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Clearing the Air The wand of an esthetics oxygen machine resembles an airbrush gun. The ECHO2Plus Oxygen Treatment System, invented in 1991 by a respiratory therapist who had witnessed the remarkable skin cell regeneration and healing that can occur with hyperbaric therapy, was the first commercially available treatment using pure oxygen outside a hospital or medical office environment, according to ECHO2Plus president Jeffrey Lapin. "Penetration into the dermal junction of the skin, where the body generates all new skin cells and collagen, allows natural cell generation to use the oxygen and other nutrients to speed up and enhance the process of cell turnover," Lapin says. "The faster a new cell replaces an older cell, the younger looking our skin becomes." Most spa owners are familiar with the basic setup of these machines. Oxygen is provided in one of two 60 DAYSPA | DECEMBER 2013 Selling Better Skin Try these tips to help keep your clients excited about oxygen: Use service recommendations Client recommendations should start at the point of booking, if possible. Of course, it can be difficult to make recommendations without seeing a client's skin first, but Heidi Lamar, owner of The Lamar Everyday Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona, often recommends her spa's Echo2 Oxygen Facial (55 minutes, $135) to those who want to see a difference. "In particular, here in Arizona, we see a lot of sun damage, and so the oxygen facial is a good recommendation for those who have overdone it, including cases of immediate sunburn," she notes. "It's also a great service for clients who are regular smokers." To encourage recommendations, choose a system that's portable enough to roll from room to room and quiet enough to be used in any service area, regardless of what other treatments might be taking place. Make it special Your services will stand out if they're more of an experience. "The machines often have a psychotherapeutic value," says Tino Lerma, global corporate trainer and medical esthetic educator for Pevonia International. "The action used to perform the facial is really more of a micromassage: you can get nasal cannula to breathe in scented oxygen as part of the treatment. Even the therapist ends up feeling good afterward!" "The more slowly and rhythmically an esthetician moves, the greater the opportunity to have the oxygen advance the ingredients into the skin," adds Deirdre Burke, vice president of U.S. sales for Intraceuticals. "The more creative and artistic you are, the better the results will be." Sell a series "We offer a 'buy five and get the sixth treatment free' series for our oxygen facials, without an expiration date," Lamar says. "Many clients opt to spread them out to every other month rather than every month, to extend the benefits." ways: 1) through long metal canisters (the same way that respiratory oxygen is delivered), or 2) through concentrator equipment, which purifies and concentrates the oxygen from the surrounding air. The wand resembles an airbrush gun, but with specially molded surgical steel tips to ensure safety and durability. The stream of nearly pure oxygen generated by these machines is applied under pressure between the tip of the applicator and the skin. This action helps PHOTO COURTESY ECHO2PLUS OUT OF THIN AIR In hospitals, medical hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves exposing the body to 100% oxygen at a greater pressure than normal. As a treatment for wound healing, it can be valuable: A study by R.J. Goldman, et. al., published in the journal PM&R; (American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation), cited evidence that hyperbaric oxygen reduces amputation risk among people with diabetic foot ulcers by helping to heal wounded tissue, and that it also promotes successful skin grafts. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy can also be applied topically to a single part of the body, and this is the closest correlation to how esthetic oxygen machines work. Skin is a semipermeable membrane; although most substances can't penetrate this barrier, there are some delivery methods that enable ingredients with low molecular weights to pass through to the skin's uppermost layers.