Smoother skin, off the surface
Dermaplaning uses a sterile #10 surgical blade held at a shallow angle to remove dead surface skin and vellus hair in 30 to 45 minutes. There’s no numbing and no downtime, and your makeup sits flat for three to four weeks. It isn’t the same as shaving. At Skinovatio Lincoln Park, on Lincoln Avenue just north of Wrightwood, it’s one of the shortest appointments on our menu.
Consult
priced at your visit
At a glance
Dermaplaning- Appointment
- 30 to 45 minutes, no numbing
- Downtime
- None. Pink for an hour or two, product-sensitive for 1 to 3 days
- First results
- Immediately
- Full results
- Immediately, fading over 3 to 6 weeks
- Sessions
- Single, repeated every 3 to 6 weeks if wanted
- Cost
- Priced at your consult. Financing available.
What to expect
What the appointment is like
First we cleanse and degrease, then comes the blade. Your esthetician holds the skin taut and works in short, light strokes in one direction, going around anything that shouldn’t be cut. It feels like a light scrape, and no numbing is needed. We finish with a calming serum and sunscreen. You’ll spend about thirty minutes in the chair, and the full visit takes under 45.
Consult
We’ll check your skin for active breakouts, cold sores, or a recent peel. If we see any of those, we’ll reschedule.
Prep
We cleanse and degrease so the blade glides. No numbing is needed, because the treatment isn’t painful.
Treatment
A sterile #10 blade at a shallow angle, with short strokes and skin held taut. About 20 minutes of blade time.
Before you leave
Serum, sunscreen, and a written list of what to skip for five days. Your provider will tell you when makeup can go back on.
Your results
A predictable timeline
You’ll see your result right on the table: brighter, smoother, and no fuzz. It fades on the hair’s own schedule, which is three to six weeks, and you can book again whenever you like. There’s no cumulative effect. Individual results vary, mostly by how much vellus hair you had to begin with.
Day 0
Smooth, bright, and slightly pink for an hour. Makeup sits flat.
Days 1 to 3
Product-sensitive, so stick to sunscreen and moisturizer.
Week 1
Peak result, and the best window for an event.
Weeks 3 to 6
Vellus hair is back at its normal texture. Book again whenever you’d like it gone.
What it costs
Clear pricing, planned by the visit
Two things shape your cost: whether it’s booked on its own or added to a HydraFacial or light peel, and whether you’re on a package cadence. Add-on pricing is lower than stand-alone, because the prep is shared. There’s no series to buy, since each visit stands on its own, though many regulars like a recurring booking every four to six weeks.
- On its own or as an add-on
- A single visit or a package
- Whether it’s paired with a HydraFacial or peel
- How often you plan to come back
At Skinovatio Lincoln Park
Dermaplaning
Consult
priced at your visit
- Consultation
- $50
- Financing
- Cherry, Affirm, Afterpay
Dermaplaning isn’t on the Lincoln Park online booking menu, but you can ask about adding it to a HydraFacial at your consult.
Book your Dermaplaning appointmentSimilar purpose, different options
Dermaplaning or something else?
Here’s how three surface treatments compare.
