Whenever I get a new toy, be it a new smartphone or a board table, the first thing I do is read the manual. I don’t want to blow up anything by pressing the wrong button, you know?
My sister’s the opposite. She throws the manual away and starts playing with her new toy straight away. More often than not, she figures out how to use it quicker than me and then nags that I’m too slow. Sisters, eh?
Well, I’m glad she hasn’t gotten her hands on PMD Personal Microdermabrasion Kit yet. I know her. She’s into instant gratification, so she’d grab the most abrasive disc (cos the training one is for boring people like me, you know?) and start sucking away at her skin.
And then, she’d throw the whole thing away complaining it’s a scam when she ends up with red and irritated skin all over.
When it comes to microdermabrasion, it pays to read the manual, trust me. PMD also put a DVD in the box so, if you hate reading (wait, is that even possible?!), you have no excuses.
What’s Microdermabrasion?
Microdermabrasion is a professional-grade form of exfoliation. A pressurized jet, usually filled with ultrafine aluminium oxide crystals or diamonds, scours away the dead skin cells that accumulate on the surface of your skin and then vacuums the leftovers away.
Like all forms of exfoliation, microdermabrasion does the skin a lot of good:
- Makes skin smoother and brighter
- Reduces dark spots
- Gets rid of small fine lines
- Buffs away flat acne scars
You should see a small improvement straight away, but this is something you have to do regularly to get the most out of it.
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What’s PMD Personal Microderm?
PMD Personal Microderm is an at-home microdermabrasion device that uses aluminium oxide crystals on a flat and sandy disc.
There are two disc sizes: a small one for the face and a bigger one for the body. If you ask me, they’re both rather small, but I guess the size helps keep the treatment gentle enough for at-home use.
The discs are colour-coded based on their intensity and abrasiveness. The white one is the gentlest. That’s why it’s the starting one, already locked in place into the device and ready for use. It’s for ultra sensitive skin and you’re supposed to use it until your skin has gotten used to microdermabrasion.
Then, you can move onto the grey disc, which is still fairly gentle. The next level up is the blue disc and after that, you can graduate to the green disc, which is for medium strength microdermabrasion. I’ve been using this kit for a month and I still haven’t gotten there. When it comes to microdermabrasion, slow and steady wins the race.
If after a few months, you feel like you’ve outgrown the green disc, you can always buy the red one (the maximum strength abrasion disc). Same for the black disc, which is for the body only.
Those two are super powerful. I guess they don’t come with the kit so that folks like my sister won’t jump to those straight away and seriously mess up their skin.
The device also comes with several types of plugs, so no matter where in the world you are, you’ll be able to exfoliate your skin.
How To Use It
Here’s a quick step-by-step guide:
- Wash and towel-dry your skin.
- Connect the power cord to the device and turn it to lock it in place.
- Push the disc firmly down on the device post.
- Twist the cap on tight.
- Turn it on (duh!)
- Use your free hand to pull your skin taut when you’re about to exfoliate it.
- Glide the device in an upward motion across the skin (don’t go over the same area more than twice!).
- Apply a soothing toner or nourishing moisturizer afterwards.
- Let skin recover for a week before you do another treatment.
- Don’t forget to clean the disc with rubbing alcohol or antibacterial soap and the dark filter with warm water after every treatment.
Easy peasy.
WARNING! Replace crystals every 2 to 4 treatments. The aluminium oxide crystals wear off after a while.
Performance & Personal Opinion
First things first: at-home microdermabrasion kits are less powerful than anything you can get at the derm’s office. PMD Personal Microderm is no exception. So, what did it do for me?
Let me tell you, using this thing is damn weird. You can literally feel the device sucking at your skin. Now, that’s a new experience. It’s not painful or anything, just plain weird.
Like the good girl that I am, I’ve started off with the white disc and only glided it over every area of my skin once. I love exfoliation but I’m super wary when I try a new exfoliating thingie.
The white disc is fairly gentle. After the treatment, my skin was much softer and smoother. It also felt a bit tight. There was no irritation, redness or anything like that. Even the tightness went away after I’ve put moisturizer on.
After two weeks, I graduated to the grey disc. I could feel this was a bit harsher on my skin. After the first treatment, I was left with some red patches on my cheekbones. Those have always been the most delicate parts of my face. The rest of my face looked amazing, though!
So, lesson learned. I went back to the white disc for the cheekbones and kept using the grey one everywhere else.
I haven’t tried the other discs yet and, honestly, I’m not sure I ever will. Part of my feels I’ve failed as a beauty blogger cos I can’t tell you about the other discs.
But this ain’t a competition, folks. It’s not about who can reach the ultimate level first or getting there as quickly as possible. It’s about finding a level of exfoliation that works for your skin type.
Now that winter’s coming and my skin’s getting more delicate, I feel like the grey disc is giving me all the exfoliation I need. Besides, I don’t have any dark spots, flat acne scars or deep wrinkles to get rid of, so it’s not like I need a more powerful treatment anyway.
Who Is This For?
I recommend it only to people who prefer physical exfoliation.
Related: Physical VS Chemical Exfoliation: Which One Should You Use?
Who Is This NOT For?
I especially don’t recommend it to oily and acne-prone skin. This can’t unclog your pores.
Related: The Best Exfoliants For Oily Skin
Packaging
It comes in a white box with a picture of a woman on it (and she doesn’t look 15. How refreshing is that?).
Does PMD Personal Microderm Live Up To Its Claims?
| CLAIM | TRUE? |
|---|---|
| The Personal Microderm Classic is a revolutionary at-home device providing the same brilliant results as professional, in-office microdermabrasion treatments. | It provides good results, but at-home treatments don’t work as well as in-office treatments. |
| It combines Patented Spinning Disc technology with Perfectly Calibrated Vacuum Suction to leave skin looking fresh and radiant. | True. |
| Weekly treatments reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, blemishes and enlarged pores. | True. |
Price & Availability
$159.00/£145.00 at Dermstore, Look Fantastic and Sephora
Do You Need It?
I prefer chemical exfoliants to microdermabrasion. But if you’re curious to try it, you won’t be disappointed.
Related: Why I Prefer Chemical Exfoliants
Dupes & Alternatives
