The last time I had a facial was for a spa birthday get-together with two of my friends back in San Francisco in February. We met up for a birthday brunch and then went to enjoy jacuzzis, steam rooms, and saunas at an upscale spa in downtown, then I enjoyed a 75-minute facial. What I was not aware of while I was enjoying that entire spa experience then was that it would be the last time I’d have any kind of spa treatment for a while given that COVID-19 would ravage the world and invade the U.S. shortly after that.

So as soon as facial spas opened up at the beginning of September, I decided to book some time for Chris and me to get one. The spa we usually go to had shut down their second location that we normally went to, which actually worked out because the location that remains open is closer and walking distance to our apartment. The protocols were as expected; we couldn’t enter the facilities until just before our appointment time; we had our temperatures taken; we were asked to wash our hands right after our temperatures were taken. It was a good, cleansing, relaxing experience, as my face is always full of gross gunk (I have my genes to thank for that!), but I think what stood out the most for both of us was actually being indoors somewhere that is not our apartment where we did not have to keep our masks on; this actually felt very odd and novel. You can’t really get a facial with your mask on, right?

The esthetician who was working with me this afternoon said that I had more clogged pores around my nose and mouth, likely because of wearing a mask, which warranted more extractions. “This is what I’ve seen since we reopened earlier this month,” she lamented. “Every single person has more congestion on their face, more blemishes, from all the sweat and oil getting trapped in their masks!”

Hmmm — another negative side effect of the pandemic and mask wearing. Hey, maybe the anti-maskers will complain about more clogged pores on their face as yet ANOTHER stupid reason to not wear a mask!!