| Dermaplaning | HydraFacial | Light chemical peel | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Blade, mechanical, surface only | Vortex tip, extraction, infusion | Acid, chemical, slightly deeper |
| Removes hair | Yes | No | No |
| Downtime | None | None | Flaking days 3 to 7 |
| Same-day pairing | Pairs with HydraFacial or a light peel | Pairs with dermaplaning | Pairs with dermaplaning, not with HydraFacial |
| Book before an event | 1 to 3 days out | 2 to 5 days out | 3 to 4 weeks out |
Method
- Dermaplaning
- Blade, mechanical, surface only
- HydraFacial
- Vortex tip, extraction, infusion
- Light chemical peel
- Acid, chemical, slightly deeper
Removes hair
- Dermaplaning
- Yes
- HydraFacial
- No
- Light chemical peel
- No
Downtime
- Dermaplaning
- None
- HydraFacial
- None
- Light chemical peel
- Flaking days 3 to 7
Same-day pairing
- Dermaplaning
- Pairs with HydraFacial or a light peel
- HydraFacial
- Pairs with dermaplaning
- Light chemical peel
- Pairs with dermaplaning, not with HydraFacial
Book before an event
- Dermaplaning
- 1 to 3 days out
- HydraFacial
- 2 to 5 days out
- Light chemical peel
- 3 to 4 weeks out
A HydraFacial adds extraction and hydration and doesn’t touch hair, so the two together are our standard pre-event pairing. A chemical peel works chemically and goes deeper, with flaking, so it’s best booked weeks out rather than days. For help with the peel-versus-needle decision, take a look at microneedling vs chemical peel.
Is it right for me?
Who it’s for, and who it isn’t
Dermaplaning suits most skin types and most ages. It’s a good fit if your foundation catches on fuzz, you have an event within the week, or your skin looks dull.
A good fit for
- Fine, light peach fuzz that catches makeup
- Flaky winter skin that a washcloth won’t clear
- Makeup that settles into fine texture
- Anyone not ready for a needle treatment
Not recommended
- Active acne, a cold sore, open skin, or a flare
- Coarse, dark facial hair (laser hair removal fits better)
- Skin still healing from a peel or laser
- Acne scars, wrinkles, or deep pigment
Hair grows back at the same fine texture in a few weeks, never thicker. Cutting hair doesn’t change its growth rate, thickness, or color. The blade is a surgical instrument, so claims that dermaplaning is “FDA-cleared” aren’t accurate.
In detail
What it treats
Dermaplaning works only on the surface of the skin, so it treats a short list of concerns.
Vellus hair traps foundation and can show up as fuzz in photos, especially with flash. Removing it is the most common reason people book. Foundation goes on flat for about three to four weeks, until the hair regrows at its usual rate.
The blade takes the dead outer layer along with the hair. Your skin looks brighter the same day, and serums absorb better for a day or two, because the barrier is temporarily thinner.
This one is surface-level only. Dermaplaning brightens the top layer, but it doesn’t reach pigment in the dermis, and it isn’t a treatment for melasma. If melasma is your concern, we’ll recommend a treatment better suited to it.
Book it one to three days before a wedding, photo shoot, or other event. It’s often paired with a HydraFacial in the same visit.
Dermaplaning is done on skin, not on a beard. For men, it works well on the cheekbones and forehead, areas a razor doesn’t usually reach.
It isn’t the right choice for active acne, open lesions, cold sores, eczema or psoriasis flares, or coarse dark hair, which is a job for laser hair removal.
How it works
The blade removes the stratum corneum and a little of the upper epidermis along with the vellus hair, which is why skin looks brighter and makeup sits smoother right after. A 2023 laboratory study confirmed removal of the stratum corneum and some viable epidermis by dermaplaning, with a large drop in skin barrier resistance. That drop is why serums absorb better for a day or two, and also why acids and retinoids can sting during that same window.
The clinical evidence for dermaplaning is limited. A 2011 systematic review found the supporting data “scarce, anecdotal, and not well documented,” while noting that patients and providers report satisfaction. We offer it as a cosmetic exfoliation with an immediate, short-lived result. There’s no FDA clearance to cite, because the blade is a surgical instrument and the procedure isn’t an FDA-regulated treatment.
Dermaplaning won’t make hair grow back thicker: cutting hair doesn’t change its growth rate, thickness, or color. That was tested in a 1970 study in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. Vellus hair regrows as vellus hair.
Afterwards
Downtime and aftercare
There’s no downtime. Your skin is pink for an hour or two and slightly more sensitive to products and sun for one to three days, because the barrier is thinner. Wear sunscreen every day this week, and use a gentle moisturizer. Hold off on retinoids, acids, and scrubs for three to five days, and avoid waxing the same week. Makeup is fine after.
