Microneedling Depth: What 0.25 mm to 1.5 mm Actually Reaches

A depth chart tells you how far a needle is set to travel, not what it reaches. Here is the difference, and the anatomy behind it.

Microneedling
12 AUG 2026
7 min read

A microneedling depth chart tells you how far a needle is set to travel, from 0.25 mm to 1.5 mm and beyond. It does not tell you what the needle reaches. Those are two different things, and every honest version of this chart has to say so on the first line.

Below is the chart, the published anatomy it sits against, and the gap between a setting and an outcome. Depth is the single most misread number in microneedling, so it is worth getting right before you turn a collar.

The microneedling depth chart, setting by setting

Read the third column as geometry on paper, not as a promise about tissue. It says where that distance falls against published facial measurements. It does not say the needle arrived there.

Setting	In micrometres	Where that distance falls against published facial anatomy	Usually described as
0.25 mm	250 µm	Already several times the published epidermal thickness on the face	The nano or cosmetic setting, common on entry devices
0.5 mm	500 µm	Roughly eight times total epidermal thickness on measured facial sites	The shallow end. Where to start on any device
0.75 mm	750 µm	At the published mean full skin thickness of the eyelid	Still shallow on thicker areas, not on thin ones
1.0 mm	1,000 µm	Within the published full-thickness range for most facial sites	The middle of a home collar range
1.25 mm	1,250 µm	Past the middle of that range	Past the middle
1.5 mm	1,500 µm	Past the published mean full thickness at every facial site in one ultrasound dataset	The deep end of a home collar

The re:tones MTS collar travels 0.5 to 1.5 mm and has no clicks or stops. The marked positions are labels on a continuous range, not detents. You set it where you want and nowhere else.

How thick is facial skin, actually

The numbers are smaller than most people picture, and they are the reason the chart above needs its caveat.

Stratum corneum. Commonly given as 15 to 20 µm on the face. In vivo optical measurements on temple, cheekbone and mandible in 100 healthy women put it lower, around 12 to 14 µm.
Viable epidermis. Roughly 45 to 55 µm on those same sites.
Total epidermis. About 0.06 mm. Drawn to scale on a 1.5 mm axis it is a hairline.
Full skin thickness. Measured by 24 MHz ultrasound at eight facial sites in 118 adults, group means ran from 0.75 mm at the eyelid to 1.39 mm at the forehead.

Every one of those is a group mean and describes nobody's face in particular. Site, sex and age all move them. re:tones names each source and marks it as a reference figure on its science and claims record, rather than presenting the values as its own measurements.

Put the two together and the shape of the problem is obvious. The barrier everyone is trying to get past is about 15 µm. The shallowest common home setting is 500 µm. On paper, the shallow end of the range is already many times deeper than the layer in question.

A set depth is not a reached depth

This is the part depth charts leave out. Skin is not a block of wax. It dents under a tip, and it moves with the needle before it gives.

The published human work that makes this concrete comes from Gupta, Gill, Andrews and Prausnitz, "Kinetics of skin resealing after insertion of microneedles in human subjects", Journal of Controlled Release, 2011. In that work, 350 µm microneedles pressed in by thumb did not enter skin at all.

Three hundred and fifty micrometres of needle, and no entry. That single result should change how you read any depth number on any box. The dial states how far the mechanism travels. What the tissue does with that travel depends on how skin deforms, how the device is driven, and where on your face you are working.

So the correct reading of a depth chart is: this is a device specification. Treat any chart that labels a setting with a tissue layer as a diagram, not a measurement.

Diameter is a completely separate spec

Depth is how far. Diameter is how wide. Brands mix them constantly, usually because one of their two numbers is better than the other.

Device type	Thinnest width that type publishes	Typical depth range
Dermaroller	200 µm	Fixed per roller
Clinical pen	250 µm	Set by a practitioner
Dissolving patch	100 µm	Fixed by the patch
re:tones MTS, 5D-Nano cartridge	8 µm	0.5 to 1.5 mm, continuous
re:tones MTS, R-Nano cartridge	15 µm	0.5 to 1.5 mm, continuous

For scale: a scalp hair is usually 50 to 100 µm across, and pore openings are often given as 40 to 100 µm. Those are general literature values used for comparison, not measurements of your skin.

Two devices set to the same 1.0 mm are not doing the same thing if one needle is twenty five times wider than the other. Width changes what a channel is. Depth changes where it goes. Ask for both numbers, always.

