These Dermaplaning Before and Afters Will Convince You to Try It

I've always been intrigued by dermaplaning, a form of exfoliation that involves removing the fine hairs from the face with a surgical blade. Face shaving removes that annoying peach fuzz, creates the perfect base for makeup application, and, due to the fact it allows product to penetrate the skin better, leaves skin with an incredible glow. Dermaplaning before and afters always tend to look incredible on social media, but I was still cautious of trying it for two reasons. The first is that it's yet another thing to add to my already long skin-care routine. I do really enjoy spending time looking after my skin, but adding more steps leaves less time to binge-watch my favorite TV shows. My second concern had to do with the same thing that you're probably also wondering: does hair grow back thicker after dermaplaning? Many people believe it will be thicker that it was in the first place but spoiler: it doesn't.

I finally decided to take the plunge and tried the Egyptian facial with Dr. David Jack, which is a multistep treatment that includes dermaplaning. If you are considering getting baby-soft, fuzz-free skin but have concerns, here are a few things you need to know about dermaplaning (including some extremely candid photos of my experience).

David Jack is London-based aesthetic doctor and the owner of an eponymous skin-care line.

Dr. Jack says a lot of the information around dermaplaning hair regrowth is a myth. You won't grow a beard after facing your face. Your hair will grow back, but it will just look like it did before you had the treatment. If you naturally have darker hairs, they may appear thicker when they grow back, but that may simply be because you've forgotten what it was like before the treatment. "There is no scientific basis for this," Dr. Jack tells PS. "A surgical blade is used, which just shaves the ends from the fine vellus hairs. Nothing happens to the follicles themselves, so the growth of the hair isn't changed."

This isn't a treatment you absolutely have to commit to, however, repeated sessions do make treatments more effective. "It can be a one-time treatment, but usually the best results for your skin longer term will be with repeated treatments," Dr. Jack says. "But doing it as a one-off will not do any harm to your skin." This is something that I'll probably only do once in a while when I feel like my skin needs extra exfoliation or before an event for better makeup application. However, if I had tried the treatment and decided I didn't want to do it again, there wouldn't be an issue considering my hair wouldn't grow back any thicker or darker.

If you fall in love with the treatment, you can get it as often as every six weeks, as this is when the cells renew and hair grows back. You should be cautious of doing it too often, as this can over exfoliate your face and lead to complications. However, if you're dermaplaning on your own at home using a nonsurgical blade, you can do it a little more often, roughly every week or so.

Tori Crowther is a freelance beauty journalist and former PS UK editor.