Dermaplaning, Peels or Microdermabrasion?

All three of these do roughly the same thing in the way a razor, sandpaper and a solvent all "remove a layer". The mechanism is different, the recovery is different, and the wrong one on the wrong skin is how people end up red for two weeks and convinced facials are not for them.

Here is the honest version.

Dermaplaning — $100–$200

A sterile blade held at an angle, taken across the skin, removing dead surface cells and the fine vellus hair with them. No acid, no abrasion, no downtime at all.

Who it suits. Anyone who wants makeup to sit flat, anyone about to be photographed, and skin too reactive for acids. It is the gentlest of the three by a wide margin.

What it does not do. It does not reach anything below the surface. If your concern is texture, pigment or acne scarring, dermaplaning will make your skin look better this week and change nothing about the underlying issue.

Why the range. Priced at consultation between $100 and $200 depending on area and whether it is combined with anything else — which it often is, because it makes everything applied after it work better.

Chemical peel — from $100

An acid, chosen for your skin and left on for a controlled time, loosening the bonds between dead cells so they shed. Strength varies enormously, which is the entire point and also why this is the one people get wrong at home.

Who it suits. Pigment, sun damage, congestion, fine lines. It is the only one of the three that meaningfully reaches discoloration, because it works chemically rather than mechanically.

What to expect. Depending on strength, anything from no visible peeling to several days of it. You will be told which before anything is applied, not after.

The Miami caveat. Peels and sun are a bad combination, and this is a city with a great deal of sun. Autumn and winter are the sensible seasons for a course of them, which is why our peel calendar fills from October.

Microdermabrasion — $110 a session

Physical abrasion, a controlled sanding of the surface with simultaneous suction. Session by session at $110, or five for $500 and ten for $900, because unlike the other two this one is genuinely cumulative — the results come from the series rather than the session.

Who it suits. Rough texture, enlarged pores, dullness, and shallow scarring. Skin that feels wrong rather than looks wrong.

Also available as an add-on at $60 onto any facial, which is the cheapest way to find out whether you like it before committing to a course.

Which one, honestly

If you want to look better on Friday, dermaplaning. If your concern is color — sun spots, melasma, unevenness — a peel. If your concern is texture, a microdermabrasion series and not a single session.

If you are not sure, that is what the free consultation is for, and it is the answer we most often give: come in, let someone look at the skin under a proper light, and decide then. Jeanette Gonzalez is our esthetician for advanced medical skincare and takes most of this work.

Full pricing is on the dermaplaning, peels and resurfacing page. If you would rather start somewhere gentler, a HydraFacial from $185 does cleansing, exfoliation, extraction and hydration in one pass with no downtime at all — and it is the right first appointment for more people than any of the three above.