This Facial Steamer Completely Saved My Dry Winter Skin

Hot take: The best part of a facial is the facial steamer. As someone who would live in a sauna if she could, there’s nothing more relaxing than the feeling of warm steam. During the cold winter months, I’ll park it under my shower head, luxuriating in the hot water and steam, and apply a face mask to re-create the spa experience at home. 

During a facial, your facialist will typically use a a facial steamer—a steady stream of ultrafine steam—to help open your pores after cleansing. This allows the skin to loosen up for treatments like exfoliation, extraction, and massaging, and absorb products like face masks, serums, and moisturizer. 

While these obvious benefits make facial steamers an integral part of any great facial, the steam is also straight-up relaxing. The sensation of warm mist gently caressing my face nearly lulls me to sleep every time. When I’m not half-asleep, I usually try to meditate, focusing on my breathing and inhaling the mist, which helps clear my sinuses as well. So you can imagine my excitement when I discovered Dr. Dennis Gross’s Pro Facial Steamer, which helps me live out my spa dreams at home. 

The Pro Facial Steamer is exactly like the devices pros use, but in the comfort of your own home. During a time when salon visits and in-person treatments are not for everybody, this device makes it very easy to DIY facials or, in my case, just sit in steam for nine glorious minutes. The device is user-friendly, featuring a removable chamber for storing water, a simple on-off button, a curved nozzle to release steam, and a handle for mobility. 

It’s important to note: This is not like your garment steamer at home. The steam is warm and comfortable, with a consistent stream of mist that never spurts water in your face like some facial steamers. That being said, Dr. Dennis Gross cautions to position your face at least eight inches away from the nozzle to avoid any scalding. 

The steamer also includes a guide to DIY facials, and recommends the brand’s cult-favorite Alpha Beta Daily Peels after steaming, followed by serum and moisturizer. I’m a huge fan of its C+ Collagen Deep Cream, which smells amazing and leaves my skin radiant and dewy. When I want to really amp up the spa feel, I’ll take a glob of Joanna Vargas Exfoliating Mask with kaolin clay and volcanic ash and massage into my skin while steaming. It even helps with breakouts—after my chin received an influx of zits and whiteheads, I steamed the area and applied the DRx Blemish Solutions Acne Eliminating Gel and woke up to my maskne much smaller in size. 

At $150, the Pro Facial Steamer is definitely a splurge, but well worth it. If you wish every day could be a spa day, well, now it can be.