Hello Gorgeous!
Psst…I have a secret to share with you all. I shave my face once a week. That’s right, Monday is my “shave day”. Shocking, isn’t it? My husband of 26 years recently walked into the bathroom as I was dermaplaning my face. He gasped and said, “are you shaving your face?” “Yes, honey, I’m shaving my face and I’ve been doing it for years. Now get out!”, was how I responded. I was so embarrassed to have him find out but I’m not sure why. A lot of women have been shaving their face for years but none of us seem to talk about it. It’s time to change that because dermaplaning my face feels and looks amazing and everyone deserves to be in-the-know. Now those of you that already dermaplane, understand. But those of you that do not dermaplane or “shave” your face are missing out on all the benefits that come from it.
Dermaplaning is a painless way to remove the fine vellus hair on your face. We all have fine hair that grows on the sides of our face, upper lip, chin and even our forehead. Dermaplaning, a form of mechanical exfoliation, also removes a thin layer of dead skin that we can’t see with naked eye called the stratum corneum. I personally use these blades from amazon (click on the image below):
They are easy to use and although sharp enough to remove dead skin and fine hair from the face it is difficult to cut yourself. On my patients, at work, I use a scalpel which removes a bit more dead skin and is obviously sharper.
Now I know there is still a myth that persists to this day that if you shave your face you’ll grow a beard and/or dark hair will grow back instead of the blonde vellus hair. Ladies, I’ve been doing this for years and I promise you that you will not grow a beard or get dark hairs from dermaplaning your face. If you have dark hair on your face already, it will grow back dark. Dark hair on the face is usually related to imbalanced hormones or ethnicity. It does not grow back thicker either. Let me explain. When the hair grows back it has a blunt tip which gives the appearance of it being thicker. After a few days, the hair begins to lay down flat and tapers at the end. It goes back to exactly the way it was before dermaplaning. It’s similar to if you go a few days without shaving your legs. At first it’s really sharp and prickly, then if you go a few more days, it begins to soften and lay down as the ends taper. It’s the same for your face.
Now let’s get to the benefits of dermaplaning. With the hair and dead skin removed, our skin is primed for our skin care products. Serums are more fully absorbed, there is less debris to clog our pores and cause pimples, and we use less makeup because it glides on with ease. The skin looks flawless. Wrinkles and acne scarring are less visible too. What’s not to love about those benefits? Trust me…once you see how beautiful your skin looks after dermaplaning, you’ll never go back to a hairy face!
To dermaplane your face, start with a freshly, clean and completely dry face. I prefer to dry shave because I think I get a smoother finish but there’s nothing wrong with using a shave gel, if you prefer. To begin, pull the skin taut, place your blade at a 45-degree angle and work against the hair growth in short, upward strokes. Be gentle, there’s no need to press hard as this could cause irritation. The area above the lip can be extra sensitive; so I dermaplane that area last because the blade has dulled after using it all over the rest of my face. If you have any active pimples, I’d advise not taking the blade over those because this could spread the bacteria to other areas of your face.
So how often should you dermaplane? I personally do it once a week but that may be too much for you if you have dry, sensitive skin. For dry or sensitive skin you may be better off to dermaplane once every other week or even less if it’s too irritating. Since dermaplaning is a form of exfoliation, be mindful of other types of exfoliation that you do throughout the week, like scrubs, acids, clarisonic, etc. because over-exfoliation isn’t good for the skin. After dermaplaning, apply your serums (hyaluronic acid is a good one), moisturizer, and sunscreen.
Try it and let me know what you think. You GLOW, girl!
Comments