Skin House Facial Bar Rittenhouse — Local services in Philadelphia

I came in for a facial to clear some congestion and also just relax with some self care. I usually do not get facials as they are very expensive for my budget (I’m a teacher lol) but I was really looking forward to a nice lil treat to calm my skin after some stress and summer sweat.

The spa is super clean and neat. It doesn’t really have individual rooms, so you are laying on a bed with other people next to you. I didn’t super mind this, but I do wish I had the privacy since that is part of a relaxing spa experience in my opinion. I did the 30 minute facial for new clients and I added extractions for an additional cost. My facial was pretty typical of what I’ve experienced before! I wish I got steam, since that usually helps my sensitive skin, but again, I don’t think they could do this since it was out in a big open room with other people.

When I explained my skincare routine to my esthetician, that’s when I started to get a little turned off. I use all drugstore products, for the record. I was told that my routine was “not doing me any favors” which was whatever, but the alternative products suggested were of course the expensive, commissionable products they sell in store.

At the end of my facial, I felt a bit pressured to buy the face wash suggested. Apparently, these products were going to be the “magic” that my skin “needed.” This rubbed me the wrong way, especially because this facial was already an expensive treat to myself and I typically don’t use expensive products on my skin. I don’t think my skin looked THAT bad prior to going in, but these comments about how my skin “needed” certain products made me feel like my skin needed to be “fixed.” At this point, being self conscious about my skin’s condition (which I don’t think was her intention, to be fair) and feeling like I suddenly knew very little about what my skin needed, I did opt to buy the face wash at nearly $50 for one bottle (I turned down an additional product tho).

As I am writing this, one week after my facial, I have several cystic pimples that were not there prior to my appointment (and I don’t usually get cystic acne anymore). These pimples HURT and will definitely leave scars because of their size. I also have several patches of very dry, flakey skin (when typically my skin is combo/oily). I can’t help but blame the products or the facial treatment itself. When I called to see if I could return the face wash I bought (since I don’t think it agrees with my skin and was nearly $50), I was told I cannot return it. I am a bit upset that I wasted money on expensive skincare, since I never usually buy it for myself anyway.

My esthetician did reach out yesterday to check-in, and I expressed concerns about how my skin reacted to the treatment. I was told that it was “surprising” and that there were several reasons why my skin could have reacted (the reasons she listed were actions that would have been my fault, like wearing makeup or using retinol after the facial. I did none of these things).

Overall, I had a sadly meh experience at Skin House due to the facial and products upsetting my skin, and more importantly, I also feel like the sales environment made it not very relaxing. I really wanted to like it and my esthetician was very knowledgeable! But unfortunately, I will not get my $50 back. When I got a facial at another spa in Philly, I was not pressured to buy anything and had a very different experience which is why my expectations for Skin House were a bit different. I am posting this review because I see all the reviews on google are really positive, so I am offering my perspective as someone that really wanted this experience to be worth the money but thought it fell short! Bummer but I will do more...

I initially contacted Skin House to schedule a consultation to see what services were recommended in the last month leading up to my wedding. I have relatively low maintenance skin, so really didn't know what to look for outside of my usual at home routine but have been having rosacea flares on & off all summer - plus I was wondering whether it was too close to my wedding date to start any new sort of skincare regimen without risking potentially aggravating the area. My consultation with Trinity addressed all of these concerns & the plan she suggested made it clear that she had really listened to what I was looking for & wanted to help me achieve those skincare goals. We agreed that I would come in the week before my wedding for the glow getter facial but first, I would return 2 weeks before my wedding for an express facial to get a better idea of what my skin needed & to see if I had any irritation or sensitivity to the service - if I did have any sort of reaction, we would cancel my next appointment & still have enough time for my skin to calm back down before the wedding.

I was lucky enough to be with Trinity again for my express facial, which was so thorough I couldn't believe it was considered the "express", and she focused primarily on exfoliation in preparation for the glow getter the following week. Trinity walked me through every step of the process & I felt totally comfortable asking answer questions that came up during the service. Once we were finished, she was confident that I would respond well to the glow getter service but talked me through what to look for for any signs of irritation & recommended a product that would help with my rosacea. I'm an easy sell, so I immediately agreed to purchase the item, but rather than just take the sale, Trinity first wanted to make sure that I could realistically expect myself to actually incorporate the product into my skincare routine. I left my appointment feeling like Trinity genuinely cared about the health of my skin & how I was going to feel on my wedding day.

I came back the next week for my more intensive glow getter facial - this time I was with Shireen, who immediately showed me that I could trust her with my skin, that she was on my team & that she also genuinely cared about helping me feel my best on my wedding day. After talking more about my goals for the service & familiarizing herself with my skin, Shireen curated a treatment plan custom tailored to my skin & my goals. She talked me through every step, making sure I understood the "why" behind everything & continually checking that I was on board with every different part of the service. When I saw my reflection after we finished, I was STUNNED by the results she was able to achieve for me. I am literally glowing, my complexion is so bright & smooth, my jaw & cheekbones are snatched, my brows are lifted, my lips are fuller - it's insane! After a year of wedding planning & events, this was the first time I really saw myself as the bride. The perfect experience to start off "wedding week".

My entire experience with Skin House exceeded my expectations & because of it, I fully expect to continue visiting them regularly after my...

I have been a member at Skin House for over a year and always had nothing but great things to say. However, I asked to cancel my membership in person due to personal reasons and I was told that there would be a 30 day notice so my next monthly appointment would be my last. Totally fine. A few months after my last appointment I noticed that I was still getting charged the monthly membership dues so I called the spa to report this issue and I was told to send an email and explain the situation. I immediately sent an email and got no answer after a week. So I called again and they said to resend the email. They answer and said their “cancellation policy” requires an email to be sent requesting the cancellation and that my membership was not cancelled since I never sent an email. I have not been made aware of such policy when asking to cancel in person. The esthetician and I both operated under the assumption that my last appt was actually my last. So I replied explaining the situation again and did not get an answer. I then send two more follow up emails and STILL do not get any answers. So I call the spa to follow up and was told that they will let the owner know. Again, no reply to my emails. How can your cancellation policy require communication via email when clearly the email account is never checked? Or am I just being ignored? Regardless, I am extremely frustrated with the whole situation and just gave up altogether. I enjoyed my time here at this facial spa but this experience has been totally disappointing and sadly I will not...