Micro Dermabrasion V’s Dermaplaning

Your face is how you greet the world. It is the first thing people see when they see you. Whether you just want to maintain the healthy skin you already have or you have some skin issues you’d like to improve upon, regular facial treatments can help.

When considering facial treatments, microdermabrasion and dermaplaning are two of the most popular options available.

What is the difference?

These treatments have opened up a world of possibilities for individuals looking to refresh their skin, treat a specific condition or engage in preventative care. With seemingly endless possibilities, how do you know which one is right for you?

While they sound similar, there are several key factors to keep in mind when choosing which one, if either, will help give you healthy, luminous skin.

As we get older the aging process slows down, the natural cell turnover process slows down as we age, leaving dead cells layered on the surface of our skin that accentuate the lines, roughness and unevenness. Both treatments can help with this

Micro-dermabrasion

Micro-dermabrasion is a non-surgical resurfacing technique that uses diamond tip wand to loosen layers of dead skin cells and unclog pores. Suction gently removes the dead skin cells and also lifts your skin at the same time, which triggers the body to create fresh cells. This treatment invigorates the skin, leaving it feeling soft and smooth. It is relatively painless, non-invasive procedure.

It also aids in reducing the appearance of large pores, fine lines, and wrinkles. Speeding up cell production, it works well for congested skin. It’s not an aggressive treatment and it is better as a maintenance tool. You can feel a difference after just one treatment.

Since it requires very little downtime, microdermabrasion can be combined with gentle facials or light peels.

However, those with rosacea, broken capillaries, excessively dry skin, or severe acne need to take care when having the treatment. Some therapists say it is best to avoid the treatment, however I would base this on individual circumstances.

What does it involve?

The process at LA beauty generally takes around 1 hour, as we still include a neck and shoulder massage, as we feel this is still really important within a facial.

Whilst slight redness can occur after the treatment, the downtime is short and the skin usually recovers in a day. For best results, we recommend a series of treatments.

As it is a manual non-chemical procedure, pregnant and nursing clients can receive it without worrying about the side effects associated with some ingredients in chemical peels.

The benefits:

• Improve dull or dry skin texture
• Refine appearance of fine lines
• Reduce appearance of pores and acne scarring
• Soften rough or thickened skin
• Reduces uneven skin tone and acne scars
• Smooths textured skin
• Enhances effectiveness of skin care products
• Creates an even base for makeup to glide on easily

When to avoid microdermabrasion?

• Rosacea
• Eczema
• Open sores
• Widespread acne
• Active sunburn

Dermaplaning

Dermaplaning removes dead skin cells as well as vellus hair, commonly referred to as “peach fuzz” for a more smooth appearance.

Keep in mind that this is just an added perk of the procedure and should not be thought of as the main reason for it.  The purpose of this vellus hair is to regulate your skin temperature, so to me this really needs to be left alone.

It’s a gentle, physical exfoliation treatment that rejuvenates the skin and leaves it smooth, supple and vibrant.  Before the procedure, the face is prepped and cleansed.  Then, a 45-degree scalpel-like device is used to gently scrape the top layer of skin.

You can also often pair the treatment with a chemical peel to enhance effectiveness.

Keep in mind that this is not well suited for deep lines and wrinkles or skin with irregular texture.  It is also not for use for severe acne, as it can spread bacteria present in blemishes.  It is best for mild acne, dry to normal and mild to moderate fine lines and wrinkles.

It is suggested to have a treatment every four to six weeks.

Benefits:

• Reduces uneven skin tone and acne scars
• Smooths textured skin
• Minimizes appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
• Enhances effectiveness of skin care products
• Creates an even base for makeup to glide on easily

Avoid dermaplaning if:

• You have very thin skin
• You have severe acne
• You have lesions on your skin
• Rosacea
• Eczema
• Open sores

Both effective

While both microdermabrasion and dermaplaning are effective exfoliating treatments that activate cell regeneration and leave healthy, rejuvenated and youthful-looking skin, they employ very different techniques.

Microdermabrasion and dermaplaning have a lot in common. Both resurface skin and speed up cellular turnover, leading to smoother, younger looking skin. Both require regular treatments or a series of treatments.

They are both manual as opposed to chemical procedures, except some do include a chemical peel with the dermaplaning.

Which one is right for you?

Neither require very much down time.  However, dermaplaning is more aggressive than dermabrasion, your skin can feel sore and looked unnervingly red.

It can take up to 48 hours for the uncomfortable, tender feeling to subside. Dermaplaning is a fairly new treatment taking the beauty industry by storm.

It began in 2015 and is more for all skin types because it doesn’t suck or pull at the skin the way microdermabrasion does.

However, care needs to be taken if you have sensitive skin.

Another thing that worries me…

Dermaplaning has no regulations or pre requisites within this treatment; this means you do not need any prior qualifications to be trained within this treatment.

This means you do not need to be a beauty therapist.  I feel you should have at least a beauty therapist qualification before being qualified to perform this treatment.  If you do choose to have this treatment, I would just be careful and investigate who is doing the treatment.

When people are offering this treatment extremely cheap, this should ring alarm bells.

Dermabrasion has a few contraindications…

If you have rosacea then just be careful with this treatment, due to the suction. However the suction can feel like you have almost had a mini face lift as it lifts your muscle (like a workout for your face).

Personally I am a massive fan of this treatment as your skin literally feels amazing.  You can be gentle or get extremely deep with this treatment. Take care to make sure the therapist you go to is very experienced in this treatment. Care should be taken again to investigate who is doing the treatment.

Make sure they are trained and experienced within the industry.

To sum up

If you’re looking for a lifting facial and smoother, softer, clear skin try microdermabrasion.  If you’re wanting something more aggressive you could go with dermaplaning.

Dermaplaning literally stands for shaving. So it is like shaving your skin away. It does leave your skin feeling lovely and soft. Just take care with both of these treatment.  I personally feel dermabrasion is a much kinder treatment and still achieves results.  A crystal abrasion can be used; however I would always go for the diamond tip.

Following any skin resurfacing treatment, the deeper layers of the skin are more exposed, and as a result, penetration of active ingredients is much more efficient.

This is an ideal time to use plenty of anti-ageing ingredients. I generally advise a vitamin E serum in the morning followed by an SPF 30 moisturiser, because the downside is that the skin may be more sensitive.

Lots of love

That’s all for now.  If you want to know more about our packages at LA Beauty, have a look here.

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Much love.