At-Home Dermaplaning: An Effective, Gentle Exfoliating Treatment

Dermaplaning, a trendy skin care procedure which removes facial hair and promotes cellular regeneration. Often performed by a dermatologist/licensed medical professional, but a safe and effective procedure to carry out at-home to improve skin health and radiance.

What Is Dermaplaning?

Dermaplaning is an exfoliating treatment where a dermatologist uses a surgical scalpel to gently scrape the surface of the skin to remove dead skin and vellus hairs (peach fuzz). At-home dermaplaning is exactly the same process where you use a scalpel to gently shave the whole face, it is generally a safe procedure with low risk for irritation and minimal downtime.

What are the benefits of Dermaplaning?

The best thing about dermaplaning is the immediate results with little to no downtime.

Softer, smoother looking skin

By shaving off dead skin cells, you’re revealing brighter, smoother skin underneath. If you have dark vellus hairs on your face, these are also removed which leads to a brighter, more even-looking skin texture.

Helps improve product absorption

By scraping off dead skin cells, you’re making way for serums and active ingredients to work more effectively into the skin. The absorption of these products is improved and they can penetrate deep into the skin to work more effectively than without dermaplaning.

Helps fade acne scars

By exfoliating the skin, cell turnover is improved. Continuous dermaplaning treatments can therefore help to potentially fade acne scars. Medical evidence surrounding this topic is a little scarce however.

Prevents Acne From Forming

Vellus hairs are often responsible for trapping dirt, dead skin cells and oil in your pores which in turn causes acne and breakouts. By shaving these hairs off you’re reducing the likelihood of pore congestion, therefore reducing the probability of breaking out.

How To Perform Dermaplaning At Home

1. Purchase a scalpel. You’ll either want to purchase a surgical number 10-blade scalpel, or a small single-blade razor. Using a single blade razor with a simple plastic handle may be easier for first-timers. A surgical scalpel is certainly the more effective instrument however.
2. Prepare your skin for the treatment. Ensure you cleanse your skin thoroughly and pat dry with a towel. Gentle rub an alcohol pad over your skin also, you don’t want any bacteria to get into any accidental cuts.
3. Prepare the instrument. Disinfect the scalpel with alcohol to kill any harmful bacteria.
4. Hold the tool at a 45 degree angle to the skin and gently scrape. A little like microblading your eyebrows, you should use gentle shaving strokes to shave off the peach fuzz and dead skin cells. If you’re a little uncomfortable doing this, hold the blade more parallel to your face. Make sure you achieve full face coverage, be especially careful around the nose and mouth area where the skin is softer.
5. Don’t go over acne or irritated skin. The last thing you want to do is cut into acne, which can lead to bleeding or a bacterial infection. Best to avoid these areas altogether.
6. Follow up with any serums and moisturiser. Product absorption will immediately be improved, so it’s best to follow up with any serums you’d like to apply. Be careful when using any serums with AHAs/BHAs however, as these can cause quite a bit of irritation on your freshly dermaplaned skin. We recommend patch testing first. Moisturising after this step is also essential, to prevent any irritation or dryness, and to protect the skin.

That’s all there is to it. You can perform this dermaplaning procedure once every 3-4 weeks.

Side effects of dermaplaning

Dermaplaning can increase skin sensitivity. Be wary when applying serums with active acids as these can aggravate irritation.

Your skin will also be more sensitive to the sun after a dermaplaning treatment, ensure you apply a minimum of SPF 30+ to keep your skin safe from harmful UV rays.

To sum it up

Dermaplaning at home is an excellent way to immediately improve skin radiance. A disinfected surgical scalpel should be used on the whole face to shave away dead skin cells and peach fuzz. Being gentle is the key here to prevent cuts, and it’s best to follow up with serums and a rich moisturiser for brighter, plumper looking skin. We recommend using a moisturiser with Hyaluronic Acid for optimal skin hydration.