A Guide to Skincare Tools from a Licensed Esthetician

Light therapy, cleansing tools, extractions, and dermarollers are all facial tools that can help address specific skin concerns. As a licensed esthetician, I'm here to explain the difference and what you may want to incorporate into your skincare routine.

The skincare market is a multi-billion dollar market. This is because most of us are desperate to improve our skin and maintain our youth. The skincare industry knows this and continually work to improve skincare products, tools and services. Beauty Tech is evolving into its own market as we speak, I have come across many skincare tools and devices over my esthetician career that have both puzzled and intrigued me. I am assuming many of you have had this experience as well. Let’s talk about some of these tools and whether or not your skin could benefit from them.

Cleansing Tools

One question I get frequently is: what are the best tools to effectively cleanse the skin?

My answer is usually shocking to my clients: your own two hands! Sponges and brushes can be helpful getting into the pores leaving them cleaner but they can also cause a lot of irritation if used too frequently and cause contamination if not cleaned properly.

If used the right amount and kept clean these tools can be helpful, but before scrubbing away at your face you need to take a few things into consideration.

• Is your skin sensitive?

• If so, you are better off using your fingers alone.

• Do you have inflamed acne? If so, you never want to use anything abrasive over active inflamed acne.

• Are you prone to non-inflamed acne, blackheads, and texture?

If so, you actually may be a good candidate for a cleansing tool.

The most popular cleansing tool I get asked about is the Clarisonic. It can be extremely effective, but I only recommend it if you have congestion issues and if you only use it at most once per day. Be sure tp keep it clean and replace the brush head regularly. The same goes for any other brush or sponge you choose to use. 

Extraction Tools

Nothing makes an esthetician cringe more than the image of their clients doing at-home extractions. Like I have mentioned in previous blogs, we simply do not know when enough is enough as we are working on our own faces. However, if you can’t help yourself there are a few tools out there that can make your at-home extraction experience easier.

There are also a few that will make it more dangerous and could cause more damage, like scarring. My personal favorite extractor tool to recommend to my clients is the Dermaflash: dermapore ultrasonic pore extractor and serum infuser. It helps to rid the pores of unwanted debris in a much gentler way than the average extractor tools where you have to apply more pressure in a smaller area that is likely to cause bruising or scarring.

Derma-planing Tools

First, let me say that nothing beats a professional derma-planing treatment done by a licensed esthetician, but there are at-home dermaplaning/facial razor tools that can help you to remove unwanted peach fuzz and dead skin. First, you want to make sure your skin can handle such a treatment. Sensitive skin may not handle a dermaplaning treatment well. Textured or acneic skin is also not a good idea to derma-plane because you are likely to injure the raised skin. If you are a good candidate and ant to try this treatment, many people use a regular shaving razor to shave their faces, in my opinion, the shape is not safe or effective for the curvature of the face.

There are also disposable dermaplaning tools that are not quite sharp enough and will not remove as much dead skin as I would like, but can still provide decent results if used properly. I recently came across the Dermaflash: 2.0 Luxe facial exfoliating device and love it for a quick alternative if you are unable to get in for a professional derma-planing treatment, it is the best at home option I have come across.

Derma-rollers

Micro-needling is one of my favorite treatments to give and to receive. The results are highly effective for so many different skin concerns such as aging, scarring, and pigmentation. You will simply not be able to achieve the results of the professional micro-needling treatment at home. Most devices that claim to microneedle your skin at home are actually derma-rollers. Their entry into the skin creates cone-like micro-tears in the skin that can be less effective for the healing and rejuvenating process. They also are not penetrating the skin near as deep to provide the effective results that a professional micro-needling treatment would.

There are a couple tools that stamp rather than roll, to avoid the micro-tearing in the skin and these can be used at home to help your serums penetrate better into the skin, but another issue I come across is, many become lazy and do not properly sanitize these tools after each use, since the tools are creating micro-holes in the skin we need to keep them as clean as possible. For these reasons, I advise my clients to stay clear of these tools and to instead receive professional micro-needling, as it is much more effective and safer. 

Light Therapy Devices

Light therapy or LED is a wonderful skincare tool to address a wide variety of skin concerns when used consistently. LED can reduce inflammation, acne, pigment, redness, and even stimulate collagen, depending on the color of light. (Certain colors are better for certain skin conditions). However, most at-home light therapy devices are not strong enough to provide results. With this category, you get what you pay for.

The Light devices you find in drug stores are not going to be near as effective as the higher-end devices that cost hundreds of dollars. You also have the option of receiving light therapy treatments at a spa; keep in mind frequency is the key to obtaining results. I recommend at least 20-30 minutes per day for optimum results. Here are a couple of options; one more affordable Dermashine Pro 7 Color LED Face Mask and one at higher-end pricing Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare Spectralite. 

I highly recommend seeing an experienced licensed esthetician for professional treatments that will provide optimum results. However, if you want to do more and take your skincare routine to the next level some of these tools may be a great additive for you, and can also make desired skincare treatments attainable in these times spent at home while social distancing.