Born in London, Dr. Purvisha Patel was raised in Wales (United Kingdom) and Virginia. She completed her undergraduate and medical school studies at the University of Virginia. She completed her dermatology training at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. Dr. Patel is certified by the American Board of Dermatology and is a member of the American Academy of Dermatology and the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery. Dr. Patel’s expertise in skin and skincare is also seen as she formulated and patented the Visha Skincare line when she saw that her products were working on patients of all ages, genders, and skin types. Dr. Patel is also a beauty influencer and her highly published dermatologist publications include Allure, Elle, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Prevention, Readers Digest, Shape, Women’s Health, etc. 

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As the holiday time is here and beauty tools are flying off the shelves, it is important to understand what each tool can provide to your skin. For some, using devices like at-home microneedling is not ideal and for others, devices like the Magic Glow Wand are extremely beneficial. To find out which devices you should be investing in this holiday season, Haute Beauty sat down with Dr. Patel to hear an expert’s stance and advice on these popular beauty tool items.

How temporary are the benefits of devices like the Magic Glow Wand?

This device is for depuffing the face and to help products absorb in your skin. At the longest, the results of the Magic Glow Wand will last a day if someone’s stance is upright. Once you go to sleep, the fluid will accumulate making the temporary benefits vanish.

The claim to help in skincare absorption has a possible relation to temperature changes. However, skincare absorption is dependent on a lot of factors.

How often should you use a microcurrent device? Can you overdo it?

A microcurrent device is usually used every day for 5-10 min for infinity. At-home devices are not strong enough to do harm to the skin or muscles. However If the current is too high in some there could be the risk of skin discoloration and irritation.

How often can you use an at-home microdermabrasion device?

The average schedule for microdermabrasion starts at once a week for a month then, once a month for maintenance.

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How often can you use an at-home microneedling device?

This depends on your skin thickness and the length of the needles. I am not a fan of at-home microneedling as the needles on at-home devices can tear the skin and the pressure is not applied evenly on the skin surface. Those with sensitive skin, do not use microneedling devices. Those with thicker sebaceous or acne-scared skin can use shorter needles once a week if they must.

With at-home scalp rollers, do they help you grow new hair or thicken the existing follicles? Or both?

At home scalp rollers essentially stimulate blood flow to the hair follicles and poke holes in the skin that hair growth serums are applied to. Using at-home scalp rollers without hair growth serums can stimulate new growth but when done in combination with a hair serum containing vitamins and growth factors (Vegamore hair growth serum), there can be increased growth and thickness.