Shave your way to brighter, smoother skin
When it comes to exfoliating your skin, shaving your face probably isn’t top of mind. But as far as beauty trends go, it’s something you may want to consider if you’re looking for brighter, smoother skin.
Dermaplaning is a gentle exfoliation procedure using a surgical steel blade to remove the top layers of dead skin and fine hairs from the face. During the procedure, aestheticians start with a freshly cleansed face and use a sweeping motion across the skin. It’s followed up with products appropriate for the skin, such as toner, moisturizer and sunscreen.
Despite being a safe and highly effective procedure to brighten the skin that doesn’t require any downtime, there’s a lot of misinformation floating around, so let’s separate fact from fiction.
FACT: Dermaplaning is safe for all skin types.
It’s great for dry, normal and oily skin types, as well as any skin color, especially if you’re just starting a skin care routine. It won’t cause hyperpigmentation in people with deeper skin tones. Also, particularly for people who have darker hairs, it makes their skin look more even toned.
FICTION: You can use the same razor to shave your legs to shave your face.
The disposable razors you buy at the store work well for coarse hair but, during the dermaplaning procedure, we target fine hairs. Aestheticians use a special blade that gives us more control to remove fine hairs from the entire face – the forehead, cheeks, upper lip and chin.
FACT: It’s great for people with sensitive skin.
If your skin can’t handle the chemicals used during a glycolic acid, enzyme or lactic acid peel, dermaplaning is a great way to go. During the procedure, we use a mechanical exfoliation – a sweeping motion of the blade – to remove dead skin and peach fuzz.
FICTION: Dermaplaning is only for young skin.
Age doesn’t really matter. Dermaplaning is part of taking good care of our skin. The younger we start, the better. Later down the road, it can make our skin look its best.
FACT: If you have a major acne breakout, it’s not for you.
People with significant acne should avoid dermaplaning but, if you have a few acne spots, we can maneuver around them to avoid disturbing the sores.
FICTION: Your facial hair will grow back darker and thicker.
The purpose of the dermaplaning procedure is to stimulate our natural cell turnover, which slows down as we age. We want to do some type of cell turnover every 28 days for healthier, younger-looking skin. The facial hair growth will not change.
FACT: It’s safe to have dermaplaning done before a special event.
It’s a really nice way to give your skin a glow before an event. If you’re a bride trying it for the first time, I’d recommend doing it once in advance, prior to having it done just before your wedding.
FICTION: You’ll damage your skin if you combine dermaplaning with other procedures.
Skincare routines are totally customizable. Aestheticians can do dermaplaning and a chemical exfoliation during the same visit. Dermaplaning works well in conjunction with Botox and fillers. It can even be used as a maintenance procedure to maintain skin health after cosmetic surgery.
Eve Suiter is an aesthetician in the department of plastic surgery at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
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