Microdermabrasion at Home

Not so long ago the only way in which you could experience the benefits of microdermabrasion was at the hands of a professional at a beauty salon or clinic. Today the skin care industry has on offer an almost bewildering selection of microdermabrasion at home kits but which one should you choose to use as part of your regular skin care regime?

Neutrogena was one of the first companies to realize the potential market in such products and their “At Home MicroDermabrasion System” became an, almost instant, hit with customers. Today it remains one of the better quality home microdermabrasion kits that are available and it is also very reasonably priced. The system uses the very same crystals which are used in the professional salon machines but rather than blasting them onto the skin they are suspended in a cream which is applied to the skin using the supplied hand tool. The hand tool has a number of replaceable heads which move gently so that the crystals can exfoliate deeply in a far more effective manner than your usual home facial.

One of the best things about the Neutrogena Advanced Solutions At Home MicroDermabrasion System is that the hand tool has two speed settings. When you first start to use the kit you will be using the highest settings but as soon as you have obtained the expected results you can change to the slower, more gentle, setting and use it less often as part of a maintenance regime, thus extending the usefulness of the kit.

For those looking for a cheaper alternative Vita-K has produced an At Home Microdermabrasion Kit which is extremely similar to that produced by Neutrogena. Other alternatives are available such as those produced by DermaNew, May Kay, Loreal and Olay. All of the at home kits offer systems that use creams which contain abrasives to clean and exfoliate the skin, they seem to do a reasonable job too but they are not, strictly speaking, offering true microdermabrasion. Do not expect too much from these at home systems, kits that use resurfacing creams are not likely to produce the same astounding results as those gained from a course of salon treatments. Such kits can prove an important asset to your skin care regime and can maintain your beautiful skin between salon appointments.

The professional aesthetician uses a microdermabrasion machine which can cost tens of thousands of dollars so it is understandable that home microdermabrasion kits that cost less than $50 struggle to produce comparable results. However a company called Crystalift has produced an exciting system which uses vacuum technology similar to that used by the professionals. It is rather expensive (Retail Price $249 but available cheaper online) when compared to the cream based systems but if you are looking for youthful radiant skin that is smooth to the touch the Crystalift Resurfacing System is hard to beat. Remember that professional dermatologists can easily pay more than $10,000 for a microdermabrasion machine and that many charge in excess of $200 per treatment. With this in mind Crystalift’s system is an absolute bargain.

If you are looking to improve your skin’s texture, reduce open pores or even remove fine lines, microdermabrasion continually proves it’s effectiveness. It has also been proven that the technique is extremely successful in the fight against acne and sufferers have found it is also great for reducing the visibility of acne scars (and in some cases removing them). There is little wonder that it has been the most popular skin care treatment for the last few years. Not all of us can afford regular sessions at our local spa so these at home kits are proving increasingly popular.

With so many products using the word “microdermabrasion” in their title or description it is important that you take the time to study exactly what you are buying as many products are little more than a highly abrasive facial cream. It should also be noted that great care should be taken when using such creams as you can easily damage your skin with overuse. Some companies have, sensibly, started to incorporate timers into their machines to ensure that you only use the system for the recommended period of time. Follow all instructions carefully at all times and do not assume that more is better.

Andrew Kelly has, over the last 10 years, been working with a number of very well known U.K. skin care companies, beauty salons and skin care web sites in the promotion of microdermabrasion and microdermabrasion products.