t’s 2023 and we all know now that not everything as seen on the internet is actually as is. Whether you were catfishing people on mIRC in the olden days, or ordering from a certain clothing brand online and receiving not at all what you ordered (and posted a review, and still somehow people kept ordering from them despite the gazillion negative reviews saying they ordered a pretty shalwar kurta but received a bunch of old, moldering hoodies), chances are, you’ve developed a healthy distrust of things ‘as seen on Instagram’.

That said, while you can fake a lot of things in pictures and videos, you can’t fake something like the process of a facial. Maybe you can touch up the final result a bit, but following up on the Shehla Khan Official (SKO) videos featuring various facials and procedures they offer, any fan of skincare would get that familiar yearning to see what it’s really like. Yes, really, one can yearn for things like skincare. It’s a whole aesthetic. Leave me alone.

Given that I was due for a facial anyway, and had been holding out for a while because while you may pay close to the same price everywhere, not every facial is equal. It varies from salon to salon, or dermatologist, if that’s what you prefer, and then it may vary because of who executes the eventual facial.

While I recognize that going to a medically trained doctor for my skin health concerns is key, the thing is, if I am going to spend money for the privilege, I also want to relax into it a bit and not feel like I’m at the dentist’s. Which is just a slightly better way of saying that I really just want to lie down and let someone massage my head while we let the mask dry.

Shehla Khan, of SKO seemed to know what she was talking about, was upfront about the tools and processes employed at her salon, and honestly, everything looked quite good on-screen-and-on-paper.

So, I took that leap of faith.

Firstly, you can avail the online consultation service before you decide on the procedure you will get and go in. I skipped that step and made a same-day appointment for a facial, which I was late to, because apparently Karachi must have all its roads gutted right before monsoon season. I called in when I knew I wouldn’t make it on time, and the salon calmly told me it wasn’t a problem.

Not every facial is equal. It varies from salon to salon, or dermatologist, if that’s what you prefer, and then it may vary because of who executes the eventual facial. While I recognize that going to a medically trained doctor for my skin health concerns is key, the thing is, if I am going to spend money for the privilege, I also want to relax into it a bit and not feel like I’m at the dentist’s.

The front desk staff is super pleasant, as they have you fill out some details about yourself, and then send you off with a facialist – I was attended to by a lady called Somia - who again was polite and non-intrusive, pleasant and really quite good.

We settled on a SKINBRITE Level 01 facial. On this day, while I told Somia that I really just want a bit of brightening and freshening up of the skin, I also sported moderate hormonal acne on my jawline, which, as anyone who’s dealt with chronic acne earlier in life knows is totally a welcome reappearance in your 40s. So I was to get a brightening facial, and would end with a mask to address the acne specifically. At the end of the facial I was also offered an LED light treatment as an add-on, which I didn’t opt for because I hadn’t budgeted for add-ons.

The actual facial was pretty incredible. Somia told me what she was doing or using at the beginning of each step, and was gentle and really thorough at the same time. While the process was as it may be everywhere, I think the products used at SKO make a huge difference. Plus, at no point were my neck, forehead and chin undertreated, which is an issue I have with a lot of salons offering facials.

The facial massage was when I knew SKO had won me as a client forever: it was a deeply relaxing massage that dug deep into my facial and neck tissue and muscle, and I could feel my cheekbones lift and jawline become instantly razor-sharp. You know what I mean. I may call in and see if they will just take me in for a face massage once a week. And to say that, in this economy, should tell you how great the facial felt. When Somia led me to a mirror to observe the results, I was happily surprised. You’d expect the glowing, happy, smooth skin on Instagrams to have been good genes, good doctors, or good lighting, but here I was, acne-scarred from my 20s, wearing a buncha new acne in my 40s, with the same glistening, ecstatic skin.

Look, we may not have the best economy and 5-year-long terms just seem like an unachievable dream at this point, but we can do the things that make us happy. And great skin makes me happy.

The facials and services at SKO are priced at the slightly higher end, but if you’ll get more mileage in terms of service out of that extra 500 or 1000 rupees, I believe you should spend them. If you are going to get a facial or massage or haircut anyway, just splurge a little more for superior service.

DISCLAIMER: This is a completely unbiased,
unpaid review based on my experience, and I do not know Shehla Khan, or
anyone associated with her or the salon personally.