When I got home, I immediately burst into tears. My face was raw, dry, and swollen. These weren't the results I was promised! I lamented. The rest of the evening continued in an endless loop of ice packs, Aquaphor, hydrocortisone cream, and this savior aloe mask from S.W. Basics . I told myself that if I woke up the next morning and was still this red, I'd email Dr. Rokhsar.Sure enough, Saturday came and my face was still red and raw. I emailed Dr. Rokhsar, who confirmed that I was healing properly, and that my face was truly not as bad as I thought. (This is the part where I interject and say that, despite how hellish this experience sounds, Dr. Rokhsar couldn't have been more professional or accommodating. He emailed me to check in multiple times, requesting photos of my recovery. And, spoiler alert: This story doesn't end in tragedy, despite the spiraling tale of doom you've followed thus far.)This is when my mental meltdown started. I started obsessively taking selfies and sending them to my close friends, daring them to tell me how hideous I was. "I'll never be pretty again!" I texted them. "I'm a monster! I've fucked up my face forever — and it was such a good face!" I tried three different times to apply makeup, only to have it cake and burn mere minutes after I put it on. I canceled brunch plans with my good friends, telling them to go on without me, and then tossed myself into bed to cry.I'm only slightly dramatic. Promise.Around 4 p.m., I finally pulled myself together — I had a Halloween party to get to, for goodness' sake. I caked my face with Dermablend foundation (a true lifesaver), and then popped a Benadryl and Advil to keep the swelling and itching to a minimum. My costume involved a mask over my forehead — Holly Golightly with the mean reds, which felt especially fitting. Once I had my first sip of Halloween punch, I quickly forgot about my skin woes.On Sunday, I woke up to a face that was a lot closer to normal. I was able to apply makeup, and swapped out Aquaphor for my regular skin cream . And today, five days out from my facial, I can already see results —I'm sitting at my desk today with concealer only under my eyes, which is a revelation. My skin is definitely more even and I do detect a bit of radiance. Dr. Rokhsar said I should see full results in two weeks — including firmer skin, shrunken zits, and a glowy complexion. (I won't lie, I think I earned it.)So would I suggest a vampire facial to other people? Maybe — you have to be available for some downtime and be cool with a decent amount of redness, other than all the blood during the actual event. Others who have experienced it have reported few to no issues in their healing process. And some derms are divided on whether it's truly effective at all.While the jury's still out on how well my skin took to the facial, I can say with certainty that I will not be trying this again. Give me a facial with aromatherapy and mud masks any day of the week. But from now on, I'll be leaving vampires in horror films and the YA section of the bookstore, where they belong.