This treatment is commonly known as the “Vampire Facial.” Despite the daunting nature of this name, the blood and redness of this procedure comes from the microneedling part. Using a medical grade pen, tiny microneedles are poked into your skin in order to open up your pores and initiate our bodies healing mechanisms. This may seem counterproductive and even silly, why are we damaging our skin to initiate healing properties, in order to improve our skin and assist with rejuvenation? Well the reason is actually pretty simple- when our healing properties are initiated, collagen is produced. Collagen provides so many healthy benefits to our skin, and as we age, collagen is broken down and not produced as readily. By forcing our body to produce collagen, we can correct a number of issues including: fine lines and wrinkles, sun damage, hormonal darkening, acne, acne scarring, pore size and rosacea.
Where does the PRP come into play?
PRP is otherwise known as “Platlet rich plasma.” This is the growth factors in our own blood product. During your treatment, a sample of blood will be taken, and centrifuged to separate the plasma. This product is then reinfused back into the skin. This triggers collagen production as well as an intense healing process resulting in firm, healthy, glowing skin free from blemishes. Not to mention the amazing tightening effects that our own plasma has on our skin.
It really is genius-using our own bodies reparative processes to strengthen and tighten our skin to provide a overall rejuvenating treatment. To top it all off, no chemicals or foreign products are being used. It is literally ONLY your own blood products.
This facial does come with some downtime. Redness and swelling is common for up to a week depending on the sensitivity of your skin. Dryness and some peeling and flaking of the skin is also common for about a week post treatment. A week to two weeks after your session is when you can expect to feel the benefits of your PRP facial. Because your skin will continue to build collagen, results improve over time and can last up to a few months. As with all skincare, the cumulative results of a series will be more dramatic than a single session. Following a series of PRP sessions though, results can last up to two years.
Probably my favorite staple to this treatment is that it is spot specific. What I mean by that is I can increase or decrease the depth of the needle based on the area and each clients individualized skin concerns. So for every client with lax skin in problem areas such as their eyelids, or under eyes, we can now specifically spot treat that area of your face without using fillers or botox, and risk them not working.
Oh and one last thing, to everyone who is on the other end reading this thinking about how painful it must be- a medical grade numbing crème is used to offload that burden 😉 And if a blood draw is not for you, there is mesotherapy, which is essentially the use of serums that mimic the acts of PRP instead of retrieving the product directly from the client.