Home range against clinic range

Home devices and clinic pens overlap on the dial and separate everywhere else. Depth alone does not tell you which situation you are in.

Needle width. Clinic pens run an order of magnitude wider than a fine home array.
Anaesthetic. Clinic work is often done with topical numbing. Home work is not.
Aftercare. A clinic sends you home with a protocol. At home you are the protocol.
Category. The MTS is a cosmetic device. It is not a medical device, not a prescription treatment, and not a clinical procedure.

Anything you would describe as treatment rather than routine belongs with a dermatologist. That includes scars, burns, and any diagnosed skin condition.

How to choose a depth

The method is dull and it works.

Start at the shallowest setting the device has. On the MTS that is 0.5 mm, on the wider R-Nano cartridge.
Change one variable at a time. Depth and intensity are separate controls. Move one, then wait a week.
Work up between sessions, never inside one. A single session is not the place to find your ceiling.
Treat each area as new. A setting that suits your cheek is not automatically right near your eyes.
Stop rising when sensation changes sharply. That is information, not a challenge.

Depth by area of the face

Skin thickness across a single face varies by close to a factor of two in the published ultrasound means. That is the practical argument against one setting everywhere.

Around the eyes. The thinnest skin on the face. Shallowest setting, wider needle, slowest hand.
Cheeks. The area most people calibrate on, because it is forgiving and easy to reach.
Forehead. Thickest of the measured sites, and where a bony surface underneath makes a light hand matter.
Nose and around the mouth. Uneven, mobile, and awkward to keep vertical. Go slower rather than deeper.

Whatever the area, tap rather than drag. A needle moving sideways in skin is the mechanism behind most home microneedling marks. Full technique is in the at-home safety and technique guide.

How re:tones maps depth to formula

The three ampoules are keyed to positions on the collar, and the manufacturer confirmed each pairing against the dial.

01 Pore Tightening at 0.5 mm
02 Brightening from 0.75 to 1.0 mm
03 Wrinkle Peptide from 1.0 to 1.5 mm

Read that as a product pairing, not as an anatomical claim. It is the depth the formula is specified for. It is not a statement that a molecule arrives at a named layer, and re:tones has measured no absorption figure for any of the three.

Want the pairing worked out from your own concern instead of a chart? The ampoule finder takes six questions and ends on one vial and one setting.

What a depth chart cannot tell you

Four things, and no chart anywhere solves them.

How deep the needle actually went. Skin deformation is not on the dial.
How long the channel stayed open. Uncovered skin resealed within two hours in the Gupta study, on needles far wider than a fine home array. re:tones states no closure time for its own channels because it has not measured one.
How much of anything crossed. Not measured, and not claimed.
What it will do for you. No efficacy percentage, no time to result, no consumer panel.

A brand that publishes the second list alongside the first is telling you where the evidence stops. That is the standard worth applying to everyone, including this one.

New to the category? Start with what microneedling is and what it does to skin. Curious why depth matters for delivery at all, read why your serum is not absorbing. The device specifications, including rate and cartridge geometry, are on the MTS record.

Frequently asked questions

What microneedling depth is best for beginners?

The shallowest one your device offers, on the widest needle you have. On the MTS that is 0.5 mm with the R-Nano cartridge. Stay there for several sessions before you move, and change depth or intensity separately rather than together.

Is 0.25 mm microneedling deep enough to do anything?

On paper 250 µm is already several times the published thickness of the epidermis, so the geometry is not the limiting factor. What limits any shallow setting is how much skin deforms before the needle enters. That gap is not something a depth chart can close for you.

What does 1.5 mm microneedling reach?

As a setting, 1.5 mm is past the published mean full skin thickness at every facial site in one ultrasound dataset. As an outcome, nobody can tell you, because a set depth and a reached depth are different figures. Treat 1.5 mm as the top of a home range rather than a target.

Does needle depth or needle width matter more?

They answer different questions, so neither replaces the other. Depth is where the channel goes. Width is what the channel is. A brand quoting one number and calling it the specification is leaving out the other one on purpose.

Can you use the same depth on your whole face?

You can, and it is not the better approach. Published group means put eyelid skin at roughly half the thickness of forehead skin, so one setting is generous in one place and cautious in another. Treat each area as a separate calibration.

How often should you change your depth setting?

Between sessions at the earliest, and only when the current setting has been uneventful more than once. Raising depth inside a single session removes your only feedback loop. Once a week is the cadence, so a step up is a decision you make weekly at most.