Signature Service
The European Facial
Houston's actual European facial — not the resort version.
The sixty-minute European facial — double cleanse, warm botanical compress, manual extractions, lymphatic sequence, masque, and closing massage. Extend with LED, glycolic resurfacing, extended lymphatic, buccal, or deep-clean extractions to lengthen the session.
Booking is online. Not sure which treatment is right for you? Call (832) 699-2049 to talk it through.
What it is
The European facial with extractions and lymphatic drainage — explained the way Zhanna explains it.
The European facial is a structural sixty-minute protocol that originated inside European manual-technique curricula, not inside the American beauty industry. The visible difference is everything that's not skipped — double cleansing in two distinct steps, a warm botanical towel compress (no steam machine), manual extractions performed thoroughly, a complete lymphatic drainage sequence on the neck and decolletage, and a closing massage that runs ten to fifteen minutes rather than three. Add-on variants extend the session up to one hundred and ten minutes when you want LED, deep-clean extractions with the ultrasonic derma scrubber, or a buccal layer on top of the base.
Most Houston facials at this price point compress the same elements into forty-five minutes and skip extractions altogether. The Vera Pelle European Facial restores the original time-budget and the order of operations the technique was developed around. The result reads on the face for several days after — reduced puffy eyes and facial swelling, visibly decongested skin, softened texture, and a brightness that the after-photo doesn't quite capture.
Who it's for
The European Facial fits if any of these describe you.
- 01First-time Vera Pelle clients building a baseline of skin behavior
- 02Clients between flagship protocols who want maintenance, not transformation
- 03Anyone whose American facials have produced pleasant but never visible results
- 04Clients with congestion, dullness, or post-summer skin that needs a full reset
- 05Pre-event prep when there's at least seventy-two hours before the event
What to expect
The session, in order.
The sequence below is the typical order of operations. Timings, pressure, and modifications change with the skin — Zhanna adjusts in the room.
- 01
Arrival & intake
Ten to fifteen minutes of consultation review. Zhanna walks through the consultation form you completed before arrival, flags any contraindications, and confirms the day's protocol modifications.
- 02
Double cleanse
Oil-based cleanser first to dissolve sunscreen, makeup, and sebum. Water-based cleanser second to address the skin itself. The step most American facials collapse into one.
- 03
Warm botanical compress · enzyme softening
A warm botanical towel compress paired with an enzyme softener to open follicles for extraction without abrading the skin. No steam machine — the compress holds heat and humidity where they're needed.
- 04
Manual extractions
Thorough, careful, gloved. The extractions that most American protocols skip; the reason European facial results read brighter for longer.
- 05
Lymphatic drainage sequence
Cervical nodes first, then jaw, temples, periorbital. Vessel-following strokes at the correct pressure. Visible decongestion by the end of the sequence.
- 06
Custom masque
Selected at the chair based on the day's reading of your skin.
- 07
Closing massage · closing ritual
Ten to fifteen minutes of closing massage across face, scalp, neck, and decolletage. Warm cloth, then chilled face mist with serum infusion, moisturizer, and SPF. The peak-end moment most clients photograph.
Modalities included
What's in the session.
- Double cleanse
- Warm botanical compress
- Extractions
- Masque
- Finishing massage
Recommended cadence
Every 4–6 weeks for maintenance
If this is your only Vera Pelle service, six-week cadence keeps skin in the upper end of its behavior. If you're rotating in a flagship session every quarter, four-week European Facials between them produce the most consistent visible state.
See package series
Our Holistic Skin Care Experience
What every Vera Pelle treatment includes.
- Double cleanse
- Exfoliation
- Warm botanical towel compress
- Lymphatic drainage massage
- Ear, scalp, neck, decolletage, and shoulder massage
- Serum, moisturizer, and SPF protection application
Post-treatment, a personalized skincare consultation with advice and recommendations tailored to your skin.
Personalized Treatment Enhancements
Add-ons, layered to your skin.
- Deep Clean with Extractions + Ultrasonic Derma Scrubber
- Glycolic Resurfacing Treatment with Masque
- Triple-Action Neck Masque and Exfoliant
- LED Light Therapy
- Micro-current Face Lifting
- Radio Frequency (RF) Lifting of Face + Neck
- Multi-Vitamin Antioxidant Eye Firming Treatment
- Luminate Eye Gel Treatment
- Pro Power Eye Peel
- Oxygen infusion — serum infused to your specific skin needs
Continue Your Protocol
The shelf in the room.
The two or three products Zhanna actually hands you after this session — for the at-home work that keeps the result holding between visits.
Aftercare
What to do — and avoid — after.
Every Vera Pelle treatment
- Aftercare · Change your pillowcase for the first 24 hours after treatment.
- Pregnancy safety · For pregnant clients, manual technique and massage only — no devices, ever. (LED, micro-current, RF, EMS, electroporation, and the hydradermabrasion machine are excluded.)
Drink water — extra electrolytes if you can. Skip the gym. Avoid heat — no sauna, no hot yoga, no hot bath. The lymphatic system is freshly mobilized; let it settle.
Mineral sunscreen only for the next 48 hours; the masque-and-extraction work has briefly increased your photosensitivity. SPF 30 minimum.
Hold off on retinol for forty-eight hours. Reintroduce the rest of your routine on day two. Avoid chemical peels and laser treatments for two weeks; the skin is still in a recovery phase.
Active dermatitis or open lesions in the treatment area.
Use of Accutane (isotretinoin) within the past six months.
Recent (within ten days) Botox or filler — we will reschedule.
Active cold sores anywhere on the face.
During pregnancy, extractions are performed manually only — no ultrasonic derma scrubber. No other modifications to the protocol. Disclose pregnancy status on the consultation form so the protocol is set before you arrive.
Frequently Asked
The questions clients actually ask.
The European Facial is manual; the hydradermabrasion tier (Idro-Pulizia Clinica) adds a clinical device for surface resurfacing. If your skin reads as congested but otherwise behaves, start here. If you want a surface-level brightness and texture change, book the hydradermabrasion tier instead.
Manual extractions involve pressure; they are not painful when performed correctly. The European method opens the follicles with a warm botanical compress and enzyme softening first, which makes the extraction itself almost incidental. Slight redness for two to four hours after.
Yes, but ideally not for twenty-four hours. The skin is more permeable for the first day and pulls product deeper than usual — both the good and the not-good.
Yes — for clients who haven't had a real European facial before, or who are exploring whether the studio's approach fits them. If you're looking for structural change (jawline, nasolabial folds, fascial release), book The Buccal Lift or Trattamento Vera Pelle instead.
European Facials every four to six weeks pairs well with a quarterly flagship session. Most regulars settle into that rhythm after their first three visits.
Yes. The European Facial is a sixty-minute protocol with a double cleanse, a warm botanical towel compress, manual extractions, a lymphatic drainage sequence on the neck and decolletage, a custom masque, and a ten-to-fifteen-minute closing massage. Extractions are part of the base session, not an add-on.
Related Treatments
What else lives in the menu.
Pelle Vista
Long-form on this treatment.
In the treatment room
The closing massage, in real time.
This is the part most Houston facials at this price cut to three minutes — or skip. Here it runs ten to fifteen, the manual finishing sequence that moves fluid and decongests after the double cleanse, the warm botanical towel compress, and a full round of extractions. Nine unedited seconds from a real session at Sawyer Yards — no stock footage, no staging. Every European Facial is performed by Zhanna herself.
European vs. American facialThe European Facial · Manual massage
Reserve
Book European Facial
with Zhanna.
60 min · $250 · Three clients per day · Sawyer Yards