We Tried It: Heyday Cured My Winter Skin Blues

The Curio Cabinet team is constantly opening themselves and their community up to new narratives and experiences. We Tried It is an ongoing series of testing and vetting products, events and destinations by local businesses.

Cold weather, dryness and a booked calendar are the recipe for skin care disasters. As the temperature drops to frigid levels, my skin and my sanity have been suffering. There have been days where no matter how many times I layered on products and smeared chapstick onto my lips, hours later I’d be left out to dry. At this point, I knew I couldn’t conquer these skin care woes alone.

Phoning a friend or in this case, professional help became my first step towards sanity. In comes the expertise and skill of Heyday, a facial franchise dedicated to customized and personalized experiences so all can meet their skincare goals. With three locations based in Denver, I knew I had to get all the insight on their winter skin care tips and tricks. And what better way to learn than through a custom facial?

While there are numerous spas, treatments and facial locations to learn from, Heyday’s professionalism and curation of high-quality products instantly stood out. While living in a state with constant sunshine and a higher altitude, it’s no secret that locals experience several skin concerns. Having a facial-focused brand in Denver wasn’t just a want, but a need.

Seeing the value and the necessity of the skin care side of business, Denver owner and entrepreneur Brad Kott brought Heyday to The Mile High City in 2022 with plans to expand over the next few years. Kott’s passion for the brand’s growth and awareness was obvious in the way he spoke of the brand and the skin therapists.

“Heyday’s highly trained skin therapists get to know your skin better than you and use over 100 combinations of professional-grade, clean-ingredient product formulas to craft a facial tailored to your skin’s unique needs. Heyday’s friendly skin therapists are “part-healers, part-magicians” who also teach you the right way to care for your skin in between facials at home, and help you track your progress along the way,” said Kott.

During my visit with Heyday, I wanted to know two things. One, how to tweak my home routine to achieve long-lasting hydration. And two, why should I incorporate facials into my regular routine?

Cold Weather Skin Concerns:

Some skin battles one may face in the winter are eczema, rosacea, dry patches, redness and more. For example, my skin this winter has been experiencing dryness, tightness and the fine lines around my mouth were really expressing themselves. Heyday skin therapist Lisa Phung believes in goal setting and result-driven products in order to meet the needs of all different skin types. 

“The skin is more than just a canvas for beauty. It is a living, breathing organ that can’t be replaced. It is the first line of defense against bacteria and infection,” said Phung.

The best defense lies in the ingredients in addition to having a thoughtful and regular routine. Skin-loving ingredients and facial oils that include rosehip seed oil, shea butter, or sunflower seed oil can act as your hydrating skin saviors especially when applied after moisturizing. When it comes to a winter-proof routine, exfoliating one to two times a week helps prevent breakouts and removes dead cells so your skin can better absorb the hydrating and nourishing ingredients it needs to even out texture and tone.

The Facial:

With hydration and even tone in mind, Phung focused on facial service enhancements that would leave me with glowing results. At the start of the facial, we went through a detailed analysis of my skin so the treatment could align with my goals. Over the course of the 50-minute facial, I was in skin care heaven. Heyday recently launched its own formulated products for the back bar and uses them as a core element for the skin treatments. Phung included the nanoinfusion enhancement as a part of our treatment plan to further smooth fine lines and create micro-channels and pathways for serums to absorb deeper into my skin. Gua sha was also utilized during the facial which helped with lymphatic drainage while simultaneously pushing product into the skin and increasing blood flow. During the process, Phung encouraged me to continue my treatment at home with easy and accessible ways to recreate the routine before returning to my next facial appointment. Her advice? Start simple with three steps: cleanse, moisturize, protect and eventually incorporate exfoliation, toners, serums and oils.

Why Incorporate Facials Into Your Regular Routine:

A follow-up question that typically comes to mind for this subject is, “Why invest, why spend the money on a facial when I can do this at home?” Although it’s a fair economic concern, this argument does come down to expertise and attainable results. It is recommended that facials should be scheduled once a month since the skin turnover cell is around twenty-eight days long. Quarterly facials are also encouraged so you can prep the skin for changes in the season and weather. Getting facials regularly comes with necessary healing and healthy benefits other than just great looking skin. Regular facials help stimulate our sympathetic nervous system which lowers anxiety, relieves tension and increases circulation.

When looking for facial services or skin therapists for you, consider someone who you can build good communication patterns and set expectations with, while celebrating progress big and small. With Heyday’s dedication to skin education and personalization, by your first 3-6 months you should start noticing changes in hydration and skin texture. By 6-12 months, you should see more noticeable improvements in your skin and your overall health.

For the sake of education purposes, Heyday helped equip me with practices and a routine to get me through the next few frigid months. But for leisure and investment purposes, Heyday will most certainly be included in my cocktail of self care, relaxation and maintenance routines.

Book your appointment and learn more at www.heydayskincare.com/pages/tennyson or visit @heyday_colorado on Instagram.