Holiday Skin Prep Timeline | GLOW Beauty Bar Etobicoke

Every year, the third week of December brings the same phone call. Something is happening on Saturday. Can we fit something in.

We will always do what we can. But the honest answer is that the treatments capable of making a real difference by Saturday are not the treatments capable of making the biggest difference, and if the call had come in October, we would have had considerably better options.

So: the working backwards version.

Eight to Twelve Weeks Out, Now This is the window for anything collagen-led. Microneedling and radiofrequency tightening work by prompting your skin to build, and building takes time. Results develop over weeks and typically improve across a series rather than after a single session. Started in late October, a course of treatment is arriving at its best right when you want it to.

This is also the right time for any resurfacing or laser series addressing pigmentation or texture. These work in sequence. One is useful; three spaced properly is a different result entirely.

Four to Six Weeks Out, Early to Mid November

Room for one more treatment in an active series, and the last comfortable point to try something you have not had before. Nobody should be trialling a new treatment for the first time two weeks before a party, not because anything is likely to go wrong, but because you want to know how your skin responds before there is a date attached to the answer.

This is also when a proper product routine starts earning its keep. Anything working on pigmentation or texture at home needs weeks, not days.

Two Weeks Out, Late November

Hydration and barrier work. This is HydraFacial territory, and treatments in this window are about condition rather than change: clearing congestion, restoring hydration, calming anything reactive after a month of indoor heating.

Three to Seven Days Out

A gentle, hydrating facial. No resurfacing, no needling, nothing new. The goal at this point is skin that is comfortable and well-hydrated, and that is achievable on short notice.

What Not to Do in the Final Week

Do not book your first ever peel or laser treatment. Do not add three new actives to your routine. Do not decide that this is the week to be aggressive with a spot. Skin under pressure behaves badly, and the final week is for maintenance, not experiments.

One Note on Booking

November and December fill earlier than any other months in our calendar, and the appointments that go first are the evening and weekend slots. If a series is the plan, booking the full sequence at once is the only reliable way to get spacing that actually works.

Book your consultation here

Results may vary. Individual outcomes depend on skin type and treatment plan.

EltaMD UV Clear or UV Daily: How to Choose the Sunscreen You'll Actually Wear

If there is one question we hear more than any other in the treatment room, it is this: what sunscreen should I actually be wearing?

Not which one is best on paper. Not which one has the highest number on the front. Which one will still be on the bathroom shelf in March, half used, because it felt good enough to reach for on a Tuesday morning when you were already running late.

That is the real question, and it is the right one. The most effective sunscreen is the one you wear every day. Everything else is secondary.

Our answer has come back to the same two formulas for years, and we are glad to say they are back on our shelves. EltaMD UV Clear SPF 46 and UV Daily SPF 40 are available to pre-order now.

Why we are still talking about sunscreen in October

It is easy to put SPF away with the patio furniture. The days are shorter, the light is flatter, and it stops feeling urgent.

But UVA rays are present year round. They are there on grey days, and they come through windows — the car window on your commute, the one beside your desk. They do not announce themselves the way a summer burn does, which is exactly why they are easy to ignore.

October is also when many of our clients begin a laser, peel or microneedling series. Those treatments work by creating controlled change in the skin, and the skin needs protection while it does that work. Daily SPF is not an optional extra alongside a treatment plan. It is part of it. If you are investing in your skin this season, the sunscreen you wear in between appointments is doing a meaningful share of the work.

So the question is not whether to wear it. It is which one.

UV Clear SPF 46

UV Clear is broad-spectrum SPF 46, made with zinc oxide, and it is oil-free. It is lightweight to the point that most clients forget they have it on, and it wears comfortably alone or under makeup.

It also contains niacinamide, which calms the look of redness, and hyaluronic acid for hydration.

This is the one we reach for most often with skin that is sensitive, breakout-prone or flushes easily. It is also our usual suggestion for skin that is fresh from a treatment, once your aesthetician has told you it is time to restart products.

Choose UV Clear if: your skin gets shiny by the afternoon, congests easily, reacts to new products, or you are in the middle of a treatment series.

