1. Chapter 16
Facial Machines

2. Learning Objectives
• Explain electrotherapy
• Identify the machines used in skin care treatments
• Understand the mechanization used for each machine
• Explain the benefits of each machine
• Understand how to safely use each machine
• Know the contraindications for machines

3. Facial Machines
• Definition: electrotherapy is the use of electrical devices
for therapeutic benefits
– Achieve better product penetration
– Sanitize skin
– Especially effective for more challenging skin conditions

4. Facial Machines (continued)
• New machines emerge each year
– Must keep abreast of technological advances
– Be cautious of expensive, trendy machines

5. Contraindications
• Some machines should never be used on
– Heart patients
– Clients with pacemakers
– Clients with metal implants
– Pregnant clients
– Clients with epilepsy or seizure disorders
– Open or broken skin

6. Magnifying Lamp (Loupe)
• Magnifies the face
• Helps esthetician treat and analyze the skin
• Uses cool fluorescent light bulb
• Various powers of magnification, measured in diopters

7. Magnifying Lamp (Loupe)
(continued)
– 3 diopters = 30 times magnification
– 5 diopters = 50 times magnification (most common)
– 10 diopters = 100 times magnification

8. Magnifying Lamp Procedure
• Position lamp when setting up room
• Turn on lamp
• Apply eye pads
• Gently swing over face
• If adjustment needed, move away from face
• Reposition lamp
• Move lamp back and forth to examine sides of face

9. Magnifying Lamp Maintenance
• Clean lens
– Spray with disinfectant
– Wipe with soft cloth
• Sanitize entire lamp and base with high-level
disinfectant
• Quality lamp can last 10 years
– Well constructed
– Well maintained

10. Wood’s Lamp
• Developed by Robert Williams Woods
• Filtered black light
– Illuminates
• Fungi
• Bacterial disorders
• Pigmentation problems
• Other skin problems
• Different conditions show up in various shades of color

11. Wood’s Lamp (continued)
• Thick corneum layer: white fluorescence
• Horny layer of dead skin cells: white spots
• Normal, healthy skin: blue-white
• Dehydrated skin: light violet
• Oily areas/comedones: yellow or sometimes pink
• Pigmentation problems: brown

12. Wood’s Lamp (continued)
• Room must be totally dark
• Put on small eye pads
• Turn on light; hold over face
– Bulbs can get hot
– Do not allow lamp to touch skin
– Do not have lamp on too long
• Follow the manufacturer’s directions for cleaning

13. Hot Towel Cabinet
• Also called hot cabbie
– Commonly used in the treatment room
– Hot towels: used for face and body
– Provide soothing and softening benefits
– Utilized to remove facial masks
– Cotton pads can also be warmed in cabbie

14. Hot Towel Cabinet Maintenance
• Keep clean
– Must be free from mold or mildew
– Clean inside with topical disinfectant after each client
– Leave door open at night
– Empty and clean water catch tray daily

15. Rotary Brush
• Lightly exfoliates; assists in cleaning
• Stimulates skin
• Helps soften excess oil, dirt, and cell buildup
• Contraindications
– Acne
– Couperose skin
– Inflamed skin

16. Rotary Brush (continued)
• Smaller brushes for face
• Larger sizes for body area, such as back
• Typically have 2 to 3 brushes with different textures
from soft to firm
• Rotate at different speeds and directions
• Moisten brush before use

17. Rotary Brush (continued)
• Sensitive skin requires slow, steady rotation; soft bristles
• Thicker, oily skin tolerates faster speeds and firmer
brushes

18. Brush Maintenance
• Comes with detachable brushes for cleaning
– Must be removed after each use
– Wash with soap and water
– Immerse in hospital-strength disinfectant
• Time according to manufacturer
– Cleanse, rinse, and store so they do not lose their shape
– Dry and store in clean, closed container

19. Steamer
• Considered by many to be most important machine
used in esthetics
• Benefits:
– Stimulates circulation
– Softens sebum and other debris
– Warmth relaxes skin, for easier extractions
– Sinuses and congestion
– Steamers with ozone have antiseptic qualities

20. Steamer (continued)
• Acne and problematic skin
• Do not use too much steam on skin that is couperose or
inflamed

21. Steamer (continued)
• Come in various sizes and models
• Use only distilled or filtered water
– Minerals in tap water damage machinery
• Direct vapor via nozzle
• Aromatherapy ring inside nozzle head
– Special feature for essential oils

22. Steamer Maintenance
• Wipe down outside of steamer with high-level
disinfectant after each use
• At night, empty jar and let dry
– Make sure rubber seal along rim is clean
• Refill steamer with fresh distilled water each morning
• Water should be free of chemicals and minerals

23. Steamer Maintenance (continued)
• Do not leave water in steamer overnight or on weekends
• Neglected steamers tend to spit hot water because of
mineral buildup
• Some models have solid tanks
– Cannot see element
– Must be cleaned 2 to 3 times per month
• Vinegar and water

