Microneedling lands differently among these gurus than most topics do. A Guru Score of 36% is not mild ambivalence; it reflects a genuine split between experts who see real, measurable skin renewal from professional treatment and others who, based on what they have seen go wrong in their own clinics, are actively warning people away from at-home devices. The treatment and the conversation around it are almost two different things depending on who is holding the needle.
Do skincare experts recommend Microneedling?
Across these takes, one distinction keeps surfacing: professional versus at-home microneedling, and several experts argue the gap between the two is much wider than the marketing around home devices suggests. A handful of gurus point to real results from professional sessions, including smoother skin texture, reduced fine lines, and what one expert describes as roughly a 400% increase in collagen production over three to four treatments. However, a number in this group have personally treated patients harmed by at-home derma rollers, citing infections from unsterilized devices, including antibiotic-resistant bacteria, permanent scarring on the chin and forehead, and acne bacteria spreading across the face simply from rolling over existing spots. Several of those same experts also flag that the puffiness right after at-home needling can look like real improvement but is just fluid collection that fades, not new collagen, which they see as one reason at-home results are so easy to misread.
In their words
"They're like little pads that have got little almost like spikes in there, tiny little spikes, and it's almost like microneedling but it just stays. It's super sticky and you literally just pop it underneath your eyes and then you press it in, so it literally felt like I had tiny little needles or microneedles like pressing into my skin. [...] One go made a difference. You're supposed to put it on at night, [...] and you leave it on for a minimum of 2 hours."
"Absolutely love it it is so cheap"
"If you're on a budget and you want to spend the least amount possible yet still get a nice Improvement in the smoothness of your skin in fine lines and wrinkles and even a Mild improvement in overall tightening then you really can't go wrong with micro needling"
"She did Micron needling with uh a skin brightening tonic uh two times and that really made a difference"
"Three to four sessions of microneedling increases your collagen you get a 400% increase in collagen"
How do the experts rate Microneedling?
11 skincare experts weighed in on Microneedling, giving it a Guru Score of 36%. 4 approve of it, 1 lands on a mixed take, and 6 would skip it.
Where do skincare experts disagree on Microneedling?
The split here is fairly clear, if uneven in terms of which camp carries more weight. Those who speak positively tend to focus on professional treatment or stick-on microneedling patch formats, and some specifically mention the relatively modest cost of professional sessions as a point in their favour compared to other clinic-based skin treatments. Those who warn against it are specifically reacting to at-home derma roller use, and this is the larger group among these gurus. Most seem to agree, though, that professional treatment by a trained practitioner is a meaningfully different proposition from anything sold for home use, and what the disagreement really circles around is that second category.
"I would not recommend anyone to use a derma roller at home for the simple reason that the chances of infection and scarring could be very high. I have seen that and I'm treating that in a lot of my patients who have gone wrong with the way [...] they use the technique because their needles, [...] they are using the same roller again and again and they don't know how to sterilize it, and so they develop infections and sometimes methicillin resistant staph sits on your derma roller and then you're putting it back into the skin. [...] I've also seen very bad scarring. [...] The chin and forehead can scar very badly if you're not doing it correctly. The direction has to be correct. The pressure has to be correct. The depth has to be correct. [...] The derma roller [...] gives that instant edema, swelling, so they feel that the scar is suddenly improved but that is just a temporary effect. It's just fluid collection."
"There are so many people out here selling microneedling tools and devices that roll across the skin. They cause these major tears in the skin. [...] You're creating a giant wound in the skin. People are not sterilizing them properly and they get infections, they get keloid scars, they spread acne bacteria from one pimple on their cheek to another pimple on their face and make it even worse. [...] These needles on the skin are so harmful if done by the wrong person at home, but are so helpful when done right and by a professional."
"But overall I don't recommend doing treatments at home that a trained professional should be carrying out in like a clinic type setting"
Is Microneedling worth it?
There is genuine respect in this group for what professional microneedling can achieve, but it is paired with some of the most specific and serious cautions from medical experts on any treatment we have covered. The consistent steer, especially from those with clinical backgrounds, is that anyone considering microneedling would do well to seek out a trained professional rather than reach for a home device. Those with acne-prone skin may especially want to speak with a dermatologist first, since the risk of spreading bacteria across the face is one the experts cite specifically and by name. The Guru Score of 36% reflects the weight of those warnings more than a verdict against the treatment itself.
The gurus who weighed in
Related guides
This guide reflects what 11 skincare experts said about Microneedling across their videos, aggregated by The Guru Index. The Guru Score is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it. It is general information, not medical advice.