What's dermaplaning?
The basic concept of dermaplaning is the same as shaving. By aiming a sterile blade at a 45-degree angle and dragging it slowly across your skin, you remove dead cells, scar tissue, and other debris that may be making your skin's surface look uneven.Your skin is exposed daily to harsh environmental toxins, irritants, and sun damage. This can cause the top layer of your skin to appear dull, making you look aged. Dermaplaning clears away those damaged skin cells, so newer skin cells are what you see when you look in the mirror.
What is dermaplaning for?
Dermaplaning aims to make your skin's surface smooth, youthful, and radiant. This treatment claims to remove deep scarring from acne and uneven pockmarks on your skin. It's also used to remove "peach fuzz," the short, soft hairs on your face.
Is it painful?
Dermaplaning is one of the least painful ways to remove facial hair and dead skin—especially when compared to other hair removal techniques like sugaring, threading, and waxing. Many people describe the feeling of dermaplaning as a gentle tickle or brushing sensation.
Is it a safe procedure?
Dermaplaning is a low-risk procedure.
What are the side effects?
Side effects may include slight redness in your face in the hours after getting the treatment. Some people develop whiteheads on their skin in the day or two after dermaplaning. Infection and scarring are rare after dermaplaning, but they do occur. Another possible side effect is a patchy skin pigment in the area where you have the procedure, which may decrease or disappear as time goes on.
Is there a downtime?
You don't need to plan any downtime to recover from a dermaplaning treatment. You may experience redness or feel like your skin is scraped in the two or three days right after the procedure.
What to expect after a session?
You may notice that your skin looks brighter immediately after you're finished with a dermaplaning treatment, but it often takes a few days to appreciate the full results. As any redness subsides, you'll be able to see the results more clearly in the days afterward.
Is it a permanent treatment?
Results of dermaplaning aren't permanent. The procedure claims to clear away up to three weeks' worth of dead skin cells. After three weeks to a month, your results will have faded.
What to do after the dermaplaning session?
You should avoid strenuous activities for 48 hours and stay away from the chemical peel and makeup. The reason is that most of the effects of the chemical peel are permanent once you're done with it. After a dermaplaning treatment, you'll need to be extra careful about sun exposure. Sun damage could reverse the effects of dermaplaning or create pigment blotches on your freshly uncovered skin cells. In the weeks after a dermaplaning treatment, don't leave the house without wearing sunscreen on your face.
How often should dermaplaning be done?
This will be different for everyone, but a good rule of thumb would be to do it about once every five weeks for most people. There are many reasons why you might want to keep up those layers.
Is dermaplaning for darker skin?
While some exfoliation methods (like scrubs) aren't recommended for darker skin, dermaplaning is 100% safe. Dermaplaning is a type of manual exfoliation like a face scrub. However, unlike a scrub, dermaplaning doesn't irritate or cause micro-abrasions in the skin so that it won't cause hyperpigmentation.
What are the contraindications?
Those with current inflamed acne lesions, skin cancer, active cold sores, uncontrolled diabetes, dermatitis, open skin lesions. Use of Accutane currently or in the past six months and use of prescription retinol within a week of treatment.
Will dermaplaning make your hair grow back thicker?
When you dermaplane, you are removing very, very fine hair called vellus hair. This hair is so thin and soft that removing it with a dermaplaning tool will have little to no impact on how it looks when it grows back. It's biologically impossible for hair to grow back thicker because of this procedure.