24. Steamer Maintenance (continued)
• Always read and follow manufacturer’s directions
• Never put essential oils or herbs directly in water
• Some models: wick-type apparatus at mouth of nozzle
to place essential oils
• Some models: container for herbs

25. Vacuum Machine
• Purposes
– Suctions dirt and impurities from skin
– Stimulates dermal layer/blood circulation
– Believed to help reduce appearance of creases
– Believed to improve overall appearance of skin

26. Vacuum Machine (continued)
• Should not be used on couperose skin, skin with broken
capillaries, or open lesions
• Glass and metal suction cups: different sizes and
shapes, depending on their use

27. Vacuum Machine (continued)
• Never suction liquids or oils into suction device
• Avoid using strong suction: causes bruising

28. Suction Machine Maintenance
• Glass devices
– Clean with soap and water
– Soak in hospital-strength disinfectant
• Follow manufacturer’s directions to clean the
handpieces and hoses
• Filter may have to be changed often, depending on use

29. Galvanic Current
• Used to create two reactions in esthetics
– Desincrustation
– Iontophoresis
• Converts alternating current from electrical outlet into
direct current
– Creates relaxation response that can be regulated to
target specific nerve endings in epidermis

30. Galvanic Current (continued)
• Can leave metallic taste in mouth
• Contraindications
– Couperose skin
– Pustular acne or inflamed areas
– Pregnancy
– Pacemakers
– Heart problems

31. Galvanic Current (continued)
• Contraindications (continued)
– High blood pressure
– Braces
– Epileptic

32. Desincrustation
• Anaphoresis
– Facilitates deep pore cleansing
• Creates a chemical reaction that emulsifies or liquefies
sebum and debris
• Beneficial for acne: helps soften sebum and follicles for
deep pore cleansing

33. Desincrustation (continued)
• To perform
– Place alkaline-based electronegative solution onto surface
of skin
• Solution formulated to stay on skin surface
– Client holds positive electrode: positive polarity
– Esthetician uses other electrode on face; set on negative
polarity

34. Desincrustation (continued)
• To perform (continued)
– Various types of electrodes available
• Most common: flat electrode and roller
• Creates chemical reaction that transforms sebum into soap
– Process called saponification
– Helps dissolve excess oil, clogged pores, comedones, and
other debris
– Softens at the same time

35. Iontophoresis
• Process of introducing water-soluble products
containing ions into skin via an electric current
• Allows esthetician to transfer or penetrate ions of an
applied solution into deeper layers of skin via a galvanic
current

36. Iontophoresis (continued)
• Ions: atoms or molecules that carry an electrical charge
• Current flows through conductive solutions from the
positive and negative polarities
– Called ionization
– Ionization: separating of a substance into ions
– Based on universal laws of attraction

37. Iontophoresis (continued)
• Ionic penetration takes two forms
– Cataphoresis
• Infusion of a positive product
– Anaphoresis
• Infusion of a negative product

38. Polarity of Solutions
• Products that are slightly acidic: positive
• Products with an alkaline (or base): negative
• Used for desincrustation
• For negative products, esthetician infuses solution with
an electrode set at negative
– Esthetician holds negative electrode; the client holds
positive electrode

39. Polarity of Solutions (continued)
• Products with negative and positive ingredients
– Product should be ionized for 3 to 5 minutes on negative
and then for 3 to 5 minutes on positive
• Products that are neither positive nor negative
– First use negative, and then use positive
– Allows you to stimulate and soften skin first and then
facilitate product penetration

40. Polarity of Solutions (continued)
• Molecular weight is a factor in permeability
– Smaller molecules have greater penetration abilities
– Larger molecules cannot penetrate into skin

41. Galvanic Maintenance
• Read and follow manufacturer’s directions for cleaning
and disinfecting
• Detach electrode cord from electrode
– Remove soiled sponge or cotton cover and discard
– Do not soak electrode unless directed to do so

42. Galvanic Maintenance (continued)
– Never place metal electrode in an autoclave
– Soak black ring in germicidal solution for 10 minutes
• Detach metal tip and soak for 20 minutes in a
disinfectant solution
– Spray tip with hospital-strength germicide, and wipe with
cotton gauze that has also been sprayed with germicide

43. Ionto Mask
• Works with galvanic current
• Used to facilitate
– Desincrustation: deep pore cleansing
– Ionization: product penetration
– Different solutions used to target specific skin conditions

44. Ionto Mask
• Basic steps
– Cover face with moistened gauze
• Helps direct current to underlying tissue
– Apply mask and time according to treatment parameters
– Place wet pad under client’s shoulder
– Plug mask into source of galvanic current

