- Joined
- Jun 20, 2026
- Messages
- 831
- Reputation
- 2,524
- Guild
- League of Assassins
If your skin texture is fucked and you have acne scars, enlarged pores, sun damage or an uneven skin tone.Stuff like Azelaic acid, vitamin C, serums have been used and aren’t helping you.
You should probably look to do a chemical peel or microneedling to help your skin.
Skin issues that can be solved by either method
Acne Scars
Indentations left when acne heals, structural defects in the dermis. Creams cannot actually fix these as its more of an injury that needs collagen remodelling.
Enlarged Pores
Rough Skin, large pores. Can be caused by skin damage, aging and old acne.
Fine lines
Shallow lines formed from sun damage, dehydration and potential collagen loss. Both stimulate collagen to be stimulated to smooth the face.
Hyperpigmentation
Dark spots and melasma causing an uneven tone. The chemical peels are usually better for surface level hyperpigmentation and microneedling is better for deeper dermal pigment and textural issues.
Dull tone
Dead skin buildup on the epidermis, possible poor circulation of blood or bad skin turnover. This forces your skin cells to regenerate, decreasing the dullness of the face.
Temporary Skin solutions
Exfoliation Scrubs
Scrubs, with beads, shells or brushes. Removal of dead skin but they don't stimulate collagen or skin turnover. They don't get rid of scarring they can actually instead cause micro-tears and worsen inflammations and hyperpigmentation.
Has negative effects long-term you shouldn’t roughly exfoliate your skin.
At-Home Peel Kits
You may have seen, or advertised peel kits for example, a glycolic acid peel, a TCA peel or maybe a AHA / BHA peel. These usually are completely wrong with the wrong pH formulation and have no neutralisation step.
Because of this and because you are at home, you will burn yourself, get hyperpigmentation and maybe destroy your skin barrier.
Therefore there's a high risk in using these and there's also a very high chance you will get nothing in return except a possible burn.
Derma Rollers at home
Derma rollers (deep needling), have some issues like the needles are usually far more blunt than professional needling because they aren't fine and sharp like they would be. Instead of clean punctures in your skin you would instead just be creating wounds.
Then the rest of the problems are caused are due to you doing this at home:
- Your bathroom is not sterilised
- You don't know how to properly do this as you don't know the pressure, angle or depth you should roll at.
Therefore you are unlikely to do it right so may have scarring or infection due to doing it at home, more so your results are likely to be mild.
Semi-permanent solutions
Retinoids (tretinoin/retinol)
Increase cell turnover, stimulates collagen production and would maintain the results of micro-needling and chemical peels. It's very good post-treatment maintenance and can be useful for hyperpigmentation, and dull skin tone. But will not remodel your face or change very deep texture issues or acne scars.
Personally, I would recommend retinoids if your skin issues aren’t extremely severe and try them before you decide on chemical peels or microneedling.
Sunscreen
No matter if you are doing peels or microneedling you should use SPF 30+ every day because it would make your hyperpigmentation worse and UV exposure destroys the collagen and would darken your pigmentation.So you need to wear sunscreen
Chemical Peels
Chemical peels apply an acid solution to the skin that causes controlled destruction of the skin layers, then the solution will peel and reveal new skin underneath. The depth of the deep determines the results and the downtime of the procedure. There are three types this is going to go over:
Superficial peels (Very Light/Light)
The peel consists of 10-20% TCA, 20-30% glycolic acid, 30-50% glycolic acid, Jessner solution, salicylic acid, retinoic acid peels.The depth of the peel is only the epidermis which is the outermost layer of the skin
It focuses on fixing dullness, minor textures, mild acne, light hyperpigmentation and overall brightness of the face.
The peels downtime is very short, the redness and flaking is for a few days and you can leave the house and work the next day.
These should be done every 2-4 weeks and should be a series of 4-6 for best results.
There is no proper risk of this chemical peel but the rewards aren't drastic as they should be used for maintenance or mild skin issues
Medium Peels
Consists of 35% TCA, 35% TCA combined with Jessner or 70% glycolic acid.The depth of this peel is the upper dermis (papillary dermis) and it fixes moderate wrinkles, lots of pigmentation, sun damage and acne scars.
