What Is an All-Inclusive Facial? Inside My No-Upsell Booking Model

The question I hear most from new clients isn't about wrinkles or breakouts. It's this: "Which facial should I book?" My answer surprises people every time — you don't book a facial here. You book time. Everything else, we figure out together once your skin and I have been properly introduced.

How most spas price — and where it goes sideways

The standard spa model is a menu: the Signature Glow, the Hydra-Something, the Deluxe with the seasonal name. You pick one from a list, mostly by guessing, and then — once you're on the table in a robe — the add-on conversation begins. Would you like to include an enzyme today? An eye treatment? A serum upgrade, only $35 more?

I've watched that model from inside this industry for three decades, and here's the honest problem with it: it puts the esthetician's paycheck in tension with the client's best interest. When revenue depends on upsells, every recommendation carries a little asterisk. And you end up doing math in a robe, wondering whether you truly need the upgrade or whether someone has a quota this week.

Here, you book the time: 50, 70 or 100 minutes

At Truth In Beauty, the pricing is three numbers and nothing hiding behind them:

• 50-minute European facial — $140
• 70-minute all-inclusive session — $170
• 100-minute all-inclusive session — $250

That's the entire menu. Whatever your skin needs within your booked time is included in the price. The number you see when you book is the number you pay when you leave. If you're not sure which to pick for a first visit, the 70-minute session is the sweet spot for most new clients — enough room to analyze, treat and talk without watching the clock.

What "everything included" actually means

Every appointment starts with a professional skin analysis — a real one, under proper light, not a glance and a guess. Then we decide together what your skin needs that day. Maybe that's a fruit enzyme and extended facial massage. Maybe it's a chemical peel, dermaplaning, microdermabrasion or LED light therapy. The full range of services is on the table, and if a treatment fits your skin and your time, it's simply part of the session. There is no add-on price list, because there are no add-ons.

It also means the plan can change on the spot. If you booked imagining a peel but arrive with a stressed, flaky barrier that would not thank us for acid, I'll say so, and we'll do what your skin actually needs instead. Nobody pays extra for honesty.

Time is the honest unit here. Fifty minutes covers a focused facial: analysis, cleansing, exfoliation, a mask and massage. Seventy adds room for extras your skin might want that day. A hundred minutes is the full reset — the appointment where nothing is rushed and stubborn skin finally gets the sustained attention it needs. Which one you book depends on your calendar and your goals, not on decoding a spa menu.

Why I built it this way

I'm a solo practitioner. There's no corporate menu handed down from headquarters, no commission structure, no quota chart in a back office. After 30 years in aesthetics, I know exactly which appointments build trust: the ones where the only question in the room is what's best for your skin. When the price is settled before you walk in, the entire appointment relaxes — you stop being a sales opportunity and get to just be a person on a warm table for an hour. Clients ask better questions when there's no bill anxiety attached to the answers. They tell me the truth about their home routines. They actually relax — and skin responds better to relaxed people, a thing I couldn't prove in a lab but would stake 30 years of experience on.

If January has you rethinking your whole routine — I wrote a New Year skin reset guide earlier this month — this booking model is the same philosophy in practice: fewer decisions, better ones, made with someone who has no reason to sell you anything.

Frequently asked questions

What does an all-inclusive appointment cost?

You book the time, not a menu item: a 50-minute European facial is $140, a 70-minute all-inclusive session is $170, and a 100-minute session is $250. Every treatment your skin needs that day is included in that price.

Do I need to choose my treatments before I book?

No. Just choose how much time you want. Your appointment starts with a professional skin analysis, and we decide together what your skin needs that day — peels, enzymes, dermaplaning, massage, LED and more are all on the table.

What if I want a specific treatment, like dermaplaning?

Tell me — requests are always welcome. If your skin is a good candidate that day, it is simply part of your session at no extra charge. If it is not a good idea for your skin right then, I will tell you honestly and explain why.

Is anything priced separately?

Yes, two things: permanent makeup for brows starts at $250 with a phone consultation first, and the MelanoPro Peel System, a med-spa pigmentation treatment, is $350. Everything within a regular facial appointment is included in your booked time.