My Professional Microneedeling Experience

Microneedeling – a scary word! But what is it ?

Microneedeling is the process of prickling your skin with tiny needles that create hundreds of micro-injuries into the skin. This signals the skin to start the healing process by creating more collagen. It helps reduce the appearance of pores, acne scars, dark spots, and wrinkles.

This can be done with a roller commonly known as a dermaroller or an electric pen (dermapen), that looks like a tattoo tool.

Disclaimer: recommendations are based on my own experiences and one product might work for me but not for you. Please do your research to further decide if this is something you wish to try.

About my skin

After carefully researching all the salons in Strasbourg that offer this procedure, I booked myself a pampering session. My skin is currently doing good without any active breakouts, so what better time to tackle spots and uneven skin texture.

My skin has particularly suffered in 2018 when I had breakouts over breakouts. Mostly painful cystic acne, all around my jaw and in the hallows of my cheeks. This left a dozen of shallow “holes” in my skin and created an uneven texture and unflattering shadows.

I admit it is not cheap. However, I am hooked on the results. I never thought it possible to have such an even skin tone and texture. I am now absolutely careful with any pimple I get because I’m scared I’ll damage all the hard work.

In short : I absolutely loved this pampering session, it lasted 2 hours!

The process at the salon

The session started with a ton of questions about what prompted me to do this, what are my goals, what do I know about the procedure etc. This already made me more comfortable knowing that the lady will tailor the treatment to my needs and not just blindly go in.

First of all, she assessed the state of my skin and the thickness of my dermis to know how deep she would have to go to promote skin regeneration. She asked in details what I expected from this treatment. I said I wanted a more even texture and tone and that I’m very aware I won’t have it in only one session. She mentioned that my skin lacks moisture and nourishment and that I probably am a bit abusing the actives.

Prepping the skin for the microneedeling

After the assessment, she decided she would need to prepare my skin with triple exfoliation. I know! Scary!

She used a mask with Arabic gum, papaya enzymes, and rice powder, that she gently applied on my skin, let dry and then gently buffed it off. This absorbed the extra sebum away and took any flakes of dead skin with it. Afterwards, she proceeded with a sugar exfoliant that she gently buffed on my face neck and chest. Followed by a very moisturising hyaluronic acid serum and the ultrasonic spatula for the third exfoliation treatment and extractions. She was very meticulous. And I can tell you that spatula hurts and feel very hot on the skin. But it was very effective and she particularly worked on my nose and chin and cheeks, and also on my neck where I have breakouts.

The microneedeling

After this, we moved to another bed where she prepared the microneedeling pen. She said that if it feels painful if I need a break if I need to sneeze,etc., I should alert her. The needles used was 0,75mm long and she also passed it on my neck where I have many spots. She said there is no point in making the skin bleed and go too deep. The point is to activate regenration by stimulating the skin.

The sensation was very bearable except on the forehead. Around my sinuses I wanted to sneeze so badly but managed to keep it in. I also had a tear go down my cheek. But it was just a prickling sensation, and I wasn’t really in pain, just discomfort. She gave me a mirror and I could see specks of blood on my cheekbones, forehead and around the nose. It wasn’t profouse bleeding but just some small red specks. She desinfected my face with an alcoholic solution, and it stuuuuung. She then prepared a collagen modeling mask and I laid there for 20min contemplating on life with classic music notes in the background. Followed up by a lovely face, neck and chest massage.

Post microneedeling care

She told me not to go out in the sun for 3 days and that my skin will be red for 2-3 days at least. I asked her opinion on how many sessions I would need, but she said it always depends on how people react. She generaly advises 3 and then see from there. Also, the skin needs time to regenrate so the sessions are very spaced out, 3-4 weeks is the best.

I could already see a difference in how glowy my skin was once I got out of there. Although red my skin looked more youthful and has a healthy sheen. I was most happy with the extractions around my nose.

I also bought a serum recommendation from her the V 10 Plus Biocell. It is a Japanese brand and according to their website “This powerhouse of serums works at the DNA level repairing cell damage and stimulating the growth of Collagen and Fibronectin.” I can’t attest to all of that as it’s at a skin cell level but I thourougly enjoyed using it.

For the first few days I used only this serum the Cosrx Snail Mucin Essence, Triple Hyaluronic acid ampoule, and the Oil Free Moisturizing Lotion.

Results

Day 2: skin felt a bit sore, like a big bruise. I had less burning sensations but still looked very red. Immediately I can say my skin looks tighter, more firm. I simply look younger, more glowy, the scars are already looking less dark.

Day 3: I could see that the redness went down by a lot and that I would definitely need a few more sessions. A lot of improvement in scarring and spots but it’s not the clear skin I always wanted. I can see why they say you’ll get addicted to microneedeling.

Day 4: I was slowly adding back my usual products in the routine. Introducing tranexamic acid in the evening. This definitely hel

Day 5: I was breaking out more so I wondered if it was because I cut out the tret’ or if it was the microneedeling. Reintroduced the tret a few days later and my skin was much better.

I feel like beyond that my skin didn’t improve much. On the top, it looked pretty much healed, but I know that the regeneration underneath can take up to two months. I do wonder now if those breakouts I experienced were maybe from the products she used on me. I’m always very careful with what I put on my face. Even though a salon is considered top-notch, I still wonder if those products are really adapted to acne-prone skin. There was a ton of fragrance. It adds to the whole experience but it can also be irritating, and having it fill my pores after extractions? Don’t know.

The day before and one week after the procedure

Conclusion

Overall I am happy with the microneedeling session. They were a bit underwhelming but I think I always set the bar too high. Many of my deeper scars look shallower and many of my darker spots look lighter. The texture on my cheekbones is glorious.

In term of psychological effects, I feel more beautiful and confident. I feel like in a few sessions I can conquer the world. I am much more motivated to do makeup and top on highlighter on the cheeks. It feels like I can achieve clear and smooth skin, something that seemed so far and unreachable for me. If I can achieve that, then I can achieve anything!

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