In this post I’m going to give you a clear dermaroller size guide based on facial skin thickness. Very often dermarolling enthusiasts find themselves considering purchasing a lot longer needle size dermaroller than they actually need. Too long needle size is more painful to use and can cause more harm than good to your skin if used too frequently. Read on to better understand how to choose dermaroller based on what facial area you are planning to be dermarolling.

1. Dermaroller Size Guide Based On Facial Skin Thickness
In this post I’m going to give you a clear dermaroller size guide based on facial skin thickness.
Very often dermarolling enthusiasts find themselves considering purchasing a lot longer needle size
dermaroller than they actually need.
Too long needle size is more painful to use and can cause more harm than good to your skin if used
too frequently. Read on to better understand how to choose dermaroller based on what facial area
you are planning to be dermarolling.
Your Skin Basics
The actual thickness of your skin is different throughout the body. The thinnest skin — about
0.5 millimeter in thickness — is found on the eyelids, while the thickest skin, at about 4 mm, is on
the palms of your hands and soles of your feet. Different thickness of the skin also requires you to
pay attention to choosing the right dermaroller needle length.
Your skin consists of three layers of tissues that all pay important role
Skin has three main layers – epidermis, dermis and the subcutaneous layer. Fine lines appear in the
epidermis, while deeper wrinkles & scars reach to dermis.
The epidermis – the outer layer of the epidermis is constantly flaking of dead skin cells and in the

2. lowest layer of the epidermis new skin cells are produced which move upward to the surface. As
they rise to the surface, they harden and die. This kind of new skin cell production and reaching to
the skin surface takes about 28 days. Read more on skin cell renewal & exfoliation importance.
Special skin cells called melanocytes in the lowest part of the epidermis are responsible for giving
your skin color.
These melanocytes produce melanin – the more your skin has melanin, the darker it is. In case
of any kind of misfunction of melanocytes there may be too much or too little pigmentation in skin.
Dermarollers are helpful to improve the skin appearance by normalizing the production of
melanin in epidermis – in case of hyper-pigmentation & dark spots use dermaroller
together with brightening agent like Vitamin C. This way dermaroller normalizes the
production of melanin by melanocytes by improving cell turn-over & whitening agent helps
to lighten existing dark spots/areas in skin.
The dermis – this middle layer of your skin contains blood vessels, nerves, hair follicles, sweat &
oil glands. Most important is that it’s mostly consisting of collagen & elastin fibers that give skin
it’s strength and elasticity. Collagen & elastin also are vital for youthful appearance – as you age
the production of these fibers in skin reduces.
Dermarolling helps to activate skin remodeling and triggers the production of new collagen
fibers in the dermis layer of the skin, which makes it an essential tool for anti-aging & skin
lifting purposes.
The subcutaneous layer – this deepest layer of your skin mostly consists of fatty tissue, blood
vessels and nerves. It acts like a cushion to protect the body from injuries.
Skin Thickness In Different Facial Areas
Researchers have made great effort into measuring the exact depth of the skin. Richard Y.Ha, M.D
et al from the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center published a study where they examined skin thickness in multiple
facial areas and created a facial skin thickness index.
When looking at the index values n chart below you should know that skin thickness increases up to
the age 20 and since that starts to decrease. But these average means should give you great guidance
to choosing the dermaroller size based on skin thickness in different facial areas.
The study used the skin thickness on the eyelids (approximately 0.5 mm) as a base to all other
facial areas.
Dermaroller Size Guide Based On Skin Thickness
Based on the study I’ve created a small guide of the skin thickness & recommended longest
dermaroller needle size in different facial areas suitable for dermarolling.
All recommended needle lengths are stated as „up to“ so if the skin concern is not very deep in
skin you can always start with a bit shorter needle, specially if you are just starting with the
dermarolling. If the concern you are planning to treat is deep(er) in skin, go for the longer
dermaroller needle size.

3. Tips For Choosing The Dermaroller For Facial Microneedling
From the above chart you can see that actually the thickest skin on face is on chin & cheeks and
even in these areas it will not be thicker than only 1.62 mm. This also means there is no need to be
using dermaroller longer than 1.5 mm in any facial area. Below you can find full facial area
dermaroller size guide.

4. This image gives you great visual overview up to what needle size dermaroller may be used in
different facial areas.
By using any longer needle size dermaroller than recommended, you will very likely create
too much trauma to your skin that is not necessary for improving the appearance of lines,
loose skin, acne scars etc. However life if not perfect and so isn’t our skin either – atleast in
the matter of healing different skin concerns.
When you look at the scar or wrinkles etc, then the bottom of it is usually way lower than rest of the
skin surface so actually you have to reach the bottom of it to induce collagen building that would
fill it in. When dermaroller is best to be used with wider scars & fine lines – like stretch marks,
box & rolling types of acne scars, first lines etc, then sometimes dermastamp would be better
alternative for the microneedling treatments.

5. Consider choosing dermastamp if the skin you are treating has smaller, isolated, deeper lines or
acne pits – like lines around the lips, nasolabial lines, etc. Same kind of skin concerns most likely
may be treated with different needle size dermaroller – take a look at the needle size guide below
and by comparing the suitable dermaroller size to different skin thickness areas, choose
dermaroller needle size that will not be longer than skin thickness in that area.
What About Choosing Your Dermaroller Size?
When you are choosing the dermaroller for your at home dermarolling treatment you should answer
two questions.
Question #1
What is the skin concern you are treating?
Question #2
What facial area you are treating?
Choosing Dermaroller Size Examples
To make it clear for you here are some examples how to choose roller size yourself.

6. Example #1
Question #1 “I have not very deep acne scars & some enlarged pores.”
Question #2 “I will be dermarolling my cheeks & forehead.”
Best Dermaroller Size: Based on the recommended longest dermaroller sizes & the skin
concerns (not very deep acne scars & some enlarged pores), 1.0 mm dermaroller would be
great choice to start with. If the scars are deep, 1.5 mm would be better.
Example #2
Question #1 “I have deep nasolabial folds & lines around my lips.”
Question #2 “I will be dermarolling area around my lips.”
Best Dermaroller Size: Based on the recommended longest needle sizes & the skin concerns
(deep nasolabial folds & lines around lips), 1.0 mm dermastamp or narrow 3-line
dermaroller would be great choice to start with. These tools have smaller needling area
when compared to regular dermaroller so it makes it easier to target the lines & move
around the lips.
I hope this post helps you choose dermaroller size and convinces you that longer needle is not
always necessary – skin needling is more about patience than creating aggressive trauma with too
long needles and dermarolling too frequently.
Got something to add? Feel free to share your thoughts by leaving your comment below.