12.4 Basic Facials, Massage Manipulations & Electrical Skin Equipment

12.4 Basic Facials, Massage Manipulations & Electrical Skin Equipment

Quick Answer: Follow a hygienic facial order, massage only intact non-inflamed skin, and keep electrical and chemical exfoliation inside OAC 175:10-7-29 (corneum only; microdermabrasion Class 1/2 with a displayed proficiency certificate; peels at ≤30% or pH not less than 3 unless the rule's exceptions all apply).

NIC Domain III covers consultation (A), tools including steamer, extractors, towels, and head coverings (B), and principles of a basic facial plus electrical equipment (C). Hair removal and makeup are separate procedures in that outline; this section stays on the facial and the machines.

Oklahoma's practical is administered by the State Board of Cosmetology and Barbering, not by Prov. The Board's published cosmetology testing-supply list is kit context: for the facial portion, candidates are told to bring items such as cleansing cream, astringent, a cape, cotton pledgets for eye protection (must be moist), spatulas, cotton pledgets for cream removal, a towel or neck strip, and a headband, cap, or turban. That list is what you pack. It is not a scoring rubric and it is not a claim that OpenExamPrep writes the Board's practical rating form.

Basic facial sequence

Written items like a stable order. Live practice may pause a step for a contraindication; skipping a contraindication is the error, not skipping a mask on inflamed skin.

1. Set up and drape — clean towels, covered facial-chair headrest (OAC 175:10-7-12), head covering so hair and products do not mix, and a tray barrier. Wash hands. Dispense cream with a spatula (175:10-7-11(e)).
2. Cleanse — remove makeup and debris with cleansing cream or a cleanser matched to type. Remove with tissue, moist cotton, or sponges; do not drag grit across the eye. Moist cotton pledgets over the eyes protect from lights, steam, and product.
3. Analyze — magnification, light, optional Wood's lamp. Confirm type, comedones vs pustules, and stop conditions.
4. Exfoliate — corneum only: gentle scrub, enzyme, or legal chemical/mechanical method. No sanding into living skin (dermabrasion is prohibited).
5. Steam — towel or machine steam to soften sebum and relax the surface. Distance and time stay comfortable; watch rosacea, asthma, and claustrophobia. Hot steamed towels in a warmer have their own Oklahoma hygiene rules (wash with detergent and bleach, fresh each day, warmer disinfected, unused towels laundered — 175:10-7-12).
6. Extract — comedones only, with clean hands or gloves, a disinfected metal extractor if used (extractors appear on Oklahoma's approved-device list), and downward/upward pressure that does not bruise. Stop if the follicle is a pustule, cyst, or unknown lump. Accidental blood = universal precautions (175:10-7-20(a)).
7. Massage — only if the surface is not inflamed, cut, or infected. See manipulations below.
8. Mask — clay or sulfur-type for oily/congested zones; cream, gel, or hydrating for dry or dehydrated; calming for sensitive. Follow manufacturer's timing.
9. Moisturize and protect — restore water and lipids; finish with sun protection when the client will go outdoors. Astringent/toner after cleanse or extraction can remove residue and feels finishing on oily skin; it is on both the Board kit list and NIC-style supply lists.

Infection control runs through every step: soiled linens in a vented covered container, single-use cotton discarded, multi-use brushes disinfected, no product contamination.

Massage manipulations

NIC sample item 7 keys effleurage as the movement intended to soothe muscles. Learn all five names so the distractors fail.

Direction on the face is generally toward lymph drainage and without dragging the eye downward. Pressure is less important than whether you should be massaging at all. OAC 175:10-7-20(d) is the statute-shaped stop sign.

Electrical and mechanical skin equipment

OAC 175:10-7-29(b) lists esthetic devices intended for cosmetic skin care. For this chapter, master the machines NIC and Oklahoma both expect you to explain.

Steamer — warm mist hydrates the corneum and softens follicular contents. Hold a safe distance, keep water reservoirs clean per manufacturer directions (175:10-7-29(d)), and never leave a client unattended under steam. Skip or shorten steam on highly couperose or rosacea-prone faces and on anyone who cannot breathe comfortably under a hood.

