This 30-minute pimple-popping facial proves treatments don’t need to take forever to *work*

Curious what can be done in a 30-minute facial? Watch it go down, here. 

We tend to think of facials as deluxe occasions to really indulge in self care—a chance to spend about an hour letting a professional do your skin care for you, and using every advancement in facial-boosting technology you can imagine. So why on earth would you schedule yourself for a quick-hit facial, when theoretically you can do the job yourself with your at-home facial steamer and a few tools? Ella Dove, our senior video producer, investigates in our latest episode of What the Wellness, Well+Good’s YouTube series where she tries the wildest things the industry has to offer to uncover whether they’re weird or worth it. As this episode proves, a pimple-popping-packed facial, which takes only 30 minutes flat can be effective.

It all happens at Glowbar, a new-ish facial destination in New York City’s TriBeCa neighborhood, which touts itself as a “no-frills” spa that delivers results efficiently—like so quick you could do it over your lunch break (for $65 or $55 with a membership). How do they speed up the luxuriating? Well, for one, you have to come with clean skin so that your esthetician can get right to work assessing your needs. The treatment can include anything from extractions to dermaplaning (ya know: lightly shaving your face to rid it of peach fuzz and dead skin cells), LED light frequency, exfoliating masks, oxygen infusion, and the list goes on and on, depending on the state of your complexion.

Dove gets her special concoction of treatments, during which we get a very close look at some graphic pimple popping action (it’s very satisfying, if you’re into that sort of thing). Of course, it all wraps up with an application of sunscreen, the cherry on top of any skin-care treatment. Typically, after an extraction-heavy facial, Dove refers to getting “post-facial pepperonis,” AKA those inflamed red marks where the pimples used to live. Does she have them after her treatment after the big reveal? How much better did her skin look after only 30 minutes of skin-care work? You’ve gotta watch it to find out.

For more What the Wellness, check out what a gemstone acupuncture facial is all about. And this is what a volcanic sand bath can do for your health game. (Yes, that’s a thing.)