This “Face Vacuum” Helped Rehydrate My Skin

Have you ever returned from a beach vacation expecting to feel all glowy and dewy after spending a week of relaxation in the sun, only to have your fresh-faced dreams dashed by coming home with more breakouts than souvenirs packed in your suitcase?

Hi, it’s me—I felt that way after returning from an amazing trip to Barbados with my skin in absolute shambles. When I arrived home from paradise, I was dealing with dryness and breakouts galore, thanks to a combination of constant sunscreen application, wearing makeup more than I usually do, the drying Barbadian sun, lack of sleep, and of course, travel in general.

My skin was in desperate need of serious TLC—the situation was beyond something an extra couple of washes and moisturizer could fix. Lucky for me, the BeautyBio GLOFacial Tool was waiting for me upon my return.

When I first saw this pore cleansing tool, I knew I needed to get my hands on it ASAP. This “face vacuum” claims to unclog pores, exfoliate dead skin cells, and remove debris and excess dirt from the skin, while also deeply hydrating the face in just one treatment. It almost sounded too good to be true.

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I won’t lie—despite how excited I was to try it, I was also extremely intimidated by the device. So, before using it for the first time, I watched a ton of YouTube tutorial videos and reached out to board-certified dermatologist Hadley King, MD, FAAD, for some advice.

“Regular exfoliation is key to glowing skin,” Dr. King says. “Physical and chemical exfoliation help to brighten the complexion by sloughing off the old dead skin cells and revealing the fresh new cells underneath.”

She let me know that to start, I should use the tool one to two times a week, which I could start to increase if my skin wasn’t too dry or irritated. I began adding it to my skin-care routine every Wednesday and Sunday night, and I have been exceptionally pleased with the results.

The treatment itself takes about four and a half minutes, and once you get the hang of using the device, it flies by pretty quickly. To start, I add water and the collagen concentrate that came with the set into the concentrate chamber of the face vacuum (don’t worry, there’s lines on the chamber to let you know how much of each you need to put in). Then, I put the larger treatment tip on the device and get started.

The suctioning felt strange on my face the first couple of times I tried it, but not in a bad way. With the larger treatment tip, I run the device along my jawline, cheeks, and forehead, following a similar lifting pattern to how you’d use a gua sha (the kit comes with a map that shows you the lines you should be running it along). I go over these areas with the device twice, while making sure to hold the skin taut so that the device stays suctioned to the skin.

Then, I switch out to the smaller treatment tip for my chin, nose, and lips, which I go over a couple of times before the device beeps three times to let me know that the treatment is complete. After I pull it away, I admire my freshly cleansed face and apply moisturizer, per Dr. King’s advice. Then comes my favorite part: Looking at the waste chamber.

As a recovering pimple popper, seeing the gunk left in the waste chamber is especially satisfying. No two waste chambers look the same. If it’s cloudier, I know the device sucked out excess skin oil. Little floaties signify dirt and debris that was vacuumed out of my pores. If the chamber has an orange tint, I know it pulled out remnants of my foundation.

After using this device for a couple of weeks, I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who suffers from drier skin (especially during the colder months). My skin has never felt so soft because of the biweekly exfoliation and it looks a lot plumper.

The exfoliation from the first treatment alone helped slough off all the flaky skin courtesy of my beach vacay, which would usually take about a week of intense moisturizers and hydrating face masks to recover from. Plus, I swear that following the gua sha-like pattern has helped lift my face, making my cheekbones and jawline more defined (though that might just be the power of suggestion at play).

Added bonus? You can also use the device for daily blue light treatment, which has been shown to kill acne-causing bacteria and may help shorten the life cycle of blemishes. Every day, I hold the blue light on problem areas for four minutes each, and I’ve noticed a big difference in how fast my breakouts to go away.

Although it may be pricey, the BeautyBio GLOFacial Tool has become a staple of my skin-care routine for my post-vacation complexion and to keep my skin uber-hydrated all year long.