Unlike the light chemical peels this has a downtime of 7-10 days, it causes lots of redness, peeling and swelling. It’ll look like you are sunburnt then your skin will peel very obviously, you should probably stay inside for around 4 days.
Should be done around 2-4 times a year, it is usually about 1-3 sessions for a total course.
This is obviously a bit more intense than a light chemical peel, and also costs far more. The risk is medium and the reward is high even after just one session you will see significant improvement.
Deep Peels
They are 50%+ TCA, phenol (Baker-Gordon formula with croton oil), high-concentration phenol combinations.The depth of this peel is to the mid to lower dermis and it fixes very deep wrinkles, severe sun damage, deep acne scars, precancerous lesions and extensive actinic damage. Basically all of the previous issues I spoke about at the start of the guide.
It has a much longer recovery period of 2-4 weeks compared to the downtime of the other peels which is only a few days. The redness of this peel can last months; the skin looks raw, swollen and peels in sheets. You shouldn’t leave the house.
The best time to have this done was probably quarantine in 2020.
The risks of these chemical peels however they may seem to fix everything is very high because it has a very high cardiac toxicity risk with phenol if not properly monitored during the procedure. Can cause permanent lighting in the skin, scarring if done wrong and possible milia formation.
This only needs to be done around once, results can last decades. The risk and the reward are both high but the rewards you could say are super high.
Types of peels
- Glycolic acid (AHA) - Good for texture, brightness and mild scars, needs multiple sessions.
- Salicylic acid (BHA) - Penetrates pores as its oil-soluble, best for acne, oily skin and blackheads.
- TCA (Trichloroacetic acid) - Versatile effects depending on concentration. Is self neutralising.
- Jessner Solution - Mixture of salicylic acid, resorcinol and lactic acid, often used as preparation before another peel (TCA) to enhance the skin's penetration.
- Phenol - Deepest most aggressive peel. Only for severe damage should it be used on dark skin tones as it could permanently alter their skin tone. This requires an IV drip and cardiac monitoring because phenol is absorbed and can cause fibrillation.
- Retinoic acid peel - Superficial and requires minimal downtime.
──────────────────────────────────────────
Microneedling
This is using fine needles to create controlled micro-injuries into the skin. The miniature punctures trigger the body's wound healing process.
Inflammation - proliferation - remodeling. The result is new collagen, new elastin and the structure of your scar tissue is reorganised.
Your skin thinking it's injured will cause the new collagen that fills in scars, tightens skin and smooths the skin's texture.
Types of micro-needling
---Manual Derma Roller
Cylinder with needles that you roll across your skin.This is cheap, simple and can be done at home for shallow depths
However the rolling motion can cause wounding because the angle it enters is not perfectly vertical, so the needle depths would not be consistent.
Would have the depth of only around 0.25mm at home, professional rollers go deeper but pens are favoured instead
Automated Derma Pen
Motorised devices with tips of needles that stamp perfectly vertical into the skin at high speeds.These have clean vertical punctures and have adjustable depths, consistent speed and pressure throughout. Can treat small areas precisely, less tissue damage than derma rollers.
These however are expensive and require training.
Depth of 0.5mm -2.5mm depending on treatment. At home devices may not be FDA-cleared and risk infection and improper techniques.
Radiofrequency Microneedling
Needles that deliver radiofrequency energy into the dermis at point of penetration. Heat causes more collagen contraction and face tightening.This is best for skin laxity, deeper scars and more extensive collagen stimulation, the heat accelerates the wound response.
Yet, this is very expensive with a longer downtime and has a risk of hyperpigmentation after the inflammatory response in darker skin
Has a depth of up to 7mm with some devices.
Picking the Depth
- 0.25-0.5mm - Brightness, absorption of products. No downtime
- 0.5-1.0mm - Fine lines, minor scars, pore size. Should be done professionally with numbing cream
- 1.0-1.5mm - Acne scars, deeper wrinkles, significant texture issues. Professionally done only, pinpoints can possibly cause bleeding.
