We offer custom-tailored, result-focused facial and skincare services designed to meet you where you are and help you reach your skin goals.

Our services are organized into two focused tracks:

• Age Management & Pigmentation Our Complete Facial Experience is designed to invigorate your glow, even your complexion, and help your skin reach its optimal brilliance — whatever that looks like for you.

• Acne Management Our Acne Facial Experience is built around clearing skin and building a path to healthy, balanced skin for the long term.

Not sure where to start? That's completely okay. You're welcome to book a Consultation Experience so we can get to know your skin, talk through your hopes and goals, and map out the best path forward together — or if you're ready, we can dive right into a treatment.

A little prep goes a long way! Here's what we recommend leading up to your appointment:

Day of Your Appointment

• Wear your SPF — yes, even if you're indoors all day

• Come with a clean face, or skip the heavy eye makeup

• Skip any facial or neck shaving or trimming

Three Days Before

• Pause all skincare actives, especially exfoliants — this includes acids, Retin-A/tretinoin, adapalene/Differin, retinols, retinoids, bakuchiol, and scrubs

• Minimize sun and heat exposure — sunburned skin can compromise your safety during treatment

One Week Before

• Avoid all facial hair removal, including waxing, sugaring, threading, and hair removal creams

Two Weeks Before

• Wait at least two weeks after any injectables or laser treatments before coming in — good news though, you're welcome to get injectables after your facial, just not before!

What should I do when I arrive?

We want your arrival to feel easy and unhurried, so give yourself a few extra minutes to park and make your way up.

If you're driving, dedicated client parking is available right in front of the building or in the upper lot (also accessible from Oakland Ave)

• Head to the main entrance of 166 Santa Clara Avenue

• Use the keypad to the right of the door — your access code will be included in your appointment confirmation.

• Close the door quietly and firmly behind you — we love our neighbors and like to be good ones! 😊

• Restrooms are available on the first and second floors if you need them

• Take the stairs up to the third floor

• Follow the hall to the end toward Suite 301 — you'll see our sign

• Have a seat in our cozy waiting area right by the door, take a breath, and your esthetician will come greet you and escort you in for your facial experience

Post-Treatment Care

Your skin may be sensitized for up to a week following your treatment — even if you leave glowing! This is all part of the process: dead skin shedding away, fresh new skin rising to the surface. For that first week, your skin will be more temperamental than usual, but diligently following these post-care instructions will make a world of difference.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, we're here for you at mclaughlinstudiosskin@gmail.com

For at least five days post-facial:

• Wear and reapply your SPF as directed — if the weather is warm or you're active, opt for a sweat- and water-resistant formula to keep that protection in place

• Pause all exfoliants — acids, retinols, bakuchiol, scrubs, etc. — until your skin has rebalanced

• Set aside benzoyl peroxide, clindamycin, and sulfur, unless using as a targeted spot treatment

• Ice, ice baby. Do an ice massage or cold roller for 1–2 minutes after cleansing morning and night to minimize inflammation, speed healing, and soothe any swelling — especially important after extraction-heavy appointments

• Skip makeup and intense exercise for the rest of the day following your facial

• Keep workouts light and cool. Avoid moderate, heavy, and heated exercise until your skin has settled — heat and sweat can trigger breakouts and accelerate irritation

• Step away from the steam room and sauna until your skin is back to normal

• Hold off on facial hair removal — waxing, sugaring, and threading — for at least a week. Tweezing is fine

• Limit sun exposure for at least a week. Your skin will be significantly more sun-sensitive post-treatment, even with SPF and a hat. Be extra diligent

• Skip the pool and hot tubs. Chlorine and post-facial skin are not friends — trust us on this one

• Embrace the ugly duckling week. A facial is a catalyst, not an instant fix. Some temporary purging or sensitivity is part of getting to the results you're after — it's working!

• Patch it, don't pick it! If accelerated cell turnover brings deeper congestion to the surface, that's completely normal and a good sign. It's temporary, and addressing it now means fewer breakouts down the road. In the meantime, a hydrocolloid patch is your best friend

• Noticed a dry patch or small scratch? Not to worry — this is completely normal and very temporary. Your skin barrier just needs a little extra support. Dab a small amount of Aquaphor or CeraVe Healing Ointment on the area as a spot treatment and let it do its thing

You can reach us anytime through our contact page or by email — we aim to respond within one business day.

