Originally published on Pure Wow

A Close Shave

Rough skin is scraped away in dermaplaning.

When a friend calls to say her skin has never looked better and she has a magical facialist, the first thing we usually do is book an appointment. But when we heard about aesthetician Heather Bradley’s secret weapon, dermaplaning, we put down the phone: Bradley would be shaving our face? (Ewww.) Then, after another reassuring chat with our friend, we made an appointment--and it really wasn’t scary at all. 

Bradley, a seasoned spa aesthetician who runs a small West L.A. studio for her private clients, takes a sterile surgical scalpel and, in small strokes, shaves your face--it’s actually quite soothing. Dermaplaning removes tiny vellus hairs as well as the top layer of dead skin, and it razes any stray coarse hairs that pop up due to hormonal fluctuation.

Next Bradley gave us an antiaging facial using Guinot and Ayur-Medic products along with Santa Barbara-harvested lavender essential oil, which we swear we could feel being slurped into our now-unplugged pores. When we emerged from the chair after the two-hour, $185 treatment, our skin did have an unusual radiance, plumpness and super-softness.

As we left, Bradley assured us thicker hair re-growth is a beauty myth--but we’ll be coming back in a month to remove more dull winter skin.