The Vampire Facial: What PRP and Microneedling Actually Do, and Who It Suits · Baudelaire Aesthetics
7 min read12 July 2026
The Vampire Facial: What PRP and Microneedling Actually Do, and Who It Suits
The vampire facial pairs microneedling with PRP, or platelet-rich plasma, a concentrate made from your own blood. It was made famous by Kim Kardashian's blood-streaked photo, though that redness is the needling, not the plasma. Systematic reviews find PRP may improve facial wrinkles, texture and skin quality, with increased dermal density on histology, but results are mixed and the evidence quality is moderate. It is given as a course of three to six sessions, with maintenance around every six months.
Dr Dana BeikiMPharm · PhD · Independent Prescriber Aesthetic medicine, Bath
The name arrived before the treatment did. In 2013 Kim Kardashian posted a photo of her face streaked with blood, the internet called it the vampire facial, and the drama of it has drawn people to it ever since. It is worth knowing what that photo actually shows: the vampire facial is two things done together, microneedling, which opens the skin and is what draws the blood, and PRP, a concentrate made from your own blood, worked into the channels the needling makes.
There is a detail the drama leaves out. Kardashian has said it was the most painful treatment she has had and that she would never repeat it, but she had just found out she was pregnant, so she went ahead without the numbing cream microneedling normally uses. The blood and the ordeal in that image are needling without anaesthetic, not the plasma. The blood is the method, not the magic. What the treatment actually offers is quieter than the name promises and, in some ways, more honest: a way to ask your own skin to do more of its own repair, over time, with realistic expectations attached. If you came for the theatre, this article will gently talk you down from it. If you came because your skin has started looking a little less resilient than you feel, stay.
What a vampire facial actually is
A vampire facial is two treatments in one appointment: microneedling and PRP. First a small sample of your blood is drawn, as for a blood test, and spun in a centrifuge to concentrate the platelet-rich portion, the plasma. Then the skin is treated with microneedling, which makes many fine channels in the surface, and the PRP is worked into those channels. You will also see it called a PRP facial or PRP microneedling, and the same platelet concentrate can be injected rather than needled in. The redness people picture is the microneedling; the plasma itself is pale gold.
How it is done matters more than the name suggests. The way I work, the skin only needs to flush, a light sun-blushed pink, for the microchannels to open and the plasma to be absorbed. That is enough. It does not need to draw blood, and needling to this level keeps the risk of marks or scarring very low. The bloodied face in the photographs is not a stronger result; it is a rougher technique.
What does a vampire facial do, and how does it work?
Your blood carries platelets, and platelets carry growth factors, the signalling molecules the body uses to begin repair after any injury. PRP concentrates those growth factors from your own blood, and the microneedling both delivers them and adds its own controlled stimulus, so the intention is to prompt the skin's own repair. That mechanism is understood from the laboratory rather than proven, step by step, as the cause of the results seen in people. What has been measured in people is the outcome: across systematic reviews of facial rejuvenation, PRP may improve wrinkles, texture and overall skin quality, and skin samples examined under the microscope have shown increased dermal density, a measure of how much supportive tissue sits in the deeper layer of skin.
The invitation
However you begin, it starts with a conversation.
Book a consultation with Dr Beiki, or start free with an online assessment in your own time.
A vampire facial pairs two treatments: microneedling and PRP, or platelet-rich plasma. A small sample of your own blood is spun to concentrate the platelet-rich portion, and this is worked into the skin through microneedling channels. The blood and redness people associate with it come from the needling, not the plasma.
It aims to improve the quality of your skin: its texture, tone and firmness. Systematic reviews find PRP may improve facial wrinkles, texture and skin quality, with increased dermal density seen on skin samples. It does not add volume or lift structural sagging, and the change is gradual rather than dramatic.
The evidence points to genuine improvement in skin quality and texture for the right person, but results are mixed across studies and methods and the overall evidence quality is moderate rather than strong. It works best as a course that supports your own repair, not as a single transformation. Anyone promising a decisive one-session result is ahead of the evidence.
This is where the evidence is strongest. A meta-analysis and randomised trials find microneedling combined with PRP improves atrophic post-acne scars more than microneedling alone, and that it is well tolerated across skin types, though not every study agrees. A course tailored to your scars is planned at consultation.
A blood sample is taken first, as for a blood test, and the microneedling is the part with sensation. A topical numbing cream is normally applied to keep it comfortable, and most people find it tolerable rather than painful. The famous account of it being unbearable came from a treatment done without numbing.
Because the material comes from your own blood, there is no foreign substance to react to. Reported side effects are usually minor: bruising, swelling and some redness from the needling that settles within a day or two. Safety depends most on sterile technique and a qualified practitioner.