- 1.5-2.5mm - Deep scars, stretch marks and severe texture too. Also only professionally done
- 3.0mm+ - Deep tissue remodeling, significant downtime
---
Micro needling is best for
- Rolling Acne scars
- Boxcar Scars
- Fine lines/Texture
- Hyperpigmentation
Downtime/ Recovery
Standard microneedling - Redness like a sunburn, looks presentable after around 2 days. (Do every 4-6 weeks) Cost: 200-500Deep microneedling - Redness and swelling for 2-3 days, presentable around 6 days later.(Do every 4-6 weeks) Cost: 200-500
RF microneedling - Redness, swelling may have grid pattern marks form the needles for 3-5 days. It takes a week to look normal again. Do every (4-8 weeks) Cost: 500-1500
The risks of microneedling are quite low and the reward is significantly higher and should be favored over chemical peels if you have darker skin.
Chemical Peel vs Microneedling
Chemical Peel vs Microneedling| Feature | Chemical Peel | Microneedling |
| Mechanism | Dissolves skin layers | Mini-injury stimulates wound healing |
| Best for | Pigment, sun damage, active acne and brightness. | Scars, texture, pores, deep dermal issues |
| Acne scars | Medium peels help mildly. Deep peels help significantly but are risky as shown above.. | Excellent for rolling and boxcar acne scarring. Moderate effects for icepick scars. |
| Hyperpigmentation | Better for surface pigment. Faster results. | Safer for dark skin. Slower but consistent results. |
| Fine lines | Medium/deep peels are effective | Effective with multiple sessions. RF is better for deeper lines. |
| Skin laxity | Minimal effect. | Standard: mild. RF: significant tightening |
| Downtime | Superficial: 1-3 days Medium: 7-10 days Deep: 2-4 weeks. | 0.5-1.5mm: 1-2 days. 1.5-2.5mm: 3-5 days RF: 3-7 days |
| Number of sessions | Superficial: 4-6 Medium: 1-3 Deep: 1 | 3-6 sessions standard 3-4 for RF |
| Pain | Burning during application Discomfort for hours after | Numbing cream makes it fine Feels like vibration/pressure |
| Infection risk | Higher (epidermis removed, raw skin exposed) | Lower (epidermis largely kept not removed, micro-channels close very quickly) |
| Results timeline | Peels: immediate. Full results after peeling finishes | Microneedling: Gradual over 3-6 months for collagen building |
| Longevity | Superficial: weeks Medium: months to 1 year Deep: years | Permanent for scars Maintenance needed as you age |
Which to choice 
Chemical peel if - Main issue is hyperpigmentation
- Active acne you want to clear
- Fast results
- Lighter skin tone
- Want to solve skin texture issues and restart
Microneedling if
- Acne scars is main issue
- Enlarged pores and rough texture
- Darker skin tone
- Fast recovery
Both if
- Severe skin issues like scars, pigmentation and texture.
- Combined therapy is better than either alone, studies have shown this
Neither of
- You have a skin infection, open wounds, severe eczema
- On accutane
- History of keloid scarring
- On accutane or were on it in the last 6 months
Aftercare
1-3 Days- No makeup
- Gentle cleanser
- No retinoids acis, vitamin c or scrubs
- Don't go outside but if you must use very high SPF sunscreen
3-7 days
- Don't pick or peel at skin
- Redness should fade
- Resuming gentle routine
- No active substances as it can burn skin
2 weeks and onwards
- Can resume retinoids
- Don't pick the peels
- Keep wearing sunscreens
Don't work out the same day as sweat can cause infection or swim or use saunas.
Risks
- Hyperpigmentation
- Hypopigmentation
- Scarring
- Infections
- Redness for a long period of time
- Milia, tiny white bumps from trapped keratin
Final Notes
- Start mild with the first treatment just to see how your skin reacts to the procedure
- Use retinoids 4-6 weeks before as it increases results and speeds up healing. Stop using around 5 days before
- Dont use if on accutane, your skin heals differently with accutane and is likely to scar strangely.
- Wait 6 months before any deep needling or peel.
- Be safe about who you're going to for the procedure
