October to March
Is it right for me?
Who it’s for, and who it isn’t
It suits almost everyone: reactive skin, rosacea-prone skin, teenagers on drying acne plans, skin healing from a peel or microneedling once it has closed, and anyone who wants to look rested before an event with no downtime. Because it stays on the surface with no acids, heat, or needles, it’s often the gentlest choice during pregnancy.
A good fit for
- Sensitive, reactive skin that stings from products
- Rosacea-prone redness (unlikely to trigger a flare)
- Dull, dehydrated winter skin
- Pre-event brightness with no downtime
Not recommended
- Lines, laxity, scars, or brown spots (it reaches none of those)
- Open skin or an active infection, including a cold sore
- An allergy to anything in the serum
- Anyone wanting a change that builds visit to visit
The evidence for topical oxygen is limited, claims that it “oxygenates” or “detoxifies” skin aren’t backed by evidence. We offer it as a hydrating, calming facial with a glow that lasts a few days.
In detail
What it treats
It’s most often booked for these concerns.
Sensitive and reactive skin. If your skin stings from products like vitamin C, or other facials have been too harsh, this is a good option. There’s nothing to react to except the serum, and we’ll check its ingredients with you first.
Rosacea-prone redness. It isn’t a rosacea treatment, and no facial is. It’s a facial that’s unlikely to trigger a flare: no acid, no suction, no heat, and no blade.
Dull, dehydrated winter skin. This skin feels tight after washing, looks dull, and flakes around the nose. Indoor humidity in winter can drop to 10 to 15 percent, and dry skin shows it first.
Dry skin on acne products. Retinoids and benzoyl peroxide strip the surface, and most facials add acid on top. This one adds water instead. It doesn’t treat the acne, but it helps hydrate and calm the flaky skin around it.
Pre-event brightness. It’s a good choice for the day before a wedding or other event, when you want to look rested and can’t risk redness or peeling.
How it works
The treatment has two steps. A light exfoliation lifts dead surface cells, and pressurized oxygen drives a serum of hyaluronic acid, vitamins, and peptides onto the cleared surface. Your skin looks plumper because it’s hydrated.
Oxygen facial systems come in two formats: an airbrush-style wand that sprays serum in a stream of concentrated oxygen, and a capsule system that makes oxygen bubbles on the skin while it exfoliates and infuses. We can tell you which system we use.
You’ll read elsewhere that the oxygen “oxygenates” or “detoxifies” skin. Neither claim is backed by evidence. The systematic review in Aesthetic Plastic Surgery that covered topical oxygen called the evidence suboptimal and recommended “realistic expectations,” plus daily sunscreen and a skincare routine, per Pryor and colleagues. No change under the surface has been shown to build from one visit to the next.
We offer it as a hydrating, calming facial with a glow that lasts a few days. There’s no FDA clearance to cite for a spray-style oxygen facial, either. It’s a cosmetic service.
Afterwards
Downtime and aftercare
There’s no downtime. You may be pink for a few minutes, and very reactive skin can stay a little flushed for an hour before it settles. Makeup can usually go on right away if you’d like.
Tonight, keep it simple: the products you already use, nothing new, and sunscreen in the morning. There’s no healing to protect, the way there is after a peel, because nothing was opened.
Side effects are rare and minor, such as irritation or a contact allergy to a serum ingredient. No serious reaction has been published for this kind of facial.
Why here
Why Arlington Heights
If you’re looking for a facial in Arlington Heights, we’re the medical spa in Suite C of the single-story brown brick building at 3375 N Arlington Heights Rd, just south of Dundee. Our facials are chosen for what your skin needs, with a nurse on the team.
Winter plays a role too. From November to March, cold wind and time indoors with the heat running dry out the skin, and we see a lot of dryness, redness, and sensitivity in the colder months. This facial is designed for that skin, and it’s also one we can usually offer during pregnancy.
Appointments take about forty-five minutes, parking is free in the lot at the building with no meters and no garage, and our medical esthetician performs your facial. You’ll find directions on the page for our Arlington Heights office.
Questions
Common questions, answered
An oxygen facial is a no-downtime facial in which pressurized oxygen pushes a hydrating serum of hyaluronic acid, vitamins, and peptides onto the skin. It takes about 45 minutes, with no acids and no suction, and your skin stays hydrated and brighter for a few days.
At Skinovatio Arlington Heights it’s the facial we choose for sensitive, rosacea-prone, or windburned skin.
A spa facial is cleansing, a mask, and massage by hand, built for relaxation. A HydraFacial is a device facial that exfoliates with mild acids, clears pores under suction, and infuses serum, built for congestion.
If your skin is oily or clogged, the HydraFacial does more. If you’d prefer something gentle, the oxygen facial is our closest thing to a regular facial.
About once a month if you’d like a regular routine, though it isn’t required. The hydration from an oxygen facial lasts a few days, so monthly visits keep skin comfortable through the dry months. Before an event, try booking one or two days ahead.
Our HydraFacial calendar maps the year for the other facials.
Not much, so we don’t offer them as an acne treatment. What an oxygen facial can do is calm skin that’s dry and flaky from acne products, because it adds hydration with no acids and no suction.
For blackheads, a HydraFacial’s extraction step does more. For persistent acne, a dermatologist is the right person to see.
Usually a few days. The hydration and glow are immediate and fade as your skin returns to baseline, and no study has shown a change that builds from one visit to the next. A visit the day before an event lines up the best of the glow with the event.
Yes. For rosacea-prone skin it’s the facial we pick, because there’s no acid, no suction, no heat, and no blade to set it off. If you’re in a flare with broken skin, let us know, and we may wait.
It won’t treat rosacea itself. The flushing and small vessels are better suited to IPL on lighter skin, and a dermatologist is the right person for a diagnosis.
Usually, yes. It stays on the surface with no acids, heat, or needles, which is why it’s the facial we reach for first when someone’s expecting. Our nurse decides which facials and serums we use during pregnancy. Let us know when you book, and you’re welcome to share the ingredient list with your OB.
Match it to what your skin is doing. Red, reactive, windburned, or pregnant: the oxygen facial. Congested, oily, blackheads: a HydraFacial. Peach fuzz and flaky texture that makeup sits in: dermaplaning. Brown spots or uneven color: a chemical peel series in the cool months.
If you’re not sure, the oxygen facial is our gentlest first visit.
The effects are temporary. It’s the gentlest treatment on our menu, and the effect fades within a week or so.
Keep exploring
Related treatments
Related priorities
HydraFacial
From $299 / visitA 30-minute device facial that cleanses, exfoliates, extracts, and hydrates, with no downtime.
Learn more
Chemical peels
From $275 / peelLight and medium peels that lift sun spots, melasma, acne marks, and dull, rough texture.
Learn more
Dermaplaning
From $150 / visitA 30-minute blade exfoliation that removes dead skin and peach fuzz for a smoother surface, no downtime.
Learn more
Start with a consult
Tell us what you’d like to work on. We’ll assess your skin and goals, walk you through your Oxygen facial options, and give you a clear plan and price before anything begins.
Afterpay and Klarna available at checkout for eligible treatments.