Should You Try Dermaplaning At Home?

Dermaplaning has been around for years, but only within the past few years has it gained so much of its popularity that people have begun to trydermaplaning at home. 

With dermaplaning treatments that can cost upwards of $250, dermaplaning can be a high reach for anyone with a tight budget and not even considerable for others. So for the majority of people in this predicament, dermaplaning in your own home can seem like a superlative option. 

DIY Dermaplaning is much less expensive, with basic facial razors costing as low as $2.99 all the way up to $100-$200 for higher quality tools. The idea here is more options for a variety of price ranges. 

But, with facial razors costing only $2.99, what are you really achieving by dermaplaning yourself? What are the most significant differences between dermaplaning with a dermatologist oresthetician and dermaplaning yourself at home? Are the results from in a salon or spa and at home the same? 

Before we answer these questions and others, let’s answer the most critical question of all: Is it safe?

Is It Safe To Do Dermaplaning At Home?

When you dermaplane at home you use blades that are much less sharp than the professional-grade ones you would see in an office or salon. This means dermaplaning at home is relatively safe. Using a blade that isn’t as sharp doesn’t mean that there aren’t any risks, though.

DIY Dermaplaning focuses on shaving off the tiny vellus hairs more than it does exfoliation. While there is some exfoliation of the dead skin cells while dermaplaning, dermaplaning yourself primarily shaves your face. Since most people attempting dermaplaning are relatively inexperienced, most “at home” dermaplaning tools are created to be safer. 

As with any shaving done on your body, there is a risk of cutting or nicking yourself, and of course, with any cuts can come the potential for infection. Shaving in an odd direction or not using the blade properly can create irritation and excessive redness. 

 

Is Dermaplaning At Home Bad For Your Skin?

Dermaplaning yourself at home isn’t, per se, “bad” for your skin, but dermaplaning with a licensed professional is undoubtedly better for your skin.

Why?

A licensed professional uses a sharp blade, called a dermatome, or a surgical scalpel to remove the dead skin and vellus hairs in a salon or office environment. Using this sharper blade allows for deeper exfoliation and more accurate hair removal. Since the process involves pulling the skin taut, this can be challenging to do on your own. Learning the technique to dermaplane and hold your skin tight can take a while to master and leave you with less than extraordinary results. 

Having an experienced professional provides the best results rather than trying to do so yourself. 

A professional is also much more qualified for caring for your skin before and after dermaplaning is done. Working with a professional can help prevent redness and irritation and prevent any infections or bacteria from entering your skin. 

Something else you want to consider is that professionals are trained and have a keen eye on all things skin. They are best able to examine your skin and genuinely see if you are a good candidate for dermaplaning, and if you aren’t now when you might be able to do so. Attempting to decide for yourself when dermaplaning would be ok or not with acne breakouts or other skin conditions could lead to adverse side effects or reactions. 

For example, let’s talk about something as familiar as dry skin. If you were to combine dermaplaning and dry skin, you could worsen dry skin and make it harder to heal. That is why if you have eczema or other conditions that cause your skin to flake off, you should avoid dermaplaning at home. 

Dermaplaning can also be bad for your skin if you don’t properly take care of the blade you are using. After each use, it would be wise to clean the blade thoroughly and disinfect the blade with isopropyl alcohol to avoid bacterial growth that could be spread on your face during the next use.

So let’s take all of this together and look at the overall pros and cons.

Dermaplaning At Home Pros And Cons

Dermaplaning, in general, is known to help provide a healthy-looking glow and create easier absorption for facial serums and products. 

By dermaplaning at home, a large pro is getting a similar result for much less expensive. There is a significant convenience factor as well. While you won’t have to make an appointment, drive a distance, or wait for the procedure to be done, you can do it at home yourself whenever you want. 

Another pro to dermaplaning is having hardly any downtime after it is done. While you would take similar aftercare cautions like not applying makeup for 24 hours or avoiding harsh cleansers or rich, oily moisturizers, the turnaround time is much faster in comparison to other treatments like chemical peels and microdermabrasion. 

Cons to dermaplaning at home involve the risk of cuts, nicks, and bacterial infections because of inexperience performing the task at hand. Also, since you are DIY dermaplaning, it is possible to miss areas of your face leaving uneven results. 

Depending on your skin conditions, like having inflammatory diseases, a history of cold sores, and an acne breakout, dermaplaning is contraindicated. If you were to dermaplane yourself without knowledge of the contraindications, you could cause more significant damage to your skin than there would be rewards. 

Additionally, some skin can be extra sensitive and react badly to dermaplaning. Irritation and bumps, even breakouts, can occur post dermaplaning, especially when done yourself at home. If you dermaplane in one area too much on accident, your skin can feel and show the effects. That is why if you go the dermaplaning route, it is best left in the hands of a professional. 

Sometimes dermaplaning at home is done less for the exfoliation and more for the hair removal of the tiny vellus hairs. Hair removal can allow for a smoother skin appearance and allow for smoother foundation and makeup application. 

Since shaving the hair off provides strictly short-term hair removal, waxing would be an excellent alternative!  

 

Waxing Over Dermaplaning

Waxing facial hair is not uncommon. In fact, afull facial waxing has many benefits in comparison to dermaplaning. Full facial waxing removes hair from the lips, cheeks, sideburns, chin, nose and cleans up your eyebrows too. Waxing results last weeks because hair is pulled from the root; dermaplaning or shaving your face can only last a few days.

The process of waxing also proves to exfoliate as well. So the two things that dermaplaning primarily targets - hair removal and exfoliation - are accomplished by waxing. And it does this all in one step!

In addition, with waxing, you don’t have to risk getting nicks or cuts like you would using a blade during dermaplaning, which prevents the risk of also getting infections. 

Though we are discussing dermaplaning at home,full facial waxing will always have its best results when using a professional to wax you, rather than trying to wax yourself. The same applies to dermaplaning. The best results with the least risk of irritation always come by seeing a licensed professional to perform the services. 

If you are a client and visit a salon that uses Nova Wax or a licensed esthetician using Nova Wax on your clients, rest assured that Nova Wax is a fantastic option for full facial waxing. Nova Wax can pull coarse hair and the tiny vellus hairs on your face because of its incredible adherence to the hair. It is also precisely designed to be gentle and help minimize the discomfort that can come from waxing. 

In Summary

Dermaplaning is a popular trend right now. To make it less expensive and more readily accessible to many people, dermaplaning at home has become part of many beauty goer’s regular routine. 

Since the blades used at home are far less sharp than the surgical-grade scalpel used in dermaplaning offices, it is relatively safe. Though it isn’t necessarily bad for your skin, as you are using this technique to shave off any hair and exfoliate, dermaplaning with a professional would bring you better results and leave less chance for cuts, infection, and irritation. 

As an excellent alternative to dermaplaning, a full facial wax also helps to remove the tiny peach fuzz on your face, with results lasting so much longer than dermaplaning! Nova Wax is perfect for facial waxing since it’s gentle yet powerfully effective. 

All in all, is dermaplaning bad for your skin? Not necessarily. Dermaplaning can have good effects, but dermaplaning can have adverse reactions and end up bad for the skin of someone with certain skin conditions and special considerations. Determining if your skin is suitable for dermaplaning at home yourself could be detrimental. Turn to your licensed dermatologist or esthetician for solid advice, and don’t forget to turn to full facial waxing as a superb alternative!