Best In Beauty: Environ Micro-Needling & Essential Vitamin Skincare

One of the most popular beauty therapy treatments around today would have to be micro-needling. Or as it’s often referred to, needling.

This is for good reason. The technique uses tiny needles applied to the skin via a rollerball, which supercharges active ingredients. As a result, skin tone, texture, wrinkles, stretch marks and acne and burn scars are remarkably improved.

If you’re a skincare aficionado you’ve no doubt heard of it or even experienced it. But did you know micro-needling was pioneered by the creator of Environ Skincare, Dr Des Fernandes?

Dr Des Fernandes, Plastic Surgeon, Scientific Researcher, Pioneer

Regular readers know I’m a big fan of Dr Des and Environ. I met him on one of his first visits to New Zealand at the beginning of my beauty editing career. At the time I was the beauty editor at Next magazine and Dr Des was the South African plastic surgeon who had created Environ. My amazing editor had not long returned from South Africa where she was the editor of Fairlady, one of their most successful magazines. She and Dr Des had South Africa in common so we had a nice lunch with him.

That was in 1997. Coincidentally it was also the first year Dr Des Fernandes first needled himself using a tattoo pen. Not satisfied with the results he had special rollers incorporating very thin needles made. Then he began testing. First on himself, then on his patients.

Accolades and Icons

Micro-needling was born and the first cosmetic roller was launched to the world.

Fast forward to 2021 and both Environ skincare and micro-needling are modern icons. Environ has won over 100 international awards. Most recently it took out Top Medical Skincare Line of the Decade in the global Aesthetic Everything Awards.

Hat tip to you Dr Des Fernandes.

via GIPHY

The History of Environ & Micro-Needling

Environ skincare was founded in 1990 and has always been underpinned by vitamin A. Over the years, Dr Des has conducted extensive medical research in the field of vitamin A and skin regeneration. He discovered that vitamin A could significantly strengthen the epidermis (the skin’s outer layer). But he wasn’t content with the topical application of skincare containing active vitamin A. He wanted to find a way to get vitamin A more deeply into the skin layers. Hence his research into ‘needling’ and the subsequent creation of ‘Micro-Needling’.

Environ’s Cosmetic Roll-CIT family use short (0.1mm or 0.2mm), thin needles so that they’re easy and comfortable to use. For best results, the focus is on the number of ‘holes’ created not the depth.

“I found that my patients’ skin reached a plateau and I needed to find a way to get more effects of vitamin A. That is the paradox of vitamin A,” says Dr Fernandes. “The concept of micro-needling was born at the time when the world was going mad for invasive treatments like destructive laser therapy and deep dermal peels. People were submitting themselves to the most gruesome torture to achieve tighter, smoother-looking skin.”

If you’ve never seen micro-needling at work before taking a look at this video.

The tiny needles on the rollerball puncture the epidermis giving a deeper inroad to the skin. This delivery system enables vitamin-packed, skin-cherishing ingredient combinations to be 100 times more powerful.

Micro-needling is proven by science to assist in improving the appearance of ageing, pigmentation, dehydration, scarring and sun damage. And Dr Des has shown scientific results of micro-needling used with active skincare that match or exceed some medical aesthetic devices.

My Experience Using Micro-Needling & Environ Skincare

I’m growing older. This happens to us all every day, doesn’t it?

But when I noticed creping around my cheeks and pebbling on my chin I knew I had to get serious. So I pulled out the big guns and upped my Environ skincare and micro-needling routine.

I’ve been using my Micro-Needling Cosmetic Roll-CIT for about two months. I use it in combination with Environ Focus Care Youth+ Avance Elixir and Skin EssentiA AVST Moisturiser 2.

There are varying levels of Environ Skin EssentiA AVST Moisturiser – they range from 1-5. This is because using an active form of vitamin A in your skincare requires training your skin.

I hadn’t been using super-active vitamin A for a while so I’m working up to the 5 again.

It’s early days yet. But I took some before pictures and I’ll keep you posted. (Yep, too cowardly to put them up yet!)