24/11/2025
Copied from another page and I 100% agree 👍 ✔️
🚫 THE HARD TRUTH ABOUT DERMAPLANING (and why most people should NOT be doing it)
…. Because I’ve had a few PM’s about a comment I made on one of my posts today.
Dermaplaning is NOT a cute exfoliation treatment.
It is manual removal of the skin’s primary defence system… and the industry is wildly undereducated on what they’re actually stripping off.
Let’s break this down biologically, clinically and brutally.
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🔬 1. THE STRATUM CORNEUM IS NOT “DEAD SKIN.” STOP SAYING IT!!!!
The stratum corneum (SC) is not dead waste, it is a living, dynamic, intelligent barrier structure made of:
• Corneocytes (protein-rich, highly specialised cells)
• Tight junctions
• Intercellular lipids (ceramides, cholesterol, essential fatty acids)
• Natural moisturising factors (NMFs)
• Antimicrobial peptides
• Acid mantle
• Microbiome ecosystems
When people dermaplane, they are NOT “removing fluff.”
They are physically shaving off a biologically complex, protective, pH-regulated, immune-active layer designed to keep pathogens OUT and moisture IN.
The SC:
✔ Prevents TEWL
✔ Maintains hydration
✔ Houses immune cells
✔ Hosts the microbiome
✔ Controls pH
✔ Signals wound-healing
✔ Acts as your FIRST line of defence
Dermaplaning slices straight through that…. every time.
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🔬 2. YOU ARE REMOVING THE MICROBIOME…
THE SKIN’S IMMUNE ARMY
The microbiome is not surface dirt.
It is a fully functional immune organ.
Dermaplaning:
• Removes resident bacteria that protect against pathogens
• Increases susceptibility to Staph aureus, fungal overgrowth, acne-causing bacteria, and opportunistic pathogens
• Disrupts the acid mantle and pH, altering microbial diversity
• Creates a sterile, exposed environment with no defence mechanisms left
A stripped microbiome =
irritation, sensitivity, redness, breakouts, dermatitis flare-ups and impaired wound healing.
And yet people still think this is a “glow facial.”
NO. It’s barrier trauma!!
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🔥 3. VELLUS HAIR IS NOT THE ENEMY… IT IS A BIOLOGICAL NECESSITY
People keep saying, “it’s fine, it grows back the same.”
Let’s talk SCIENCE:
Vellus hair:
• Helps thermoregulation
• Supports microcirculation
• Wicks sebum along the shaft (keeps skin lubricated)
• Supports the acid mantle
• Influences microbiome homeostasis
• Acts as a sensory organ
• Contributes to barrier recovery after irritation
• Enables ingredient distribution and diffusion control
• Plays a role in immune surveillance
When you remove vellus hair:
❌ You disrupt sebum flow
❌ You alter the skin’s micro-environment
❌ You affect hydration and TEWL
❌ You change how ingredients pe*****te
❌ You remove biological sensors
❌ You disrupt microbiome attachment
Vellus hair is functional anatomy, not an aesthetic flaw!!!!
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🔥 4. DERMAPLANING CREATES MICRO-WOUNDS, THE INDUSTRY JUST DOESN’T CALL IT THAT
When you drag a blade over skin:
• You’re creating micro-abrasions
• You’re triggering a wound-healing cascade
• You’re stimulating inflammatory mediators (not allowed to use that word for you, let’s say irritation molecules)
• You’re activating keratinocyte stress pathways
• You increase risk of PIH
• You accelerate barrier ageing
And when someone has:
❌ Low omega-3 index
❌ Fragile membranes
❌ Poor lipid profiles
❌ Compromised ceramides
❌ Weak barrier function
❌ Existing irritation
Dermaplaning is a biological disaster waiting to happen.
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🔥 5. ACCELERATED SKIN AGEING… THE TRUTH NOBODY TALKS ABOUT
Chronic removal of the stratum corneum leads to:
• Long-term TEWL elevation
• Lipid depletion
• Barrier thinning
• Impaired desquamation regulation
• Reduced filaggrin
• Collagen breakdown
• Increased susceptibility to external aggressors
• Photo-ageing acceleration
• Chronic redness
• Loss of resilience
• “Crepey” look over time
This is WHY dermaplaners often end up with the SAME issues they were trying to solve:
➡ Sensitivity
➡ Redness
➡ Fine lines
➡ Texture
➡ Breakouts
➡ Rough patches
➡ Barrier damage
This is barrier erosion disguised as “glow.”
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🔥 6. THE BIG ONE: INGREDIENTS PE*****TE DEEPER THAN THEY SHOULD
When you remove the SC, the skin’s gatekeeper… everything you apply afterwards goes deeper:
• Acids
• Retinoids
• Vitamin C
• Fragrance compounds
• Preservatives
• Essential oils
• Alcohol-based toners
• Sunscreens
• Makeup
This is why:
⚠️ Contact dermatitis skyrockets
⚠️ Allergic reactions increase
⚠️ Photosensitivity increases
⚠️ PIH risk goes up
⚠️ Rosacea flares
⚠️ Clients become “reactive skin types” for LIFE
You’re damaging the regulator of permeability, then wondering why skin freaks out.
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🔥 7. DERMAPLANING BECAME POPULAR THROUGH MARKETING, NOT SCIENCE!!!!!
Let’s be real:
Dermaplaning exploded because it:
• Looks satisfying
• Creates instant but temporary smoothness
• Makes makeup sit nicely for 24 hours
• Generates quick client turnover
• Requires minimal training
• Offers high-profit treatments
But biologically?
It is barrier sabotage packaged as beauty.
If the skin industry actually understood cell biology, lipid biochemistry and barrier science, dermaplaning wouldn’t even EXIST as a mainstream treatment.
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‼️ FINAL WORD: IF YOU CARE ABOUT SKIN HEALTH, STOP DOING IT!!!
If therapists understood:
• The role of the stratum corneum
• The purpose of vellus hair
• The microbiome’s complexity
• The importance of barrier signalling
• How essential fatty acid profiles dictate resilience
• How irritation cascades accelerate ageing
• How deeper product pe*******on can be harmful
…then dermaplaning would not be on ANY menu.
There is NOTHING skin gets long-term benefit from when you repeatedly strip its natural defence system away.
The glow? Fake.
The damage? Real.
The science? Undeniable.
