This buzzy skincare treatment is a truly electrifying experience.
Galvanic facials — nicknamed “Hannibal Lecter” facials — send electric currents through the skin by way of a terrifying beige mask, promising firm skin, better circulation and smaller pores while promoting hydration and reducing breakouts.
But glass skin comes at a cost, at least to your wallet. While price points range depending on location and duration, USA Today estimated that galvanic facials cost an estimated $180 per session.
Despite youth-chasing evangelists singing its praises, the treatment may not be as killer as it seems — and, not to mention, the research on it is minimal — experts warn.
“This idea that you’re heating up the skin a little bit probably is what’s helping improve the circulation and improve the blood flow to that area, and that’s what’s giving the skin a glow and helping with the acne, which is what I speculate,” New York dermatologist Dr. Anthony Rossi told USA Today.
“There’s not a ton of research on why galvanic facials are helpful.”
Overhead LA editor Emily Bernstein took on the bone-chilling fete earlier this year, venturing to the SoCal Marianne Kehoe Skin Studio to undergo the electric treatment, where wet cloths were placed on her face with the brown, Lecter-esque mask overtop.
In a video uploaded to YouTube, Bernstein documented the entire process from start to finish — including when she could taste metal under her tongue as the electric current went through her skin.
“The Hannibal facial is to die for,” she said while gazing at her reflection and her radiant complexion.
According to Chicago-based dermatologist Dr. Danilo Del Campo, the electrons’s positive energy pushes “whatever’s on the surface of your skin deeper,” he told USA Today. By doing so, it supposedly stimulates collagen production and provides better hydration.
“The question is how well can it push large molecules through the epidermis?” he argued. “How far can it go? What pH is best for it? How well does it stay active? These are all questions that are just quite frankly unknown, but it seems like it’s a promising aspect that has not had much high-quality research put into it.”
For those dying to try the facial, Del Campo recommends waiting “a few more years” until more research emerges, since there is a risk of burns due to the electricity used.
He added: “But it seems to be a very promising field, and I’m hopeful that there might be something that might come out of it.”
In the interim, he advised patients to stick to the tried and true methods of retinol, exfoliants, moisturizer and SPF.