Is This Skin Care Trend Making People More Insecure? Dermaplaning Benefits, Risks + More

Innovations in the beauty space can be a very beautiful, or a very problematic, thing. When novel tools and products hit the market that help someone feel better about themselves or take better care of their skin, hair, or nails—that's great. However, when products pop up out of nowhere that breed new insecurities for the masses...that's anything but pretty.

Dermaplaning sounds intense, but it's fairly straightforward—it's the process of shaving the face with a super-sharp blade to remove peach fuzz and the top layer of your skin. Dermaplaning is the same thing as dermablading, microblading, or blading, just in different words.

At the height of the YouTube beauty tutorials (say, 10 years ago or so), dermaplaning started to really take off. The beauty influencers of the early days would use this technique to help their makeup lie better on the skin and induce an instant glow.

This obsession with capturing a "perfect" image of the skin or a full-glam makeup look was a major flex during this time, and people would go to further lengths to get it—including shaving off their peach fuzz.

While peach fuzz is something everyone has, some people have demonized it to the point of creating societal pressure to remove it. As if we don't have enough things we've been conditioned to be insecure about already.

It's worth noting that times are certainly shifting in the beauty industry—and it's (for the most part) for the best. Gen-Z is embracing imperfections by placing value on the artistic side of makeup, using it as vehicle for self-expression, and viewing skin care as self-care—aka, the opposite of a goal-based approach to nailing a "flawless" look.

Not to mention, shaving the face is a form of physical exfoliation, which is where that dewy glow comes from. It makes sense that dermaplaning was most popular during the height of exfoliation obsessions—when stronger, more potent acids and extreme face scrubs were all the rage.

Now we're seeing gentle chemical exfoliants replace once sought-after microplastic beads, and we're even scheduling in "recovery nights" to ensure our skin gets a break from all of the actives. Barrier repair creams, serums, and masks are selling out faster than ever—and this is a good thing.

Dermaplaning makes the most sense for makeup artists, those who are on camera, or those who wear full-glam makeup regularly and need their base products to sit flat.

To state the obvious, you are touching a sharp blade to your facial skin—and not a protected, gelly-covered one, either. Dermaplaning can be dangerous, and a proper DIY job is much more nuanced than just shaving the face (more on that in a bit).

What's more, if you accidentally knick your skin too deeply or hit a pimple, ingrown hair, or other kinds of inflamed skin, you run the risk of infection.

Let's be very clear—if you have been insecure about your peach fuzz for years and always see it when you look in the mirror, or you notice that it directly impacts your self-esteem, then by all means don't let anyone stop you from dermaplaning (but do it safely, of course). If something is going to make you feel more confident and help you be more present in your life, it's nobody else's business.

However, if you haven't really thought about your peach fuzz too much until you heard about dermaplaning, then you might be adopting a media-induced insecurity. While sharing insecurities online can help us feel connected, it can also result in people picking up new insecurities they didn't have before, which is exactly the opposite of what the world of beauty standards needs right now.

Another thing—dermaplaning can be expensive. If you choose to invest in a safe and high-quality tool to use on yourself, it can be a few hundred bucks. Plus, you'll have to be extremely diligent about cleaning the tool every single time.

If you are married to the idea of dermaplaning and have access to a professional who can do it for you, we recommend taking that route. "A trained esthetician will know exactly how many passes to do over the skin, so there's no danger of getting too much (or too little) exfoliation," says celebrity esthetician Renée Rouleau.

No—dermaplaning is not the same as shaving. Allow us to elaborate—dermaplaning is different from shaving the face because of the blade. The ultrasharp dermaplaning blade removes hair and targets the top layer of the skin—which is where many of the risks come in. Shaving, however, simply removes the hair.

So if you decide to remove facial hair for any reason—do your thing, especially if it will make you feel better about yourself and be more present. But using a high-quality facial razor is a safer option than dermplaning. Plus, for thicker hairs, a facial razor will be more effective, too.

There's an array of chemical exfoliants out there, from extra-gentle polyhydroxy acids to brightening alpha-hydroxy acids to acne-fighting beta-hydroxy acids—all of which also lead to a brighter complexion and remove dead skin.

Retinol can also increase cell turnover—helping to treat acne5, stimulate collagen production6, ease fine lines, and more. In addition to exfoliating dead skin cells, retinoid blocks the activity of enzymes7 behind melanin synthesis, resulting in a more even skin tone.

Even gentle (and we mean very gentle) facial scrubs can have additional benefits—including that instant glow. If you need to lift excess dead skin ASAP (say, for a smooth makeup canvas, for example), then a gentle physical scrub may be the way to go.