Microneedling vs Dermaplaning: Surface vs Route

Dermaplaning shaves the surface. A blade removes dead cells from the stratum corneum and the fine vellus hair sitting on them. Microneedling does not remove that surface. It passes through it and leaves temporary channels that close on their own. One treatment smooths what you feel. The other opens a route for a few hours.

What is dermaplaning?

Dermaplaning is a horizontal treatment. A provider holds a sterile blade at a shallow angle and scrapes across your skin. Cleveland Clinic calls the clinic version minimally invasive. A provider shaves away the uppermost layers with a tool called a dermatome. The same page lists hair removal as a separate reason people ask for it.

The removal is real and it has been measured. In a 2023 study in AAPS PharmSciTech, researchers dermaplaned skin and examined it under histology. They reported removal of the stratum corneum and some parts of the viable epidermis. Electrical resistance across the skin also dropped significantly. That drop is a standard signal of a depleted barrier (Tijani et al., 2023).

Two things share the name. The clinic procedure uses a surgical blade and a trained hand. The drugstore facial razor is a lighter tool running a lighter version of the same motion. Both act on the layer described in our guide to the stratum corneum.

What is microneedling?

Microneedling is a vertical treatment. Fine needles enter the skin, then withdraw. Nothing is taken away. The American Academy of Dermatology calls the professional version collagen induction therapy. The skin then heals the holes it was given.

The openings are structures with dimensions. One study in Pharmaceutical Research measured them in a hairless rat model. Average surface diameter was near 60 microns. Average depth was 160 ± 20 microns (Kalluri and Banga, 2011). A companion paper in The AAPS Journal found similar figures. Channels ran 70.7 ± 9.9 microns across and 152.5 ± 9.6 microns deep (Kalluri et al., 2011).

Depth is the variable that separates one session from another. Our depth guide maps each setting to a skin layer. Nano-needling versus microneedling covers the shallow end, and what is microneedling covers the basics.

Microneedling vs dermaplaning: what is the actual difference?

They differ in direction. Everything else follows from that.

Point of comparison	Dermaplaning	Microneedling
Direction of action	Across the surface	Through the surface
Tool	Blade, dermatome, or facial razor	Needle array on a pen or roller
What it removes	Dead cells and vellus hair	Nothing
What it leaves behind	A thinner, smoother surface	Temporary channels that close
How long the change lasts	Until the surface rebuilds, a matter of weeks	Channels close within hours
Effect on hair	Removes vellus hair at the surface	No effect on hair
Common targets	Peach fuzz, flaky texture, makeup grip	Acne scars, pores, texture, delivery
At-home version	Facial razor or handheld blade tool	Pen or roller at a lower depth
Published evidence	Thin. A 2011 systematic review called the data scarce and anecdotal	Larger, with dermatology society guidance

That last row deserves its own sentence. A systematic review in Aesthetic Plastic Surgery screened the dermaplaning literature. It found the supporting data scarce, anecdotal, and not well documented. Popularity and evidence are separate things.

Which one helps a serum get in?

Both change the barrier. They change it on different timescales, and the research reflects that.

The 2023 AAPS PharmSciTech study found significant drug flux across dermaplaned skin over 24 hours. The hydrophilic model drug fared better than the hydrophobic one. The same paper had multiple users operate the device. Results varied significantly between them. This technique depends on the hand holding it.

A second 2023 paper in the International Journal of Pharmaceutics compared five ablative methods. Dermaplaning and microneedles were both included. Passive delivery of naloxone had a lag time of 71.22 ± 9.62 minutes. The ablative methods cut that to roughly 3 to 12 minutes (Tijani et al., 2023). These are laboratory skin models and a drug, not a cosmetic outcome.

For microneedling, the window has been timed. Barrier function returned within 3 to 4 hours in the rat model. Channels closed by 15 hours in open air. Occlusion held them open up to 72 hours.

Human numbers exist too. A study of 111 subjects in Scientific Reports tracked micropore lifetime by skin tone. Averages ran 66.5 ± 19.5 hours in Black participants and 61.1 ± 16.1 in Latino participants. White participants averaged 50.2 ± 2.6 hours and bi- or multiracial participants 48.0 ± 16.0. Asian participants averaged 44.1 ± 14.0 hours (Ogunjimi et al., 2020).

So the difference is shape. Dermaplaning thins a lid. Microneedling makes a route with a start and an end. That distinction explains why most serum sits on top. It is also what transdermal delivery is about.

The re:tones Tap Pen is built around the second shape. It releases the ampoule at the moment the tip meets skin. The formula and the channel arrive together. That is a description of the mechanism. We make no claim about what your skin will do with it.

Can you do both? How they get sequenced

In clinics, dermaplaning is often prep rather than a rival. Clearing surface debris before a peel is old practice. The AAD notes that exfoliation improves how well topical products get through. The sequence is surface first, route second, on separate visits.

At home the answer is stricter. Do not dermaplane and microneedle the same skin on the same day. You would thin the barrier and puncture it in one session. Nothing tells you the combined effect. The AAD advises waiting on microneedling whenever skin is irritated, tanned, or broken out.

A workable pattern is to separate them by at least a week. Keep a log of what you did and when. Read how often to microneedle and microneedling aftercare before you build a schedule. Microneedling versus chemical peel covers the next comparison over.

