A vampire facial is a scary-sounding term for a process that can improve the health of your skin for months.
This is a joking term for the platelet-rich plasma (PRP) facial, a treatment that involves drawing a little blood from your arm, spinning it to concentrate the plasma, and using this plasma-rich blood sample with microneedling to inject your healing platelets into the surface of your skin.
Many people experience the best results after about three treatments, and results can last up to 18 months. You can see improvements in skin tone and plumpness, reductions in wrinkles and lines, and even reduced acne scars and blemishes.
Since this procedure involves blood samples, it is important to work with a high-quality facility that maintains a surgical level of sterilization, like Cosmetica Med Spa in Boca Raton, Florida.
What Is a Vampire Facial?
The term vampire facial sounds spooky, suggesting something out of a pulp novel, but in fact, it is a way of revitalizing your skin with plasma from your own blood.
You may have seen images of celebrities or influencers on social media, with their faces slathered in blood. This is a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment, also known as a vampire facial.
It is a longer-lasting alternative to some cosmetic treatments, including microdermabrasion facials or facial fillers. PRP can reduce lines and wrinkles while plumping the skin, but by using your body’s own natural chemicals rather than something created in a lab.
PRP treatments are used for medical conditions aside from skin concerns. For example, orthopedic surgeons use PRP treatment to help professional athletes recover faster after they are injured. Plasma is also being examined as a potential treatment for hair loss and to speed up wound healing.
In cosmetic treatments, like those at Cosmetica in Boca Raton, PRP is part of the vampire facial, which helps rejuvenate your face to reduce wrinkles and improve overall health.
The PRP Treatment Process & the Vampire Facial
Rather than causing you to waste away, the vampire facial plumps your skin and makes it healthier by using platelets drawn from your blood.
You may be familiar with platelets from the blood clotting process, like when you accidentally scrape yourself and a scab forms. These microscopic bodies in your blood have many other health benefits because they contain tiny pockets called granules, which contain a high amount of human growth factor. Removing these and reintroducing them in concentrated amounts onto the surface of your skin can help to heal several blemishes, wrinkles, and other superficial imperfections.
There are three basic steps to the vampire facial process:
- Blood is drawn from your arm, but only between two and four tablespoons.
- The sample is placed in a machine called a centrifuge, which spins to separate the platelets from the rest of your blood.
- The part with a high concentration of platelets is injected into treatment areas.
Plasma-rich blood may be injected using a syringe, but with the vampire facial, it is usually applied to thin needles that are part of the microneedling process. Microneedling is an extremely popular treatment to heal damaged skin, and adding other treatments with microneedling has shown impressive results for both skin and hair health.
The entire process takes about 45 minutes. Once it is complete, you may add some skin treatments like a sheet mask or a topical serum, but there is very little healing time required.
Abstain from wearing makeup for one day. Then, you are ready to present your youthful, glowing skin to the world.
What Are the Benefits of the Vampire Facial?
The vampire facial can improve the health of your skin by:
- Reducing wrinkles.
- Increasing collagen production.
- Plumping sagging skin.
- Removing deep creases or frown lines.
- Improving complexion and skin tone.
- Diminishing acne scars or other blemishes.
You may see some improvement over the next day, but peak results appear after a few weeks or a couple months. This treatment offers short-term benefits to your skin’s health, like sheet masks and cleansers you use at home, and it also keeps your skin healthy long term by boosting collagen production.
After about three treatments, you will see the best improvements in your skin’s appearance. Results from this number of treatments can last for up to a year and a half.
Vampire Facials Are Safe & Effective
Vampire facials might sound like something out of a B-grade horror movie, but they are quite safe and effective. One of the most important steps is ensuring that blood drawing, transportation, and injection process is sterile at every step. Cosmetica Med Spa has one of the safest facilities in Boca Raton.
This facial is also virtually painless, as microneedling is one of the least painful methods of injecting skin treatments like PRP. Microneedling punctures just the first few surface layers of your skin, so any minor pain will quickly stop and heal.
If you are concerned about pain, topical anesthetics can be used. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, your aesthetician will likely recommend waiting on this treatment.
Since there is a significant medical component to this process, each treatment can be a little pricier than standard fillers or facials. A Vampire Facial costs between $250 and $1,500 per treatment, with an average treatment cost of $750. But the effects last for months or even a year, so it can be well worth the investment.
Get in touch with Cosmetica Med Spa in Boca Raton to enjoy a vampire facial today.
References
Is Platelet-Rich Plasma the Secret to Younger Skin? American Academy of Dermatology Association (AAD).
What Exactly Is a Vampire Facial? (August 2021). Allure.
What Is a Vampire Facial, and Are the Benefits Worth It? (June 2020). Shape.
Lasers, Microneedling, and Platelet-Rich Plasma for Skin Rejuvenation and Repair. (November 2018). Facial Plastic Surgery Clinics of North America.
