MASKS INSPIRED BY MICRONEEDlING

When your face needs hydration and line-plumping it can’t get from topical skincare, this method of delivery brings it deeper into the skin where it can do the job.

They bring hydration deep into the skin.

Let’s clear this up: a microneedlinginspired product is not a dermaroller. Dermarollers have tiny needles around them and are rolled over the skin in different directions to induce trauma, says Dr Chris Foo, a specialist in dermatology and consultant at Raffles Skin & Aesthetics Centre. “Doing so activates the healing cascade in the skin and stimulates collagen production,” he says.

Dermarolling (or microneedling) is a treatment that Singapore doctors are not allowed to offer, as there’s little medical evidence that it’s effective.

Microneedlinginspired skincare follows the same principle as actual microneedling. But it is not painful and won’t cause the skin to bleed. It enhances the delivery of product into the dermis, says Dr Foo.

Sharp hyaluronic acid beads – not needles – mimic the puncture effects of microneedling. The punctures are tiny compared to the deeper ones made by a dermaroller.

Korean-Swiss skincare brand Starskin has a Pro Micro-filler Mask Pack. You massage the 0.25mm-long hyaluronic pyramid beads into the skin so they pierce the surface and create “microtunnels”. When the bio-cellulose mask goes on, the beads melt into liquid hyaluronic acid and move into the skin through the tunnels.

Starskin says massaging the pyramid beads on the skin is painless and won’t damage skin.

The punctures signal the body to make new skin cells to repair the topmost layer. These new skin cells absorb all the hydration that’s already in the dermis. The result: a better complexion.

Science-led luxe skincare brand 111Skin’s Meso Infusion Overnight Micro Mask consists of small patches you place anywhere on the face that requires line-smoothing, brightening or darkspot correction.

“Each patch has 150 tiny cone-shaped bumps made of pure hyaluronic acid and vitamin C, which gradually dissolve over 90 minutes,” says founder Dr Yannis Alexandrides. The tiny cones gently prick the skin to deliver the ingredients and work best overnight.

Korean skincare brand Medicube’s Red Spot Solution Needle Patch is an acne patch for raw and painful cystic and/or hormonal acne. The hyaluronic “needles” send the ingredient into the top skin layer to soothe it, says Sunga Yi, manager of the global PR team at APR Corporation.

Dr Lynn Chiam, a dermatologist at Mount Elizabeth Novena Specialist Medical Centre, says microneedlinginspired products may help deliver hyaluronic acid into the skin. However, whether the micropunctures lead to the formation of new collagen and elastin is a question mark, she adds. The “needles”, too, can irritate skin, so Dr Chiam suggests that those with sensitive and/or acne-prone complexions do an overnight patch test first to gauge their skin’s reactions to the product.