45. High-Frequency Machine
• Apparatus that utilizes alternative or sinusoidal current
• Oscillating circuit passes through a device that allows
for selection of a Tesla pulse current
– Current can produce 60,000 to 200,000 hertz frequency
– High-frequency current is capable of changing polarity
1,000 times per second

46. High-Frequency Machine (continued)
– Capable of changing polarity 1,000 times per second
– Has no polarity; does not produce chemical changes
– Product penetration: physically impossible

47. High-Frequency Machine (continued)
• Rapid oscillation created by high frequency vibrates
water molecules in skin
– Esthetic high-frequency devices cause mild heat effect
• Contraindications
– Couperose
– Inflamed

48. High-Frequency Machine (continued)
• Contraindications (continued)
– Pregnant
– Epileptic
– Pacemaker
– High blood pressure
• May be applied after extractions or used over product

49. High-Frequency Machine (continued)
• Benefits
– Antiseptic
– Stimulates circulation
– Helps oxygenate skin
– Increases cell metabolism
– Helps coagulate and heal open lesions
– Generates warm feeling
– Has relaxing effect

50. Electrodes
• During manufacturing process
– Most air removed; creates vacuum
– Air replaced mainly with neon gas
– Some also contain argon gas
– Electricity passes through these gases; emit visible
shades of light
– Neon gas: pink, orange, or red light
– Argon or rarified gas: blue or violet light

51. Electrodes (continued)
• Several types of direct/indirect electrodes
– Each electrode has unique benefits/features
• Produce physiological reactions in esthetic treatments

52. Maintenance
• Wipe glass electrode with a solution of soap and water
• Place glass end into a sterilization solution for 20
minutes
• Rinse with cool water
– Do not get metal end wet
• Dry with clean towel; store in covered container

53. Spray Machine
• Calming and hydrating
• Part of vacuum machine
– Attached via hose that is connected to small plastic bottle
with a spray nozzle
• Bottle can be filled with freshener solution or toner
– 1 part toner; 2 parts distilled water
– Gently mist face after cleansing or other treatment step

54. Lucas Sprayer
• Invented by Dr. Lucas Championniere
• Most unique of all atomizers and sprays
– Fine mist
• Plant extracts, herb teas, fresheners, astringent
– Excellent for treating dehydrated, mature, or couperose
skins
– Can be used warm to increase blood flow
– Can be used cool for couperose skin

55. Paraffin Wax Heater
• Used to create warm paraffin mask
– Hydrates dry skin
• Provides quick results
• Creates occlusive mask
– Holds body heat
– Promotes product penetration
– Relaxing
– Gives clients a glowing complexion

56. Paraffin Wax Heater
• Paraffin wax heaters stay warm at a safe, low level of
heat
• Must be replenished as used wax is discarded
• Heats up slowly
• Use professional wax bath machine that emits low heat

57. Electric Mitts and Boots
• Apply heat to hands and feet
• Often promoted as add-on service
– Increase circulation
– Promote overall relaxation
– Heat helps lotion penetrate
– Soothes aching feet and hands
– Paraffin wax used over lotion to warm and moisturize skin

58. Electric Mitts and Boots (continued)
• Steps
– Put lotion on hands and/or feet
– Cover with plastic disposable liners before inserting into
warmers
– Warm for approximately 10 minutes
• Make sure warmers do not get too hot
– If feet or hands sweat, lotion cannot penetrate
– To clean, wipe with high-level disinfectant

59. Electric Heat Mask
• One of several methods used for deep penetration
• Produces heat at comfortable temperature
• Used to help soften skin for deep pore penetration
– Can be used on dry, oily, or combination skin
• Products used target skin types/conditions

60. Electric Heat Mask (continued)
• Contraindications
– Couperose
– Thin
– Sensitive
• Mask is left on for approximately 7 minutes
• To prevent mask burnout, turn off immediately after
treatment

61. Purchasing Equipment
• Do your research
• Regulations define which machines can and cannot be
used by estheticians
• Consider insurance costs
• Investigate manufacturers’ claims
• Warranties and training: important factors

62. Summary
• Advances in science and technology have generated
many high-performance tools to enhance the
esthetician’s work. These specialized tools and
equipment are designed to help the esthetician obtain
the best results possible in skin care treatments.

63. Review Questions
1. What skin conditions does a Wood’s lamp reveal?
2. What is the purpose of a brush machine?
3. What are the benefits of the vacuum device?
4. List and define the two reactions of the galvanic
current.

64. Review Questions (continued)
5. What are the contraindications for using a galvanic
machine?
6. Define anaphoresis.
7. How does the negative pole of the galvanic current
affect the skin?
8. Define cataphoresis.

65. Review Questions (continued)
9. How does the positive pole of the galvanic current
affect the skin?
10.What is high frequency used for?
11.What are the benefits of the spray machine?
12.What are the benefits of electric mitts and boots?

66. Congratulations!
• You have completed one unit of your esthetics study
course