Female laughter is more common than you think

While many women routinely remove the eyebrows, wall, and upper lip hair, the practice of shaving the entire female face has recently flourished. There is certainly a precedent: Woodblock fingerprints in sixteenth-century Japan depict women shaving their faces with long, thin blades, and Queen Elizabeth I removed all her hair from her forehead, including her eyebrows. Marilyn Monroe is said to have shaved her whole face to smooth her skin. Today, some influencers, beauticians and dermatologists promote the practice as a way to remove unwanted hair, but also as an exfoliation technique – no matter how drastic it may seem.

Dr. David Kim, a dermatologist at Union Square Dermatology in San Francisco, explained: thin strands of vellus hair and the outer layer of skin, where we have dead skin cells and the accumulation of dirt and oil ”. The goal, he said, is to get smoother and brighter skin and prepare your skin to absorb products more effectively. He said it can work, especially for those who do not already exfoliate with acids or use retinol. However, Dr. Kim does not recommend the practice for those with sensitive skin conditions, such as rosacea or eczema, or patients with acne, moles, psoriasis or active infections.

Dermaplaning is one of the main things Dr. Kim’s younger patients asked during the pandemic (along with back and back acne, fungal infections in the groin area, exfoliating acids, and vitamin C products). He increases it to the popularity of dermaplaning on social networks, with his fun tutorials. “It’s very satisfying to see layers and layers of skin coming off your face,” he said.

Dermaplaning videos, which are proliferating on TikTok and Youtube, are truly fascinating. Women rub their faces with oil or greasy cream before filming the blade that runs through their skin in the foreground. The small hair accumulates, and the women marvel at them, in a kind of updated version of the Bioré pore strip advertisements from the ’90s. The success of these videos is not surprising in a social media universe that rewards anything resembling ASMR – meridian autonomous sensory response. Other practices adjacent to beauty that fall into this category include brushing hair and peeling face masks. Even worse, pimples that appear on the back.

While many dermaplaning practitioners use the cheap razors you can find at any large store, state-of-the-art specialty devices have entered the market. Sephora sells a StackedSkincare dermaplaning tool for $ 75, as well as a “Dermaplash Anti-Aging Exfoliator” from Dermaflash for $ 199. These are essentially razors, although they are backed by more advanced claims and marketing than the cheaper versions.

Beauty influencer Meagan Carboney, herself a devotee of facial shaving, launched this year the direct dermaplaning company to the consumer, Jill. For $ 24.99, you get a “starter kit” that includes a device (which looks like a sleek vape pen), as well as two blade sizes and a “Gunk Pad.” As Ms. Carboney makes shaving proselytizing a continuous habit, the company offers a subscription service with a “monthly shaving plan.” Ms. Carboney is fully aware of the connection of the beauty trend with social media, posting regularly on several platforms. One of Jill’s explanatory videos has over 21 million views on TikTok.

One of Jill’s mottos, which reflects the video legend of Mrs. Horne, is, “We’re on a mission to normalize female shaving.” Ms. Carboney considers herself a debunker of “myths,” such as the theory that facial hair will grow back thicker or faster after dermaplaning. (Dr. Kim confirms that this is unlikely, explaining, “Don’t damage the hair follicles themselves. Just cut the hair.”) She also wants to counteract what she calls “the stigma behind a woman shaving her face.”

Dana Persia, a Philadelphia beautician and makeup artist who runs the bridal beauty company Beautiful Brides Philly, had similar misconceptions about dermaplaning before trying it. “Men, they’ve always shaved their faces and it’s part of the ritual of being a man … I think people think it’s weird [for women to] shave your whole face. ” she said. Even so, a few years ago, she looked with confidence at Caroline Manzo, one of the “True Housewives of New Jersey,” who shaved her face on the screen. When she started testing her and her clients, she was pleased with the results. Ms. Persia, 54, said: “I feel that my skin looks brighter. I do it for anti-aging. ”

Nowadays, it is impossible to underestimate the role of social media in overcoming and disseminating new beauty trends, including dermaplaning. It’s a domino effect: a woman follows a tutorial, then makes her own tutorial, inspiring others to follow suit. As Ms. Horne said when she first discovered dermaplaning, she thought, “I’ll just try a video to see if it blows up. Maybe I’ll make TikTok famous. ”

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