Email is always the best way to get in touch, and we'd love to hear from you: 📩 mclaughlinstudiosskin@gmail.com

Your time is valuable, and so is ours. To ensure every client receives the best experience possible, we ask that you please review our scheduling policy before booking.

Cancellations & Rescheduling We require a minimum of 48 hours' notice for all cancellations and rescheduling requests. This allows us to offer your appointment time to another guest.

Late Cancellations & No-Shows Cancellations made within 48 hours of your appointment, or missed appointments without notice, will be charged 75% of the scheduled service fee.

Late Arrivals We love seeing you — but please note that arriving more than 15 minutes late will result in your appointment being treated as a missed appointment, and the 75% fee will apply. Depending on availability, we may be able to accommodate a shorter service, but this cannot be guaranteed.

How to Cancel or Reschedule To make changes to your appointment, please contact us at mclaughlinstudiosskin@gmail.com with as much notice as possible.

We appreciate your understanding and look forward to seeing you!

Do you accept walk-ins?

We are an appointment-based studio and are unable to accommodate walk-ins. This allows us to give every client our full attention and the experience they deserve.

Need something same-day? No problem — just head to our Book Now page to see all available appointments and grab a time that works for you!

We want your visit to feel relaxing and safe for everyone — here's what to know:

Pets Service animals are always welcome. We kindly ask that other pets stay home for this one.

Friends You're welcome to bring one guest! They're invited to enjoy our cozy waiting area during your appointment, as long as they are quiet and respectful of our neighboring tenants.

Children We love your little ones, and we want to make sure they're safe and comfortable while you're being treated. For that reason, we ask that children under 12 stay home. If you do bring an older child, they should be able to wait independently and quietly — headphones and a tablet are a great idea! Please keep in mind that while you're in treatment, your child will need to wait without requiring direct supervision.

What is dermaplaning?

Dermaplaning is one of our favorite add-ons, and once you try it, you'll understand why. Here's what to know:

• What it does: We use a professional tool to gently sweep away sebum (oil) buildup and the dry, dead skin cells trapped beneath it — leaving your skin incredibly smooth and refreshed

• Peach fuzz, be gone: Dermaplaning also trims your vellus hairs (that fine facial fuzz), which helps every product and treatment absorb more effectively — and adds a serious glow factor to your post-facial results

• Will my hair grow back thicker or darker? Nope! Only internal factors like hormones can change hair texture and color. We're simply giving those tiny hairs a little trim — nothing more, nothing changes

• Should I keep up with it at home? Many clients love maintaining their upper lip, chin, or sideburns between visits — totally reasonable! For a full-face dermaplane at home, we don't recommend it for most people. Let's chat at your appointment and come up with a plan that works for you

Do I need a consultation before my acne facial or peel?

Yes — and we hold firm on that one! Here's why:

Acne Facial Experience One appointment alone won't magically clear your skin, and we'd never want to pretend otherwise. Clearing acne is a process — one that includes education, minor lifestyle adjustments, product review, routine planning, and treatments with extractions to work through congestion that has often been building for a long time.

As a fellow acne sufferer myself, I don't take this lightly. I want to give you my very best, and that starts with asking the right questions and setting clear intentions together before we begin.

The good news? We make it easy and flexible:

• Book your consultation back-to-back with your Acne Facial Experience on the same day

• Or complete your consultation first and book your Acne Facial Experience anytime after

• Consultations are available in-person, by video, or via email — whatever works best for you

Peel Resurfacing Experience Preparing your skin properly before a peel is essential for both safety and results. We require:

• 30 days of vitamin A use — retinol, tretinoin/Retin-A — prior to your appointment

• A melanin suppressant for Fitzpatrick skin types 3 and higher

This preparation helps minimize the risk of irritation and unwanted immune responses — including hyperpigmentation — so that your skin is protected and ready to receive a more advanced treatment safely and effectively.

What should I expect with extractions?

Ah, the ultimate love-hate relationship — and one of the most asked-about parts of a facial. We're so glad you're asking!

First and always: you are in charge. If at any point during your treatment you feel uncomfortable, need a break, or want to stop — please speak up. We are partners in this, and how you feel matters deeply.

What do extractions actually feel like? By nature, extractions are uncomfortable — firm pressure in a small space can be intense. We work as swiftly as possible to minimize that intensity, using a combination of fingers and an extractor tool to apply precise pressure at the base of each clog, coaxing it forward and out. Prefer to keep it all manual? Just say the word.