Galvanic current is direct current used in two polarities:

• Anaphoresis (negative pole / cathode on the treatment area) produces an alkaline effect, desincrustation, follicle softening, and stimulation. This is the "open and emulsify sebum" polarity for congestion when the skin can tolerate it.
• Cataphoresis (positive pole / anode on the treatment area) produces an acidic effect, calms, helps iontophoresis of appropriate acidic products, and is the "close and soothe" polarity after extraction or to aid product.

Know the pair as opposites. Do not galvanize across broken skin, over metal implants in the path, through a client who cannot feel current, or when a contraindication says stop. Follow the machine's instructions; polarity mix-ups are classic written traps.

High-frequency (Tesla, oscillating current) is associated with mild thermal effect and germicidal ozone at the electrode:

• Direct — glass electrode on the skin after product that is safe for the current.
• Indirect — client holds the electrode while you massage (sometimes taught as Viennese); your hands are the pathway.

Avoid high-frequency on clients with contraindications listed by the manufacturer (pacemakers are the classic example), on metal in the treatment path, and on the same infectious or inflamed lesions you would not massage. Sparking inflamed acne is not a loophole around 175:10-7-20.

Vacuum devices use suction to lift debris or support product application (vacuum-spray). Do not vacuum inflamed, sunburned, or highly couperose skin, and disinfect tips.

Mechanical brushes (rotary) cleanse and provide light mechanical exfoliation of the corneum. Slow speed and soft brush for sensitive or dry; firmer for thick, oily, intact skin. Brushes that touch the face are cleaned and disinfected; porous brush heads that cannot be disinfected are discarded.

Microdermabrasion is mechanical corneum exfoliation with crystals or a diamond tip plus vacuum. Oklahoma's conditions are specific:

• Equipment must be an FDA Class 1 or Class 2 device.
• The licensee must prominently display a certificate of training proficiency for each type of microdermabrasion equipment used — not one generic poster for every machine in the building.
• Class 3 devices for microdermabrasion are prohibited.

Do not confuse this with dermabrasion, which the same rule treats as puncturing/sanding living layers and forbids.

Chemical peels — the Oklahoma numbers

With proper training, chemical exfoliation of the stratum corneum may include AHAs (glycolic, lactic), BHAs such as salicylic, Jessner's, and resorcinol. Peels performed by a cosmetologist or facialist/esthetician shall be mixed and used at thirty percent (30%) or less at final formulation, or with a pH value not less than three (3), unless all of the following are met (OAC 175:10-7-29):

• The preparation is a commercially available product approved for use by cosmetologists and/or facialists/estheticians.
• The licensee can provide manufacturer documentation that the specific product does not penetrate below the stratum corneum when used as directed.
• The licensee can provide documentation of training and/or certification in the use of the product.
• The licensee follows all manufacturer's directions.
• The preparation is stored to specification and discarded after expiration.

The 30% cap and the pH-not-less-than-3 floor are alternatives in the general rule, not a requirement to hit both at once. The five-letter exception is how a product outside those numbers could still be used — and only if every letter is true. Manufacturer directions also govern storage and disposal (175:10-7-29(d)).

The bar chart above is a memory picture: a typical acid-mantle pH sits near 5, water is 7, and Oklahoma's general peel floor is pH 3. Going far below that floor without the exception package is a scope problem, not a "better peel."

Head covering, towels, and practical-kit context

NIC tool lists name head coverings with towels and creams. Oklahoma sanitation names clean towels per patron, a clean towel on the facial-chair headrest, closed storage for clean linen, and vented soiled-linen cans. The Board practical supply bullet that pledgets for eye protection must be moist is a packing instruction so cotton does not scratch or stick. Bring spatulas because the sanitation rule already forbids finger-scooping shared cream.

None of that is a step-by-step grading sheet. If you memorize only the kit and forget anaphoresis or the Class 3 ban, you have studied the suitcase instead of the license.

Putting a full service together

Oily, intact combination skin with comedones and no vesicles: cleanse, analyze, light enzyme or legal BHA within the 30%/pH rule, steam, extract T-zone comedones with a disinfected extractor and gloves as needed, skip massage on any papule patches, galvanic desincrustation only if the machine and skin allow, clay on the T-zone, hydrate the cheeks, astringent where appropriate, moisturizer, SPF, chart the machines and acids. Cystic or infectious skin: cleanse if you even start, then stop. That judgment is the exam.