A calm, hydrating facial for reactive skin
An oxygen facial at Skinovatio Lincoln Park uses pressurized oxygen to deliver a serum of hyaluronic acid and vitamins onto the skin. It takes about forty-five minutes, with no acids, suction, or needles, and no downtime. It’s well suited to reactive skin and to skin that gets dry and wind-chapped in winter.
Consult
priced at your visit
At a glance
Oxygen facial- Appointment
- About 45 minutes, no numbing
- Downtime
- None. Pink for minutes, if at all
- First results
- Immediately. Plump and calm when you stand up
- Full results
- The glow holds a few days
- Sessions
- As wanted. Monthly for maintenance, 1 to 2 days before an event
- Cost
- Priced at your consult. Financing available.
What to expect
What the appointment is like
You’ll spend about forty-five minutes on the table. We’ll cleanse, do a light exfoliation, and then move the wand across your face in slow passes with a cool stream of oxygen and serum. It feels tingly at most. No numbing is needed. We finish with a mask or moisturizer and sunscreen.
Consult
About two minutes. We’ll ask about your skin type, anything that’s made you react before, any procedures in the last two weeks, and any allergy to serum ingredients.
Prep
We cleanse and do a light exfoliation, so the serum lands on skin instead of on dead cells.
Treatment
The wand delivers oxygen and serum across your face in slow passes. It feels cool and a little tingly, and takes about 25 minutes of the 45.
Before you leave
Moisturizer and sunscreen go on, and you can put on makeup right away. There are no restrictions tonight.
Your results
A predictable timeline
You’ll see results right away. Your skin is plump and calm when you stand up, and it stays that way for a few days. No cumulative structural effect has been shown, per the 2011 review, so a second one doesn’t build on the first the way a microneedling series does. Individual results vary, mostly by how dry your skin was to begin with.
Minute 45
Plump, calm, and no redness. Makeup on if you’d like.
Day 1 to 2
Peak glow, and the best window for an event.
Day 3 to 5
Hydration settles back toward baseline.
Week 1
Back to normal, with nothing changed under the surface.
Month 1
Time for your next one, if you’re keeping a monthly cadence through the winter.
What it costs
Clear pricing, planned by the visit
A few things shape your cost: stand-alone versus added onto another appointment, the serum chosen for your skin, and whether you book a package for a monthly cadence 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
At Skinovatio Lincoln Park
Oxygen facial
Consult
priced at your visit
- Consultation
- $50
- Financing
- Cherry, Affirm, Afterpay
The oxygen facial isn’t on the Lincoln Park online booking menu. Ask about it at your consult to book.
Book your Oxygen facial appointmentSimilar purpose, different options
Oxygen facial or something else?
HydraFacial is the more active facial: suction extraction, a mild peel step, and serums, in about 30 minutes, with more published data behind it. It’s the better choice for congestion, blackheads, and oily skin. Choose the oxygen facial if suction and acids have made you red before, or if your skin is recovering from something.
Dermaplaning uses a blade to remove dead surface cells and vellus fuzz, for smoother makeup with no downtime, every 3 to 4 weeks. It exfoliates in a way the oxygen facial doesn’t, and the two pair well in the same event week.
Chemical peels change pigment and texture and come with flaking, so they do a different job entirely. Some people book an oxygen facial two weeks after a peel to help settle the new skin.
| Oxygen facial | HydraFacial | Dermaplaning | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pick it for | Reactive, dry, or recovering skin | Congestion, oil, dullness | Peach fuzz, flat surface for makeup |
| What it does | Hydrates and calms | Extracts, peels lightly, hydrates | Exfoliates mechanically |
| Downtime | None | None, pink for an hour | None |
| Days before an event | 1 to 2 | 2 to 5 | 1 to 3 |
| Evidence | Thin | Moderate | Thin, but the mechanism is straightforward |
Pick it for
- Oxygen facial
- Reactive, dry, or recovering skin
- HydraFacial
- Congestion, oil, dullness
- Dermaplaning
- Peach fuzz, flat surface for makeup
What it does
- Oxygen facial
- Hydrates and calms
- HydraFacial
- Extracts, peels lightly, hydrates
- Dermaplaning
- Exfoliates mechanically
Downtime
- Oxygen facial
- None
- HydraFacial
- None, pink for an hour
- Dermaplaning
- None
Days before an event
- Oxygen facial
- 1 to 2
- HydraFacial
- 2 to 5
- Dermaplaning
- 1 to 3
Evidence
- Oxygen facial
- Thin
- HydraFacial
- Moderate
- Dermaplaning
- Thin, but the mechanism is straightforward
Is it right for me?
Who it’s for, and who it isn’t
It suits almost every skin type. Rosacea-prone skin, sensitive skin, skin that’s recovering from a stronger treatment, and dry winter skin are the best fits. If you’re pregnant, it’s fine as a surface-only treatment with no acids, once we’ve checked the serum ingredients.
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
This includes skin that flushes, stings with new products, or breaks out after a heavier facial. There’s no acid in this one and no extraction, so there’s nothing to react to beyond the serum itself. It’s the facial we usually recommend first for skin that has turned red after other facials.
Cold wind and forced-air heat at 10 to 15 percent indoor humidity both pull water from the skin’s surface. An oxygen facial puts hyaluronic acid back on that surface, and your skin looks plump and calm for a few days.
