I was (un)lucky enough to have a giant, painful pimple when I got the roller! Even though I literally went to beauty therapy school for 2 years, I couldn't help but try and pop it.. A couple of times.. Needless to say, I had a big purple acne scar. Obviously I avoided the area with the roller until it healed, but after that, it was fair game. And now after a few weeks of regular use (I mostly used it every second day, or at least 2-3 times a week) and now the scar is completely gone! I do still have some of my older acne scars, but they have faded a little. I think the trick is definitely to act quick on fresh scars. I have found that my overall skin tone has improved too.
The roller itself is easy and comfortable to use. It probably only squeaked like twice and that was after using it a fair few times. There was no pain whatsoever. Afterwards, it just felt like a bit of mild sunburn for about 20 minutes. I like to apply a soothing serum afterwards. I use Medik8s Calmwise anti redness serum. Make sure to sterilize the roller before and after use! Isopropyl works best. Manicare have a brush cleaner that is literally just isopropyl and fragrance. So I just use that. Multipurpose!
If you've ever had needling done at the physio for an injury, this works in a similar manner. Creating small injuries to the area to trigger your body's healing response (in this case, collagen production)
This was my first time using a microneedle derma roller, I was a little nervous at first due to: A. not knowing what the needles would actually feel like, and B. Doing it wrong. But, in the end, I found it easy to use and completely painless. Routine-wise, it recommends using the product ~3-4 times a week, so I went with an every-other-day routine; which seemed to work well.
Although a lot of the more long-term benefits are yet to be seen (naturally), there were certainly some immediate benefits that can be seen/felt. First, the better 'product absorption' claim is bang-on, almost scarily so! After using the roller, I put my usual moisturizer on, and it sucked right into my skin, I actually had to put another layer on because I was thinking 'where the heck did it all go?!'. Other changes I noticed not long after starting the product was my skin texture has improved, a lot. My partner actually noticed it first, I had thought my skin was feeling much more velvety and soft, but he pointed out how visibly smooth my skin also was. The final change I noticed, was the improved appearance of older acne scars/redness, I wouldn't say anything too drastic, but I imagine with continued use I will see even more results.
Overall, I think this is a fantastic beauty tool, great for beginners, and the price point is excellent. Once I'm done with this roller, I am actually going to try some longer length needles. I do think it's also important to have some sort of established skincare routine to incorporate this into, as I imagine there are a lot of benefits not realised if the roller is used without products.
Tips: The most important step is to read/watch the instructions. I cannot emphasise this enough, watch all the videos, make absolutely sure you're using the correct sanitiser spray (and that you are using it after every single use of the tool). You shouldn't be pushing the roller onto your skin either, simply rolling it over the skin.
I also talked about how to use the roller with a beauty therapist friend before starting. She also mentioned to try and keep the skin as taught as possible when rolling as this will help keep an even surface for all the microneedles to hit when you're going over the skin.