It is given as a course, usually three to six sessions four to six weeks apart, with maintenance around every six months, though it varies with your skin and goal. Because it works by prompting gradual repair it is not a one-off. The published evidence does not fix a single duration of result, so your exact plan and how long it holds are set for your skin at consultation.
Cost depends on how many sessions your skin needs, which is decided at an in-person assessment. The consultation with Dr Beiki is free, and it is the honest way to get a real figure for your skin.
Both use PRP, the platelet-rich concentrate from your own blood. In a vampire facial it is worked into the skin through microneedling; it can also be injected instead. Which delivery suits you depends on your skin and your goal, decided at consultation.
They work through different routes. A vampire facial uses your own concentrated platelets with microneedling, while polynucleotides use a different mechanism with its own evidence for skin quality and hydration. Which suits you depends on your skin and goal, decided at consultation.
The honest expectation is a gradual improvement in skin quality over a course, not a dramatic overnight change, and results vary between people. We do not publish before-and-after photos; the realistic result is skin that looks a little more rested and even, best discussed for your own skin at consultation.
The honest answer is a qualified yes. Across systematic reviews, PRP shows real improvement in skin quality and texture for the right person, but the change is gradual rather than dramatic, and it is not guaranteed. No single viral photograph can tell you either of those things. It is a way to support your skin over a course, using your own biology, not a one-off transformation, and anyone promising a decisive before-and-after from one session is ahead of the evidence.
Where the evidence is strongest is atrophic acne scarring. A meta-analysis and randomised trials find microneedling combined with PRP improves atrophic acne scars more than microneedling alone, and that it is well tolerated across skin types, though not every study agrees. If acne has left your skin pitted or uneven, this is one of the treatments with real, repeated support behind it, and it is where a vampire facial earns its name most honestly.
A vampire facial should leave you flushed, not bloodied. If it draws blood, that is theatre, not better medicine: the skin needs only to be opened enough for the plasma to absorb, and going further risks the very marks the treatment is meant to smooth.
Dr Dana Beiki
Vampire facial, PRP injections, or something else: who each suits
The vampire facial uses your own biology and nothing added, which is its distinguishing feature and the part the nickname gets right. It suits someone addressing general skin quality and texture who is comfortable that the evidence is promising rather than definitive.
Structural sagging or volume loss. If that is your concern, this is not the most direct route, and for genuine sagging a surgical option does more and lasts longer. That is simply true, and worth saying. It also will not lift significant skin laxity.
Injected rather than needled. The same PRP can be delivered by injection instead of microneedling; which suits you depends on your skin and your goal.
The newer option. Exosomes are sometimes offered as an alternative, and in early, small studies topical exosomes performed comparably to PRP, but the evidence there is younger still.
Does a vampire facial hurt?
A blood sample is taken first, as for any blood test. The microneedling is the part with sensation, and a topical numbing cream is normally applied first, so most people describe it as tolerable rather than painful. The famous story of it being unbearable comes from a treatment done without that numbing cream. Where PRP is injected instead, fine needles and numbing keep it comfortable too.
Is a vampire facial safe? Side effects
Because the material comes from your own blood, there is no foreign substance to react to. Reported side effects are usually minor: bruising and swelling, with some redness from the needling that settles over a day or two. As with any needling or injectable procedure, it must be done with sterile technique by a qualified practitioner, which is where most of the real risk lives.
How long does a vampire facial last, and how many sessions?
It is not a one-off, whatever a single striking photo suggests. Because it works by prompting your skin's own gradual repair, it is given as a course. In my hands that is usually three to six sessions, four to six weeks apart, with maintenance around every six months, though it varies with your skin and your goal. The published evidence does not fix a single duration of result, so the number of sessions and how long it holds are settled for your skin at consultation rather than promised in advance.
How much does a vampire facial cost?
Cost depends on how many sessions your skin needs, which is decided at an in-person assessment rather than in advance. The consultation with Dr Beiki is free, and it is the honest way to get a real figure for your skin.
What a vampire facial will not do
It will not lift structural sagging or replace lost facial volume, and results vary between people. It supports skin texture and quality, over a course, using your own platelets. And it will not deliver the dramatic overnight change the name implies; the honest promise is a gradual, real improvement in the quality of your own skin.
If you want to decide honestly whether a vampire facial fits your skin and your goal, past the name and into the evidence, a consultation with me is the place to do it. It is free, and there is no obligation in the asking.
My job is simple: to look past the theatre and tell you whether this will do what you actually want, and if it will not, to say so.
It is not a filler. It is stabilised hyaluronic acid that spreads through the skin to improve its hydration, elasticity and quality, for the tiredness that shows on a face that is not tired.