A week or two after microneedling or a peel, your skin is new and often feels tight. A calm, hydrating pass helps it feel normal sooner.
Book it one to two days before a wedding, photo shoot, or other event. It’s the same week you’d book dermaplaning, and the two pair well.
Razor-irritated skin along the jaw and neck usually takes this well. There’s no product routine to follow afterward.
How it works
The treatment has two parts: the serum and the oxygen. The serum, usually hyaluronic acid with vitamins or peptides, hydrates the surface. A light exfoliation beforehand clears the dead cells so the serum sits on skin instead of on debris. The plumpness you see in the mirror is hydration, per a 2011 systematic review of topical oxygen treatments.
The oxygen serves as the delivery system. The same review found the evidence for topical oxygen “scarce, anecdotal, and not well documented,” and no study since has shown that oxygen sprayed at skin builds collagen, “oxygenates,” or “detoxifies” anything. The review recommended realistic expectations plus sunscreen and a skin-care routine, which we recommend as well.
Two systems are common: a wand that sprays serum with concentrated oxygen, and a capsule system that makes oxygen bubbles on the skin while it exfoliates. You’re welcome to ask which system we use. Neither is FDA-approved to treat any condition. It’s a cosmetic service.
Afterwards
Downtime and aftercare
There isn’t any. Your skin may be faintly pink for a few minutes. You can put makeup on right after, and daily sunscreen still applies.
You can work out, shower, and return to normal activities the same day. The only aftercare step is to wait until the next day to use acids or retinoids, so the calming effect lasts.
Why here
Why Lincoln Park
At our Lincoln Park location, this facial is most often booked for sensitive skin that has reacted to other facials, and for skin that gets dry and wind-chapped in winter. It takes 45 minutes, and many people book it monthly through the winter.
You’ll find us on Lincoln Avenue just north of Wrightwood, a block up from the Apollo Theater. Take the Brown Line to Diversey and walk south, or the Red, Brown, or Purple Line to Fullerton and walk north. The 11 Lincoln bus runs right past our door. There are meters on Lincoln, and free side-street spots west of Clark (check the street cleaning signs). Your facial is done by our medical esthetician. You’ll find hours and the map on the page for our Lincoln Park med spa.
Questions
Common questions, answered
It hydrates and calms the surface of the skin. A wand delivers a serum of hyaluronic acid and vitamins with a stream of pressurized oxygen after a light exfoliation, and the skin looks plumper and calmer right away. The hydration is what you see. Oxygen itself has not been shown to build collagen or change skin under the surface, per a 2011 systematic review.
A few days. The plump, calm look peaks in the first day or two and settles back toward baseline over the week. No cumulative effect has been shown, so each facial stands on its own. People who want the look through the winter often book one a month.
We’d suggest a HydraFacial if you have congestion, blackheads, or oily skin. It extracts with suction and includes a mild peel step, and it has more published data. Choose the oxygen facial if suction or acids have made you red before, if you have rosacea-prone skin, or if you’re recovering from a stronger treatment. Neither has any downtime.
None at all. Your skin may be faintly pink for a few minutes and then it’s calm. Makeup can go on right away, workouts are fine the same day, and there’s nothing to avoid beyond holding your acids and retinoids until tomorrow.
Yes. There’s no redness or flaking to wait out, so the morning of is safe. That said, one to two days before is ideal, because the hydration peaks then and gives makeup a smooth base. You can pair it with dermaplaning earlier the same week if you’d like a flatter surface.
Yes, for a few days. In Chicago winters, indoor humidity can drop to 10 to 15 percent, and cold wind adds to the dryness, so the skin’s surface loses water quickly. The serum puts hyaluronic acid back on that surface and the skin feels calm and looks plump. It doesn’t repair the barrier long term, but moisturizer and a humidifier at home can help with that.
Yes, it can be used that way, once the skin has closed. A week or two after microneedling or a light peel, a hydrating, acid-free facial helps the new skin feel normal sooner. We’ll time it case by case, and never inside the first few days.
Yes, and it’s the facial we suggest first for sensitive or rosacea-prone skin. No acids, no suction, no heat. The only recorded side effect is rare irritation or a contact reaction to a serum ingredient, so please let us know about any known allergies before we start.
Yes. A common winter rhythm is a HydraFacial every 4 to 6 weeks for extraction with an oxygen facial in the weeks between, or before an event, for hydration. The two don’t interact. If your skin runs reactive, we’ll keep the HydraFacial settings light and let the oxygen facial do the calming.
A serum of hyaluronic acid with vitamins and often peptides, chosen by skin type, delivered with pressurized oxygen or an oxygen-generating reaction on the skin. The exact serum line and system at Skinovatio Lincoln Park are named at the consult. If you have allergies, ask for the ingredient list and we’ll review it with you.
The effects are temporary and fade within a week or so. It’s one of the gentlest treatments on our menu.
Keep exploring
Related treatments
Related priorities
HydraFacial
From $199A 30-minute facial with no downtime and a glow that lasts about a week
Learn more
Dermaplaning
Priced at your consultA 30-minute blade exfoliation for smooth skin and flat makeup
Learn more
Chemical peels
From $200Surface to medium-depth peels to help with melasma, acne, and texture
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 are available at checkout for eligible treatments.