The goal is to go after clogs before they can develop into future acne lesions — getting ahead of the problem rather than chasing it.

Why didn't you extract everything? We only extract what is open and ready. Sometimes — especially with inflamed, deep acne lesions — leaving it alone is the better, safer, and more effective choice. Unbroken skin is always the fastest path to healing, and we will never force something that isn't ready.

Wait — what about all those tiny blackheads on my nose and chin? Here's a fun plot twist: those usually aren't blackheads at all. They're imposters called sebaceous filaments — a natural function of the pore, made up of oil and a bit of dead skin. We all have them, and the oilier your skin, the more noticeable they tend to be (especially in the central face area where pores are larger). They will return shortly after being extracted, so we skip most of them to avoid potential capillary dilation in that delicate area. We can always address the ambitious overachievers, but most are best left alone.

Sebaceous filaments respond well to exfoliation and thorough double-cleansing in the evenings — that's the move for managing them at home.

Not sure if it's a clog or a sebaceous filament? Here's how to tell:

Sebaceous filaments:

• Found where skin is oiliest

• Flat and flush with the skin's surface

• If pressed, they wiggle out like tiny threads — harmless and normal

Clogs:

• Can appear anywhere on the face

• Formed when oil and dead skin come together to create an impaction — think of it like a cork

• Feel hard, like a grain of sand

• Dilate the pore slightly and sit just above the surface

• Can appear invisible to the naked eye, which is why we always use magnification during extractions

• These are what we're after — and with diligent home care, they may not return

What about inflamed acne lesions? We never dig into inflamed, deep acne lesions. That's derm territory — and honestly, best left there. What we can do is support healing through spot treatments, high frequency, LED therapy, and cold rolling. If a particularly stubborn lesion isn't responding, your dermatologist can offer a cortisone shot or other targeted treatments. We'll always point you in the right direction.

"Clear skin" is one of the most misunderstood terms in skincare — and we think it's worth redefining.

Clear skin doesn't mean you will never break out again. It means you are in control of your acne, instead of your acne controlling you.

Skin is living tissue. It ebbs and flows with hormones, stress, environmental changes, product changes, travel, and life in general. That's completely normal — and it doesn't mean something has gone wrong.

A few important truths about acne:

• Acne is largely genetic

• There is no cure for acne

• There is no single universal law on how to treat it — which is exactly why there are so many competing methods and theories out there, and why going it alone can feel so overwhelming and lead to setbacks

So how do we approach it at McLaughlin Studios? We use the Dr. James Fulton Method of treating acne — a research-backed protocol with an impressive 95% success rate.

Dr. Fulton was a dermatologist who dedicated his career to the study of acne and authored Acne Rx. You may also know his work by another name — he was one of the co-creators of Retin-A (tretinoin). Dr. Fulton was among the first to establish that acne is about far more than oil production alone. His research revealed that acne is driven by a combination of factors:

• Dead skin buildup inside the follicle

• Its reaction with pore-clogging ingredients

• An immune response to bacteria

• A sensitivity and reactivity to inflammation

Understanding acne this way changes everything about how we treat it — and why a personalized, methodical approach gets real, lasting results.

To give you a truly accurate assessment of what's happening with your skin, I'd need to analyze it in person — but here's a general guide to the most common post-acne marks and what they mean:

Pink, Red, or Purple Marks — Post-Inflammatory Erythema (PIE) Think of PIE as blood shadows left behind after inflammatory breakouts. These marks are vascular, not melanin-based — which is why many "dark spot correctors" won't touch them. The darker and more saturated they are, the longer they've been there. Purple fades to red, red fades to pink, and slowly they process out. For most adults, this takes approximately three to six months — feels like forever, I know. The good news? They are not scars. They are not permanent. They are just a total pain.

This is exactly why addressing inflammation is the first and most important priority in acne work. Daily SPF, an antioxidant, gentle acid exfoliation appropriate for your skin, and a balanced skin barrier are your best tools for moving these along.

Brown, Black, or Blue Marks — Hyperpigmentation (Post-Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation/PIH) Our melanocytes are actually part of our immune system. When an inflamed acne lesion occurs, the immune system kicks into high gear — and that overabundance of melanin in the area of trauma is part of that response.