Which should you pick for your concern?

What you want changed	Better fit	Why
Peach fuzz visible in photos	Dermaplaning	Microneedling does nothing to hair
Makeup catching on flaky patches	Dermaplaning	The catch is surface debris
Indented acne scars	Microneedling	AAD lists acne scars as a target
Large pores	Microneedling	AAD lists large pores as a target
Getting an active below the surface	Microneedling	A channel outlasts a thinned lid
Rough texture with no scarring	Either	Both are listed for texture

For the pore question, see how to minimize pores. For texture, uneven skin texture separates the causes that respond from the ones that do not. Acne scar types matters here as well, since raised and indented scars behave differently. The ampoule finder asks six questions and sets the dial for you.

Safety, contraindications, and starting shallow

Skip microneedling entirely if any of these apply to you:

• You heal slowly or poorly
• You have or have had a keloid scar
• Your immune system is weakened by a condition or a medication
• You are being treated for skin cancer in that area
• You are receiving radiation treatment

Wait if you have a tan, a skin infection, or deep painful pimples. Wait at least one month after your last isotretinoin pill. Those are the AAD's lines, not ours.

Cleveland Clinic lists a separate set for dermaplaning. Talk to a clinician first if you have any of the following:

• Active acne, or cold sore outbreaks
• Eczema, psoriasis, or contact dermatitis
• Skin burns, including burns from radiation therapy
• Moles, freckles, skin tags, or other growths in the area

Listed risks include infection, keloid or hypertrophic scarring, and skin discoloration.

Start shallow. The re:tones Tap Pen collar runs from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm with no clicks. Begin at 0.5 mm on the lowest intensity. Stay there for your first sessions. Use the PRO-R Nano cartridge at 15 microns first. It is the forgiving one, made for beginners and thin skin. Move deeper only after you know how your skin answers.

Cartridges are sterile and single use. Never share one and never reuse one. See who should not microneedle and microneedling side effects for the full list. This is a cosmetic device. It does not diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. None of this replaces advice from your clinician.

Does dermaplaning make hair grow back thicker?

No. Cutting a hair at the shaft never reaches the follicle. The follicle sets diameter, color, and growth rate. Cleveland Clinic dermatology explains that regrowth feels stubbly from the blunt cut edge. Nothing changed underneath. You see the thicker base of the shaft before the softer tip returns.

How often do you repeat each one?

Dermaplaning repeats on the surface's own clock. Full epidermal turnover has been calculated at 47 to 48 days (Iizuka, 1994). Vellus hair returns on its own cycle. The smoothness is temporary by design. Our piece on skin cell turnover covers what that clock governs.

Professional microneedling runs in courses. The AAD describes acne scar plans of 3 to 5 treatments spaced 2 to 4 weeks apart. Home devices are gentler and are not the same procedure. The re:tones protocol is once a week, about five minutes, one cartridge per session.

Frequently asked questions

Is dermaplaning just shaving your face?

The motion is similar and the intent is not. A razor targets hair alone. Dermaplaning targets hair and the dead surface layer together. The blade angle is chosen to lift the stratum corneum. A 2023 histology study found removal of the stratum corneum and some viable epidermis after four dermaplaning strokes.

Can I dermaplane and microneedle on the same day?

No. Doing both in one session thins the barrier and punctures it at once. You cannot judge the combined effect on your own skin. The AAD already advises delaying microneedling on irritated skin. Separate the two by at least a week. Ask a clinician if you plan to run both regularly.

Which comes first if I do both?

Surface first. Clinics dermaplane before treatments that need a clean surface. The deeper step runs at a later visit. Reversing the order means dragging a blade over skin that was recently punctured. Give your skin time to settle between the two rather than stacking them close together.

Does dermaplaning build collagen?

Dermaplaning works above the living layers, so it is not described as a collagen treatment. The AAD applies the term collagen induction therapy to microneedling instead. There the skin repairs the holes it was given. The 2011 systematic review on dermaplaning found the published evidence scarce and poorly documented.

How long do microneedling channels stay open?

Hours, not days. Rat-model work found barrier function returning within 3 to 4 hours. Channels closed by 15 hours in open air. In humans, measured micropore lifetime averaged roughly 44 to 67 hours, varying with skin tone. Occlusion extends that window considerably in the animal data.

Is at-home dermaplaning safe?

It depends on the tool and on the skin. A light facial razor is not the clinic dermatome, and the clinic procedure belongs to a trained provider. Cleveland Clinic lists infection, scarring, and discoloration among the risks. Active acne, eczema, psoriasis, and cold sores are reasons to ask a clinician first.

Which is better for peach fuzz?

Dermaplaning, without contest. Microneedling has no mechanism for removing hair at all. If vellus hair is your only concern, a needle device is the wrong tool for the job. Choose microneedling when the question is texture, indented scarring, pore appearance, or getting an active past the surface.

The short version

Dermaplaning answers a surface question. Microneedling answers a route question. Neither one replaces the other. Clinics have treated them as a sequence rather than a choice for years. Pick by the question you are asking, not by the one you saw first.

If the question is the route, that is the half re:tones builds. The Tap Pen makes the channel and releases the ampoule at the same moment. The 01 re:vive-B3 ampoule ships in a crimp-sealed glass vial. You are applying it to a barrier that is temporarily open.

Last updated 2026-08-19.