What is Geneo? The Bohr Effect, explained

Most facials work the same basic way. A product goes on your skin, and your skin absorbs whatever it can, whenever it feels like it. That process is called passive absorption, and it is exactly what it sounds like. Your skin is a barrier by design, built to keep things out more than to let them in, so much of what gets applied simply sits on the surface until it wears off or washes away.

Geneo works differently. It is our new featured treatment at The Follicle Spa, and instead of hoping ingredients find their way in, it creates the physiological conditions for your skin to pull them in on its own. That difference is the whole story, so let’s look at how it actually works.

Exfoliate, infuse, oxygenate

Geneo is built around three treatments happening in one: exfoliation, infusion, and oxygenation. The exfoliation clears away the outer layer of dead skin cells. The infusion delivers a formula chosen for your skin’s specific needs. And the oxygenation is where things get interesting, because this is not oxygen sprayed onto the surface the way some “oxygen facials” work. It is oxygen your own body generates and sends to the treatment area, from the inside.

That last part relies on something called the Bohr Effect, and once you understand it, the rest of the treatment makes a lot more sense.

The Bohr Effect, in plain language

The Bohr Effect is not a skincare invention. It is basic human physiology, discovered over a century ago, and it describes something your body does every single day: when carbon dioxide rises in a particular area of tissue, your blood responds by releasing more oxygen into that exact spot.

Geneo’s OxyPod uses this. During treatment, the pod creates a gentle, controlled CO₂ reaction on the skin’s surface. Your body reads that CO₂ the way it would read any localized buildup, as a signal that this area needs more oxygen. So it responds as it always does: it sends oxygen-rich blood to that part of your face.

Here is why that matters for the rest of the facial. That same window, when your skin is flushed with fresh, oxygenated blood, is also a window of peak receptivity. Skin actively receiving increased circulation absorbs far more than skin passively sitting under a product. So the infusion step is timed to that moment. The ingredients are not competing with a closed barrier. They are being absorbed by skin your own body has just primed to take them in, which is a genuinely different mechanism than a typical facial relies on.

Zero downtime, and it works for reactive skin too

There is no peeling, no lingering redness, no days of recovery built into this. You can book a Geneo facial on a Tuesday and be at dinner Tuesday night with nothing to explain.

That gentleness is also what makes it suitable for skin types that usually get excluded from more aggressive exfoliating treatments. Rosacea, reactive skin, sensitive skin, skin that flares under abrasion or acids: Geneo was built to work with all of it. The exfoliation is calibrated rather than harsh, and the CO₂ reaction that drives the Bohr Effect is mild by design. You are not overriding your skin’s natural response. You are working with it.

Two ways to experience it

We offer Geneo in two formats: a 60-minute protocol and a 75-minute VIP protocol. The 60-minute version now includes cleansing, exfoliation through surface microdermabrasion, serum infusion, a mask, and a hand and arm massage, finished with a new addition we’re calling Glow & Go: a light application of Jane Iredale makeup with built-in SPF, so you leave with sun protection and a finished look rather than bare, freshly treated skin.

We will go deeper into what separates the two protocols in our next post. For now, know that both exist and are built on the same Bohr Effect foundation.

Your pod is chosen for you, not by you

Geneo treatments use different pod formulations, each one addressing a different skin concern. We are not going to walk through all seven here. That is intentional, and it is also the next blog’s job.

What matters right now is this: pod selection always happens during your consultation, never before it. Your skin is assessed in person, in real time, and the pod is chosen based on what your skin actually needs that day, not on what you booked online or what worked for a friend. Skin changes with the season, with stress, with hormones, with sun exposure. What it needed in March is not necessarily what it needs in July. A consultation is how we make sure the treatment matches the skin in front of us, not a guess.

If you are curious about Geneo, the best next step is simple: book the complimentary consultation, and let us take a look at your skin before we talk pods, protocols, or pricing. The science is the interesting part today. What it means for your specific skin is what we will figure out together.

To book your complimentary Geneo consultation, call us at 905-681-0277, email Hello@thefollicle.com, or visit https://thefollicle.com/book-an-appointment/