What are Scarlet and Vampire facials? The names are eye-catching but also sound a bit chilling… and perhaps painful? Let’s jump in! 

The Scarlet and Vampire facials use modern technology to improve your skin. Both involve microneedling plus an additional treatment: one utilizes platelet-rich plasma (PRP) while the other utilizes radio frequencies. 

• Scarlet facial: Radio frequency energy is delivered into the skin via microneedles. These needles penetrate and carry the energy deep into the skin triggering collagen and elastin growth. Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) or PRP can be added to the Scarlet facial to provide growth factors that help produce collagen. 

• Vampire facial: PRP is delivered into the skin immediately following microneedles. This allows the PRP serum to enter the microneedling puncture and deliver growth factors deep into the epidermis. 

What is Radio Frequency

Radio frequency, commonly referred to as RF, is a type of electrical energy that heats the skin. In the Scarlet RF treatment, RF energy is delivered via microneedles, allowing it to pass through the epidermis to impact the dermal skin fibers directly. Bypassing the epidermis is more effective than traditional RF treatments because collagen and elastin fibers are formed in the dermis. Other forms of RF can help with skin tightening, cell regeneration, fat removal, cellulite reduction, pain relief, and much more. 

Another game-changing treatment available that does not use RF technology is Ulthera. You can find out more about this in a previous post, but it uses ultrasound and goes deeper than RF. Keep in mind that the downtime is significantly longer with Ulthera due to greater swelling and bruising.

Where To Go For Scarlet and Vampire Facials

While putting this together I found that I’ve been writing about PRP since 2017. I hadn’t tried it back then, but fast forward to now and I’ve had it several times. Since then there have been some improvements and it’s easier to find in your local medi-spa, unlike in previous years.

When choosing between the Scarlet and Vampire facial, you should consider cost, availability, and intended results. A Scarlet facial can provide all of the benefits of a vampire facial (PRP+ microneedling) with the additional benefit of RF therapy. There are some tradeoffs with choosing the Scarlet facial. The Scarlet facial treatment can cost a lot more at $2400-$5000 versus $800 to $1300 for the vampire facial. Additionally, because the Scarlet facial uses newer technology, there are fewer providers offering this service. It may be challenging finding Scarlet facial providers in your area. 

If you’re living or visiting San Francisco, I suggest scheduling a treatment at Hayes Valley Medical & Esthetics. They offer a wide variety of anti-aging therapies and are very enthusiastic about what they do. You can see the results for yourself with their abundance of before and after photos. 

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Photo by Logan Weaver | @lgnwvr on Unsplash