If you plan to work out that day, exercise before your appointment rather than after. Sweat stings on freshly exfoliated skin, so skip hot yoga and other heavy-sweat workouts for the rest of the day.
Why here
Why Lincoln Park
You’ll find us on Lincoln Avenue just north of Wrightwood, a block up from the Apollo Theater. Take the Brown Line to Diversey, then head south on Lincoln, or the Red, Brown, or Purple Line to Fullerton, then head north. The 11 Lincoln bus stops on the block. The treatment takes about 30 minutes, with no numbing and no visible downtime. Midday appointments tend to fill first, so it helps to book ahead.
For a wedding or other event, we book dermaplaning one to three days before, in the same week as a HydraFacial if you’d like. Our medical esthetician does the blade work.
Questions
Common questions, answered
Dermaplaning is manual exfoliation with a sterile surgical blade held at a shallow angle to scrape off the outermost dead skin cells and vellus hair (peach fuzz). It takes 30 to 45 minutes, needs no numbing, and has no downtime. Your skin looks brighter and makeup sits flatter right away, for about three to six weeks.
It comes down to the blade, the angle, and the depth. Shaving uses a guarded razor that cuts hair at the skin surface. Dermaplaning uses a sterile #10 surgical blade at a controlled shallow angle, in a trained hand, and takes the dead outer skin layer along with the hair. The hair result is similar, but the exfoliation is something a razor can’t do.
It can in acne-prone skin, and it can’t be done over active breakouts at all. The blade across a pustule opens it and spreads bacteria. On clear skin, breakouts after dermaplaning usually come from heavy products on a thinner barrier in the first few days. For those first few days, it’s best to stick to moisturizer and sunscreen.
Yes. It comes back at the same rate, thickness, and color as before. Cutting hair doesn’t change how it grows. That was tested in a 1970 study in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology and has held up since. Vellus hair grows back as vellus hair, usually within three to six weeks.
Yes, that works well. One to three days out is the standard window. Skin is pink for an hour or two and product-sensitive for a day or so, and makeup sits flat from the same day. You can pair it with a HydraFacial in the same visit if you’d like extraction and hydration too. Skip any peel that week.
Sensitive skin, usually yes, because the blade is gentle and there’s no chemical. Very reactive rosacea, no. If you have a flare, an active breakout, eczema, or psoriasis on the face, we’ll reschedule. Your provider always checks your skin before the blade comes out.
Yes, and it’s the most common pairing on the menu. Dermaplaning goes first to clear hair and dead skin, then the HydraFacial extracts and infuses on a clean surface. You can book both in one visit, ideally two to five days before an event.
Yes. The blade works the cheekbones, forehead, and nose, areas a razor doesn’t usually reach, and it can help skin irritated by daily shaving. We don’t dermaplane through a beard.
Thirty to 45 minutes, including cleansing and sunscreen. About 20 minutes of that is blade time. There’s no numbing to wait for.
Smooth, bright, and slightly pink, with no visible fuzz. The pink fades within an hour or two. Makeup can go on the same day and sits noticeably flatter. For one to three days the skin is more sensitive to acids, retinoids, and sun, so it’s best to hold off on those.
The hair grows back exactly as it was, usually within three to six weeks. It won’t grow back thicker or darker; that’s a myth, and the hair’s structure is unchanged.
Keep exploring
Related treatments
Related priorities
HydraFacial
From $199A 30-minute facial with no downtime and a glow that lasts about a week
Learn more
Chemical peels
From $200Surface to medium-depth peels to help with melasma, acne, and texture
Learn more
Microneedling
From $347A first step for pores, fine lines, and texture, using hyaluronic acid serum
Learn more
Start with a consult
Tell us what you’d like to work on. We’ll assess your skin and goals, walk you through your Dermaplaning options, and give you a clear plan and price before anything begins.
Afterpay and Klarna are available at checkout for eligible treatments.