A gentler skin treatment

It feels like a rejuvenation in more ways than one. You turn out of the bustling traffic around South Coast Plaza, make a detour onto Town Center Drive and let the valet park your car. Inside, you drop your clothes in a locker and slide on a robe, then wait in the lounge until the aesthetician comes to pick you up.

In a smaller room, you slip under a single bedsheet and shut your eyes. The lights dim and relaxing piano music plays. A pair of soft hands lather your face with lotion, and then a peculiar sensation begins — like a tiny vacuum cleaner running across your face, tugging gently at the skin. Within half an hour, you stand before the mirror again and your skin literally glows.

The location is the Spa and Fitness Club in Costa Mesa, and the contraption is the HydraFacial, a new machine that removes dead skin cells and cleanses and moistens skin. According to the website for the Edge Systems Corporation, which markets the HydraFacial, only six locations in Orange County feature the $30,000 machine.

"It's the hot new thing," said Susan Hammond, the lead aesthetician for the Spa and Fitness Club.

The Spa, located across the street from South Coast Plaza, received the HydraFacial machine in April and began offering it to clients in May. Customers can choose from three treatments of different lengths: a basic 25-minute run-through ($150), a 50- minute one designed to reverse the signs of aging ($250), and an advanced 80-minute therapy that is recommen- ded for acne or oil-prone skin ($335).

Brian Gilkey, who oversees reservations for the Spa, said 10 to 20 customers make reservations every week for the HydraFacial. The 50-minute treatment, he said, was the most popular, but the more expensive 80-minute one was starting to lure more customers.

The machine, he said, offered an alternative to the typical Microdermabrasion treatment, which cleans pores and eliminates dead skin.

"Microdermabrasion can be kind of a rough treatment," Gilkey said. "It can lead to skin becoming red and irritated. With HydraFacial, it's not so rough on the skin. It's a lot lighter on the skin, but it still has the same results."

For more information call (714) 850-0050.