Tight, shiny or easily irritated: read the feeling first

Note how your skin feels about ten minutes after washing your face in the morning, for three to five mornings in a row. One of five words (tight, calm, shiny on the T-zone, shiny all over, stinging when touched) is enough to choose between the four facials at Lụa Spa. It is a way to choose a service, not a judgement about your skin.

Below: how to take the note, which session fits which feeling and why, and when to see a dermatologist instead of booking a spa. What happens minute by minute in a 60 minute facial is in a facial at a spa: what 60 minutes looks like.

How to take the note

No tools needed, just the notes app on your phone.

1. Wash your face as usual, with your normal cleanser. Pat dry with a clean towel.
2. Wait ten minutes and apply nothing. No moisturiser, no sunscreen. Brush your teeth, make coffee, come back.
3. Touch your cheeks and forehead lightly with the back of a clean hand. Look in a mirror in daylight.
4. Write one word: tight, calm, shiny T-zone (forehead, nose, chin), or stinging.
5. Check the mirror again at midday. If you are shiny all over, add “shiny all over”.

Do this for three to five mornings and go with the word that comes up most. Note anything unusual too: a swim the day before, a new sunscreen, a night in air-conditioning. If you moved here from a cooler or drier place, what you knew about your skin at home may not hold in Saigon, so take fresh notes here. Bring the note to your appointment.

People often call these feelings “dry skin” or “oily skin”. We do not use those labels, because we do not examine skin. We only ask how it feels.

Five feelings and the session for each

This is the same table the treatment finder uses. Prices include 8% VAT, no tip.

A suggestion from how you said you feel, not a conclusion about your skin.

Why these suggestions

Tight: deep hydration is the gentle cleanse plus 15 minutes: a longer face massage and a second mask. With only an hour, the gentle cleanse still has a mask and 20 minutes of face and neck massage.

Calm, or shiny in places or all over: the gentle cleanse has two cleanses, a warm towel, massage and a mask. No extractions, no machines. We do not say it makes skin less shiny; we only say what happens in those 60 minutes.

Stinging or red when touched: the calming facial uses unscented products, no exfoliation, and no warm towel or warmth on the face. The name describes a feeling, not a skin condition.

The face massage is the alternative for all five: 45 minutes of massage on the face, neck and scalp edge with oil or cream, no mask. Hân or Chi does it, so it is available on Mondays too.

When to see a dermatologist instead

Sometimes the right answer is not a spa. See a doctor first if:

• Your face has an open wound or broken skin.
• A doctor is looking after a skin condition, or you are using a cream a doctor prescribed for your face.
• A rash lasts, or a stinging feeling does not settle after a few days.
• Your skin changes suddenly and you do not know why.

In these cases Lụa Spa does not do facials. The treatment finder will say: “Please ask your doctor before any facial. A hair wash or a gentle foot massage is still possible if that area is healthy.” Once your doctor has no objection, book as usual.

Lụa Spa offers non-invasive skin care and relaxation. We do not inject, use lasers or needling, prescribe, diagnose, or replace a doctor.

How we do it at Lụa Spa

In the first 5 minutes, Hân asks again how your skin felt that morning, even if you wrote it when booking. It can change between booking and visit: a day of hard sun, a new cream. She adjusts within the session: no warm towel, unscented products, a lighter hand wherever you point.

There is no word about skin “problems” in Hân’s notebook. Only things like: tight in the morning, no scent, towel not too warm, medium pressure.

Claire Dubois, a French resident of Phú Mỹ Hưng, booked the 75 minute deep hydration facial with Hân for 1,090,000 VND. In the note box she wrote “no scent”. Hân used unscented products throughout and, as Claire asked, no warmth on her face. “I could see the price, the minutes and who would do it before I booked.”

An illustrative story for a demo site; figures are made up.

Choose and book

• Not sure: answer five questions in the treatment finder. The first one is the feeling after washing.
• Decided: book on the booking page, or directly with Hân. Hân is off on Mondays.
• Book at least 3 hours ahead, up to 45 days. One person, up to 120 minutes: no deposit. Change or cancel free until 12 hours before.

We are at 63 Hoàng Văn Thái, Tân Mỹ Ward (old District 7), open 10:00 to 21:30 every day.