I really love a good facial: its ritual, the permission to sit still for 90 minutes, the way my skin looks afterwards. I'm the person who books facials on vacation, who will try out whatever trend this month is, who drives to San Gabriel for a treatment one TikToker described as “gua sha on steroids.” So, yes, I was willing to pay $430 to have someone's fingers in my mouth if it meant possible jaw realignment. Even if it meant a tuning fork was involved somehow.
The service is offered by Sonia Vargas, esthetician and owner of Sonia Vargas Skin, in a cozy store in Beverly Hills. While in my brain I called it the tuning fork facial, Vargas advertises it as the “restructuring and rebalancing facial.” The 90-minute, $430 treatment promises to physically restructure your face.
Vargas said she left fashion design eight years ago to train in facial massage in techniques such as craniosacral work (gentle manipulation of the skull and spine), manual lymphatic work and TMJ release. She told me that the treatment has become popular with different types of clients. “It just depends on the face, the person, what they need and their budget,” Vargas said.
Some come weekly when they have acute TMJ issues, while others book quarterly maintenance appointments or schedule pre-wedding sessions when they want what Vargas calls a “natural lift.” He has had clients who came in after jaw surgery and received treatments twice a week for months, others who had to deal with poor fillers or Botox and needed intensive work to break up adhesions.
Sonia Vargas performs a lymphatic drainage massage.
The room was like many I had been in for facials, dark, with low music and a bed that took up much of the space. But this one had a special addition of LED lights and “chakra-aligning” gemstones that Vargas said pulsed at 4 hertz, a frequency she says is meant to help the immune system.
First came the family parts. The tingle of glycolic acid, the pain of extractions, the hot towels warming my skin. Vargas then performed myofascial release methods with the precision of someone who knows exactly what he is doing. His fingers moved across my face like a pianist working on complicated scales as he addressed lymphatic drainage and the loosening of my jaw, a pleasurable experience that was not once uncomfortable.
As she continued to work, the gradual lifting of my facial muscles began to build up until it became noticeable. My face felt suspended in what seemed like a permanent knowing smile, as if I'd heard a particularly good joke that no one else got.
After examining my jaw, Vargas suggested I add TMJ release, a $90 addition to the base treatment. What followed was a surprisingly gentle intraoral job, also known as an oral massage. had seen aggressive videos onlinewhere beauticians seem to be trying to extract someone's skeleton through their mouth, but in comparison, this was very peaceful. His gloved fingers worked along my jaw from the inside of my mouth, breaking the silence to notice that my left side was significantly tighter, working slower there. I hadn't mentioned the increasing asymmetry I'd been noticing in photos or that I'd been meaning to ask my dentist about it.
1. Sonia Vargas wraps a warm towel around Jackie Snow's face. 2. Sonia Vargas applies a cleanser. (Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
The tuning fork came last, and Vargas pressed it against various points on my face. It supposedly vibrated at something called the Schumann resonance, 93.96 hertz, he later explained, a frequency that supposedly helps with immune function and chronic pain. It basically felt like what it was: a cold piece of metal against my skin, vibrating. Unlike the spectacular muscle work that had been done before, this one was neutral, a little anticlimactic.
The treatment incorporates elements that fall between established practice and less proven ideas. The lymphatic drainage component has strong scientific support, according to Dr. Ivy Lee, a board-certified dermatologist at Pasadena Comprehensive Dermatology Center. “The scientific evidence really comes from the breast cancer literature,” Lee said, referring to post-surgical lymphedema treatment. For healthy clients seeking wellness treatments, the benefits are primarily limited to temporary reduction in swelling.
Sonia Vargas places a vibrating tuning fork on Jackie Snow's face.
Vibrational therapy occupies murkier territory. Lee pointed to small studies that suggest vibration could temporarily improve microcirculation and skin temperature. But the research that does exist varies enormously in frequency, duration and methodology. “We don't know the optimal dosage of this,” he said. “We don't have an optimal protocol for what frequency of vibration, where it is applied, and for how long it is applied.”
Traditional facial treatment elements have clear benefits, Lee confirmed. As for the rest, he saw no potential for harm, and in our stressful world, that might be the most important thing.
“Anything that can help us have that little moment where we can focus helps,” he said. “Chronic elevated levels of cortisol are not good for us.”
When it comes to claims about facial restructuring and rebalancing, the medical community is skeptical. “There is no evidence-based medication to support any of the claims,” said Dr. Lisa Chipps, a Beverly Hills dermatologist who reviewed details of the treatment. While he acknowledged that practitioners might feel differences in muscle tension, as Vargas did with my jaw, changing or correcting those imbalances is another matter entirely.
Still, Chipps noted what both dermatologists emphasized: There is no evidence that these treatments cause harm. “If it makes people feel good, there's nothing wrong with it,” he said. For some, he suggested, it could be like actors doing exercises before an audition. If it helps them feel better, why not?
Vargas believes that the face is connected to the entire fascial system of the body, which is either a revolutionary bodywork or an expensive fiction, depending on who you ask. When I mentioned that breaking my pinky while surfing three years ago had impacted my back and now maybe even my jaw, he agreed that it was possible. “The neck and shoulders are very tense,” Vargas told me. “When you get certain injuries, you think they're just there, but it actually affects everything.”
My skin looked great for the next few days, glowing and plump. I couldn't tell if that was due to lymphatic drainage or fascia work, tuning fork or just 90 minutes of focused attention. In a city where everyone is stressed and most people have a clenched jaw without even knowing it, the result was worth it. And while Vargas clearly believes in deeper bodywork, he hasn't lost sight of the basics.
“I'm still an esthetician,” Vargas said. “I want your skin to look good.”
