This might make you stand in front of a mirror and start stabbing yourself in the face, but please don't. Read the whole post first. In 1995, a plastic surgeon discovered that pricking the skin with tiny needles improved its appearance. Dr. Desmond Fernandes was a proponent of using Vitamin A (retinoids) to improve skin. Retinoids stimulate collagen production in the dermis. But he noticed that most of the vitamin A was blocked by the top-most layer of the skin. Very little made its way to the dermis. So, Dr. Fernandes had an idea. 💡 On a visit to Philadelphia, he used a hypodermic syringe so more vitamin A could slip deeper. The surprise? Even where he skipped the serum, the tiny wounds alone softened wrinkles and scars. That's when a new idea was born. Percutaneous Collagen Induction (PCI). Here's how this chance discovery snowballed in microneedling as we know it today: 1997 – Dr. Fernandes builds a spring-loaded needle stamp so an entire cheek takes minutes, not hours. 2000 – German engineer Horst Liebl patents the first Dermaroller, turning collagen-boosting into a handheld ritual in clinics all over the world. 2010s – Motorized pens arrive. Depth and speed adjust like camera focus, and darker skin tones join safely. Curious about whether microneedling is a good option for you? I discuss that and why you need to be very careful if you're attempting it on your own in this relatively short explainer. https://youtu.be/Xhxp_RbOogE