The practice of facial steaming goes way back to the Ancient Romans and Greeks who used the ritual as a form of cleansing their bodies from inside-out. While we don’t recommend you step out for a sauna every week during the lockdown, or stand next to a steaming hot shower to recreate the sauna-like experience (‘cause it’ll lead to water wastage), we do, however, suggest you steam your face at home — once a week.
Facial steaming, or steam facials, involve subjecting your skin to mild steam that has been infused with essential oils, herbs or just plain salts. Here are the benefits it offers….
- 01. Offers enzymatic exfoliation
- 02. Facilitates better absorption of actives
- 03. Oxygenates skin from within
- 04. Loosens blackheads
- 05. Rids your skin of toxins
01. Offers enzymatic exfoliation
If you are not a fan of physical exfoliation, you can try enzymatic exfoliation to slough off the dead skin cells from your face. As the name suggests, this exfoliation technique uses enzymes to dissolve the dead skin from your skin and facial steaming can help with that. Combining the heat of the steam with essentials oils like chamomile, clary sage, rose, ylang-ylang and lavender can offer enzymatic exfoliation to clear out your skin effectively.
02. Facilitates better absorption of actives
In addition to offering mild exfoliation, facial steaming also helps hydrate and soften the top layer of your skin. These benefits can be further enhanced by following up the steaming session with a potent product - either in the form of a serum or a nighttime treatment. The steam opens up the pores and allows the skincare product to penetrate deeper. Make sure to let your face cool down and air-dry before you layer on a potent formula like the Lakme 9to5 Vitamin C+ Facial Serum. This potent serum is packed with Kakadu Plum extracts (the world’s richest source of vitamin C) that helps brighten and even out skin texture.
03. Oxygenates skin from within
The heat from the steam, no matter how mild it is, can dilate the blood vessels under your skin. This further helps deliver a fresh boost of oxygen to the skin from within, which is why your skin looks flushed after steam. The dilated blood vessels also help deliver nutrients to your skin to make it glow from within.
04. Loosens blackheads
While we will never recommend doing your own blackhead extraction at home, you can benefit from steaming to help manage it better. The hot steam helps clear clogged sebum from your hair follicles, which can then help loosen blackheads on your skin. Use a facial scrub, preferably a mattifying one like the Simple Daily Skin Detox Clear Pore Facial Scrub, to help clarify your skin and keep it blemish-free.
05. Rids your skin of toxins
Facial steaming creates the same effect on your skin as sweating does, but at a higher and accelerated rate. And just as sweating helps expel toxins from your body, facial steaming can do the same. Just make sure to cleanse, scrub or splash some water on your face after the steaming is done.
Written by Sumona Bose on Jun 21, 2021
Sumona Bose is a writer, skincare junkie and a self-professed makeup connoisseur. Equipped with a Master's degree in Fashion Management and over 3 years of experience writing in the beauty and fashion space, her passion for learning new things has no bounds. Working closely with dermatologists, beauty excerpts, makeup artists and hairstylists, she brings you the best of all things beauty. From trending skincare ingredients to makeup looks that help you slay, she manages to bring something new (and vital!) to our readers every single time. Her hobbies include home workouts, watching foreign films and binge-watching makeover shows!