UV Daily SPF 40

UV Daily is broad-spectrum SPF 40, also made with zinc oxide, in a lightweight moisturising lotion. It contains hyaluronic acid, and for many of our clients it does two jobs in one step — hydration and protection, without a separate layer underneath.

Choose UV Daily if: your skin feels tight by mid-morning, tends toward dry, or you would rather simplify your routine down to fewer steps.

If you are genuinely somewhere in the middle, the simplest test is how your skin feels at 3pm. Shiny points you to UV Clear. Tight points you to UV Daily.

Tinted or untinted?

Both formulas come either way.

The tinted versions add a sheer wash of colour that evens the look of your skin tone. They are lovely on mornings when you would rather not reach for foundation at all, and many clients wear the tint as their entire base.

The untinted versions layer under anything, so if you have a foundation or tinted moisturiser you are loyal to, start there.

How to wear it

Sunscreen belongs at the end of your morning routine, after moisturiser and before makeup. Apply generously to your face and neck, and give it about fifteen minutes before sun exposure. Reapply as the label directs, and after swimming, sweating or towel drying.

At night, take it off properly. Sunscreen is designed to sit on the skin rather than sink in, and a single water-based cleanse does not always lift it fully. On heavier SPF days, start with an oil cleanser — our Glowtox Cleansing Oil melts sunscreen and makeup away — and then follow with your usual cleanser. This one change solves more congestion complaints than almost anything else we suggest.

How we choose it with you

Every GLOW client is welcome to a complimentary consultation with skin imaging. It is the difference between a recommendation and a guess.

Imaging shows us what is happening beneath the surface — congestion, redness patterns, sun damage that has not shown up yet — and it lets us match a formula to your skin rather than to the description on the box. It also lets us place SPF properly inside your treatment plan, including when to restart it after laser or microneedling and how to layer it with everything else you are using.

If you have been reading this and still are not certain which one is yours, that is exactly what the consultation is for.

Pricing

	Regular	GLOW+ members
UV Clear SPF 46	$75	$67.50
UV Clear Tinted SPF 46	$79	$71.10
UV Daily SPF 40	$74	$66.60
UV Daily Tinted SPF 40	$74	$66.60

GLOW+ members save 10% on retail skincare and 20% on facial treatments and add-ons. All four are 48g.

Pre-orders are open now, and we will email you as soon as your order is ready.

Pre-order EltaMD Today!

Sunscreens are regulated by Health Canada; always read and follow the label directions. Discontinue use if irritation occurs. Keep out of eyes. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, we recommend confirming with your physician. Full ingredient list on product packaging. Individual results may vary.

Collagen Banking: Why More Clients in Their 20s and 30s Are Starting Early

There's a shift happening in how people think about skin, from "how do I fix this" to "how do I stop this from happening in the first place." The industry has started calling it collagen banking, and it's built around exactly the kind of treatments GLOW already offers.

What collagen banking means

Instead of waiting for visible signs of aging to start treatment, collagen banking is about proactive care in your late 20's and 30's, supporting skin's natural collagen and structure while it's already strong, rather than trying to rebuild it later. It's prevention-minded, not correction-minded.

Why this favours the treatments you already know

This mindset shift favours consistent, gentle maintenance over one-off intensive correction, which points directly at RF tightening, microneedling, and LED therapy. These aren't rescue treatments; they're the kind of steady, cumulative support that fits a "start early" philosophy.

What starting early actually looks like

It doesn't mean a bigger routine. It means consistency: a quarterly rhythm of treatments designed to support skin quality over years, not weeks. If you're in your late 20s or 30s and have never had a facial treatment beyond skincare products, this is a low-pressure way to start.

Is it right for you?

This is still an emerging idea, not a guarantee, and not the right fit for everyone. But if you're curious whether a proactive routine makes sense for your skin and your stage of life, that's exactly the kind of conversation to have at a consultation.

Book a complimentary consultation and we'll talk through what proactive care could look like for you.

Individual results may vary. Cosmetic skincare product; not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any condition.