Dermaplaning: The Beginner’s Guide

Tier 3 Stylist and Skincare Expert Brittany Taninies

If you’re like me you’ve probably gotten sucked in to those mesmerizing Instagram videos of a tool scraping someone’s cheek and seeing all of the gunk that comes off. After watching those videos for months I decided to do a little research and figure out exactly what was happening and if it was something I could start offering my skin care clients.

After many long nights searching Google and reading every article I could find, I learned that the service they were doing is called dermaplaning. The purpose of it is to remove the vellus hair, or peach fuzz, from your face as well as up to 6 weeks worth of dead skin cells. You might be wondering why removing all of the vellus hair and dead skin cells is something that you should be considering, won’t the hair come back thicker and darker? Won’t it hurt? What’s the point? Isn’t it just like shaving? Why would I shave my face?

Let’s start with the first thing that pops into everyone’s head, your hair will not come back any darker or thicker than what it was originally. It’s physiologically impossible. And if the treatment is done correctly, it should be pain free and actually pretty relaxing! Let’s chat about a few of the benefits of dermaplaning so you can decide if it’s something you might want to try. I would say the biggest benefit for most people is that their skin feels so smooth, like butter, it’s glorious. Another huge benefit that you might not realize is that it allows the skin care products you’re using to penetrate deeper into your skin and work better for you. If you’re someone that struggles with blackheads and congestion, it also allows for easier blackhead removal. And that post dermaplane makeup glide is absolute fire, your makeup will lay so smoothly on your skin, you’ll feel like you’re wearing a filter.

Dermaplaning is so versatile and can be done alone or in conjunction with many of our other skin care treatments. There’s no down time and when done alone is a very quick and effective treatment. When pairing it with one of our other results driven and customizable treatments, it only enhances the results. 

Now that you know some of the benefits of dermaplaning, let’s dive in to the actual treatment. We start all of our skin care treatments with a double cleanse and analyze the skin. After cleansing and analyzing, we prep the skin for dermaplaning with a solution of AHAs(alpha hydroxy acids) and BHAs(beta hydroxy acids) to degrease the skin and prep it for exfoliation. Then the Nourishe oil is applied to all of the areas that will be dermaplaned to help nourish, moisturize and infuse the skin with nutrients, antioxidants and essential fatty acids. It’s super important to keep the skin hydrated while dermaplaning to avoid any uncomfortability during the treatment. I always start dermaplaning on the forehead so I can answer any questions that may come up as well as check in and see how your skin is feeling. Using a blade that was made specifically for dermaplaning, I glide over your skin 6-8 times to ensure the best removal of skin cells and hair. After I’ve dermaplaned, I finish the treatment with a serum based on your skin concerns, toner, moisturizer, eye cream and SPF. 

I hope after this very brief overview of dermaplaning, you now have a better understanding of what it is and why you might want to consider adding it to your professional treatments. I look forward to seeing you on my treatment table.