Hear from Our Customers
You’ll see a healthy glow within days. That’s the immediate response—your skin working overtime to heal and rebuild.
The real transformation happens over the next few weeks. Your body starts producing new collagen and elastin, the structural proteins that keep skin firm and smooth. Pores tighten. Acne scars soften. Fine lines around your eyes and mouth become less pronounced.
After a series of three treatments spaced about four weeks apart, you’re looking at measurable improvement. Not Instagram-filter smooth, but noticeably clearer, firmer skin that doesn’t need as much concealer. The kind of change that makes people ask if you’ve been sleeping better or changed your skincare routine.
This isn’t a temporary plumping effect that disappears in two weeks. You’re triggering your skin’s natural repair process, which means results that last months and continue improving even after your final session.
Jacqueline Grace opened Wake Skincare in Wake Forest in 2020, two weeks before COVID shut everything down. She’s a New York-trained licensed esthetician who’s been serving Lake Royale and surrounding Wake County communities for over four years now.
She’s earned first place in Pigmentation Artist of the Year at The Skin Games international competition and holds HydraFacial Master Certification, which puts her among the top practitioners worldwide. Wake County residents voted her Best Esthetician three years running—2022, 2023, and 2024.
Lake Royale is about 25 minutes from our clinic in Wake Forest, and we regularly see clients from your area who want professional-grade treatments without driving all the way to Raleigh. Every treatment starts with a free consultation and skin evaluation, so you’re not guessing what your skin actually needs.
You come in for your free consultation first. We look at your skin concerns—acne scarring, sun damage, fine lines, whatever’s bothering you—and determine if microneedling is the right approach or if another treatment makes more sense.
If we move forward, here’s what the actual treatment looks like. We cleanse your skin and apply a topical numbing cream for about 30 minutes. Once you’re comfortable, we use the SkinPen device, which is the first FDA-cleared microneedling tool specifically approved for treating wrinkles and acne scars.
The device creates thousands of controlled micro-injuries in your skin using sterile, single-use needle cartridges. This triggers your body’s wound-healing response, flooding the area with growth factors and stimulating new collagen production. The treatment takes about 30 minutes depending on the area we’re covering.
Your skin will be red and slightly swollen for a day or two—similar to a moderate sunburn. Most people are back to normal activities within 24 to 48 hours. We give you specific aftercare instructions to protect your skin while it heals and rebuilds.
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At-home microneedling devices don’t penetrate deep enough to trigger real collagen production. They typically reach 0.25mm to 0.5mm, which might help with product absorption but won’t address scars or wrinkles. Professional SkinPen treatments reach 2mm to 3mm, depending on what we’re treating and where on your face.
There’s also the safety factor. At-home devices are difficult to properly sterilize, needles dull quickly, and without training, you risk infection, scarring, or making hyperpigmentation worse. The FDA classifies microneedling as a medical procedure that requires professional expertise for good reason.
We use medical-grade, FDA-approved equipment with fresh, sterile needle cartridges for every single client. The device maintains consistent depth and speed throughout the treatment, which matters for even results. You’re not guessing or hoping you’re doing it right.
Lake Royale residents dealing with stubborn acne scars or early signs of aging often come to us after trying at-home rollers or serums that didn’t deliver. Professional microneedling costs more upfront, but you’re paying for actual results, not just the hope of improvement.
Most people need three to six treatments spaced four to six weeks apart to see significant improvement. You’ll notice some glow and texture changes after the first session, but collagen remodeling takes time.
If you’re treating mild fine lines or overall texture, three sessions usually gets you there. Deeper acne scars or more advanced sun damage might need five or six treatments to see the level of improvement you’re looking for.
Your skin needs about four weeks between sessions to complete its healing cycle and build new collagen. Spacing treatments too close together doesn’t speed up results—it just irritates your skin and wastes your money. We map out a realistic treatment plan during your consultation based on what you’re actually dealing with, not a one-size-fits-all protocol.
We apply topical numbing cream 30 minutes before treatment, so most people describe the sensation as mild pressure or light scratching rather than pain. Your pain tolerance and the treatment area affect how it feels—skin around the nose and forehead tends to be less sensitive than areas closer to bone.
Right after treatment, your face will be red and feel tight, similar to a sunburn. That usually peaks within the first few hours and starts calming down by evening. Most people see significant improvement by the next day, though some redness can linger for 48 hours.
You can’t wear makeup for 24 hours post-treatment, and you need to avoid direct sun exposure, heavy sweating, and harsh skincare products for about a week. Plan your appointment around your schedule—don’t book it two days before a wedding or important presentation. Most Lake Royale clients schedule Friday appointments so they have the weekend to heal before heading back to work.
Microneedling works by triggering your body’s natural collagen production, which means results develop gradually and last longer than injectables. Botox temporarily paralyzes muscles to smooth wrinkles. Fillers add volume. Microneedling actually rebuilds the structural foundation of your skin.
You can combine microneedling with other treatments. Some people do Botox for expression lines and microneedling for texture and scars. They address different concerns through different mechanisms.
Chemical peels work on the surface layers of skin, while microneedling penetrates deeper to stimulate collagen in the dermis. Peels are great for pigmentation and surface texture; microneedling is better for scars, deep wrinkles, and overall skin tightening. We often recommend a combination approach depending on what you’re trying to fix. During your free consultation, we’ll walk through what makes sense for your specific skin concerns and budget.
Microneedling is one of the most effective treatments for atrophic acne scars—the depressed, pitted scars that form when your skin doesn’t produce enough collagen during healing. It works particularly well on rolling scars and some boxcar scars.
Ice pick scars, which are very narrow and deep, often need additional treatments like TCA cross or punch excision combined with microneedling for best results. We assess your scar type during consultation and give you realistic expectations about what microneedling alone can accomplish.
The treatment breaks down old scar tissue and stimulates new collagen formation, which gradually fills in depressed areas and smooths texture. You won’t go from severely scarred to completely smooth, but most people see 50% to 70% improvement after a full treatment series. That’s often enough to feel confident without heavy makeup, which is what most Lake Royale clients tell us they’re actually looking for—not perfection, just noticeable improvement.
You shouldn’t get microneedling if you’re pregnant, currently have active acne or skin infections, have a history of keloid scarring, or are taking Accutane (you need to be off it for at least six months first). People with certain autoimmune conditions or blood clotting disorders also need medical clearance.
If you have active cold sores or rosacea, we need to manage those conditions first before microneedling, or you risk making them worse. Same with eczema or psoriasis in the treatment area.
This is why the free consultation matters. We go through your medical history, current medications, and skin conditions to make sure microneedling is safe and appropriate for you. Sometimes another treatment makes more sense, and we’ll tell you that upfront rather than booking you for something that won’t work. The goal is results, not just filling appointment slots.
The collagen you build during a microneedling series lasts months to years, but your skin keeps aging. Most people do maintenance treatments every six to twelve months to preserve results and address new concerns as they develop.
Think of it like going to the gym. You build muscle during an intensive training period, but you need occasional workouts to maintain it. Your initial series of three to six treatments creates the foundation; maintenance sessions keep things where you want them.
Some Lake Royale clients come back every six months like clockwork. Others wait a year or longer and return when they notice their skin needs a refresh. It depends on your age, skin condition, sun exposure, and how aggressive you are with at-home skincare. We don’t push unnecessary treatments—you’ll know when you’re ready for a maintenance session because you’ll see the difference in your skin.
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