Sticking My Face with 100s of Needles for Beauty

10 years ago, if you had said to me I would be sticking hundreds of needles in my face to make myself look better, I would have thought you were crazy. Well, I’m glad I did not take that bet, because guess what?  I started doing it.

Microneedling is all the rage right now in skincare. Yes, just as the name implies, microscopic needles are used to help treat the skin. Either attached to a roller or a pen, these needles are applied to the skin to create just enough damage to stimulate the skin to regenerate itself. Professional treatments offered

by dermatologists use needles that penetrate so deep into the skin that they can lead to bleeding. The benefit? Clear, glowing skin without a trace of dark spots or acne scars. It sounds kind of barbaric, but my husband tells me that derms swear by it.

Fortunately, my skin looks pretty good, so I don’t think I need a professional strength version. But, an at-home option is another story. Based on the same premise, at-homemicroneedling devices use the similar needles, but they are just not as long as the professional models. So they don't hurt as much, don't cause bleeding, but likely are not as effective.

No blood? Perfect. No pain. Then I am definitely into trying it. My hope for clear skin suddenly looks brighter.  As I obsessively stare at these little  these brown spots on my upper cheeks and temples, I will try just about anything to clear them up. 

Enter the Glow Pro.  Like you, I first saw pictures of it on social media. After all, it It’s perfect fodder for a boomerang video.  It rolls along the skin and lights up with a bright red glow. Red light devices are popular treatments for aging skin because it calms inflammation and stimulates collagen production. This was the device I had to try.
The GlowPro retails for about $200 at your local Sephora or other online retailer. When you open the box you see it comes in its own protective case and is packaged with a skin sanitizing spritzer. (Don't want to get an infection in the skin!) Of course I want to use it right away, but like a good girl I charged it the way I was supposed to.  

Now for the moment we’ve all been waiting for. I cleansed my face, gave myself a quick sanitizing spray, then pressed the on button and here we go. Up and down, left and right, it took me about 10 minutes to cover my whole face. The best way to describe the feeling is like small pricks along your face, or something simialr to an intense microdermabrasion treatment.  Immediately after my face was a shade more rosy and felt warm, but really no noticeable downtime. I topped off the treatment with my usual night time moisturizer. I decided to skip the retinoid for fear that my skin would get irritated.

The next day, I still look like me. Absolutely no side effects or problems, which is great. When you stick hundreds of needles into your face you just have to worry about something going wrong. It’s too early to see any benefits, but hopefully I’ll be able to stick to the regimen and see what happens!