The honest truth? Even if you never pick, hyperpigmentation can still happen depending on how reactive your melanocytes are genetically. These marks are tricky to treat and require patience — first they fade, then they resolve, but six months or more is realistic depending on the depth and saturation of the mark.

Avoiding inflamed breakouts, avoiding picking, exfoliating gently, using a melanin suppressant, antioxidants, and applying — and reapplying — your SPF daily are all essential. For deeper or more saturated spots, I refer clients to a trusted dermatologist with a proven track record working with melanin-rich skin.

Atrophic Scarring This is the most serious category. Atrophic scarring occurs when an acne lesion heals and leaves a depression in the skin's structural support — imagine a balloon deflating under the surface. It expanded, pushing collagen and elastin aside to make room, and now that space is empty, causing the skin to sink inward. This is not uncommon with larger, inflamed acne lesions.

These marks are permanent, and I want to be honest with you about that. Topical solutions — even retinols and tretinoin/Retin-A — can soften and minimize their appearance, but they cannot fill the structural loss. Advanced resurfacing treatments performed by a dermatologist or plastic surgeon are the most effective path forward, at a frequency they recommend. Managing expectations here isn't giving up — it's respecting your skin and getting you the right level of care.

The honest answer: it varies. Genetics, lifestyle, and your unique skin situation all play a role — but a realistic and encouraging timeline to expect notable progress is three to six months.

Here's why it takes that long, and why that timeline actually makes a lot of sense:

Clogs that form beneath the surface can take up to three months to develop into those inflamed acne lesions we see on the surface. By the time you spot the inflammation, you're actually watching the end of their lifecycle — not the beginning. This is why our approach is proactive rather than reactive. The goal is to prevent clogging in the first place, extract small clogs before they develop, and treat inflammation so the bigger breakouts have less fuel to work with.

It's more than just your skincare routine Most acne is a combination of factors. Beyond homecare, things like shampoo, haircare, makeup, and even toothpaste can contain pore-clogging ingredients that quietly plant seeds for future breakouts. Every time a clogging product touches your skin, think of it like planting seeds that take up to three months to bloom — and our job is to grow as few blossoms as possible.

Here's the science behind why this matters so much: people with acne-prone skin shed dead skin inside the follicle at five times the rate of those without the genetic predisposition. All that dead debris creates the perfect environment for pore-clogging ingredients — typically oil or fat-based products small enough to slip into the pore and bind with dead skin — to cause real problems.

If your acne is purely cosmetic (known as acne cosmetica, caused entirely by topical products), you may see faster results once those products are removed. But for most people, clearing acne successfully means:

• Avoiding pore-clogging ingredients — in skincare and haircare, makeup, and beyond

• Staying diligent with your custom-tailored acne-fighting routine

• Getting regular treatments with extractions to stay ahead of buildup

The bottom line Genetics aren't something we can change — but we can absolutely work with what we've got. Think of it like learning where all the potholes in Oakland are, so you can drive around them. 😉

Are wrinkles and expression lines the same thing?

Great question — and the answer is no! They're related, but they're actually quite different, and understanding the distinction changes how we approach treating them.

Wrinkles Wrinkles are the result of the breakdown of collagen, elastin, and the skin's deeper support structure. They are present whether you're making an expression or not — resting face included. They typically show up first around the eyes, forehead, and between the brows, and develop from a combination of structural shifting as we collect birthday candles, as well as the repeated strength and movement of our facial muscles over time.

Wrinkles are more than a topical skin issue, which means topical treatments alone can only do so much — though they absolutely help. We can work on their appearance with deeper tools like retinols, tretinoin, and Retin-A to exfoliate from the bottom up, and layer in growth factors and cytokines from stem cells to not just rejuvenate, but genuinely restore. For deeper wrinkles, combining regular facials with advanced dermatologist-directed treatments is often the most effective path to aging as gracefully as possible.

Expression Lines Expression lines are a little different — and the good news is they're more responsive to topical care. They can appear before wrinkles fully form, or exist right alongside them. Expression lines occur most frequently when the skin's barrier is out of balance, largely due to something called TEWL — transepidermal water loss, or topical dehydration.

Here's the part that surprises most people: drinking more water won't fix this one. TEWL has to be addressed at the barrier level, from the outside in.

When skin is dehydrated — or dehydrated and dry — and we make an expression, the skin can sort of stick in that position, holding the line for a short time after the expression has passed. It isn't permanent… yet. Which is exactly why catching and addressing it early makes such a difference.