I Had 20+ Needles In My Face and I’ve Never Looked Better

When it comes to the ravenous world of beauty, I accept I’m no expert. I’m always three facial treatments behind, happily married to one makeup look, and spiritually opposed to skincare more than three-steps. I stare at rows of perfectly stacked serums, perplexed by what feels like a secret insider language — labels boasting scientific buzzwords like ectoin, and bakuchiol that mean nothing to me.

But on the occasion I stumble upon a treatment I like, whether guided by word-of-mouth or my ever-intuitive TikTok FYP, I feel obligated to tell everyone. So when I found myself recently ordained into the expansive world of acupuncture I felt like I was uncovering a beauty ritual that had been hiding — the kind so spellbinding it demands to be shared.

Having a dozen micro-needles pierced through the surface layer of your skin may not sound like the most pleasant of pastimes, or a beauty must-do, but the 3,000 year old practice has proved itself as one of the industry’s best. Touted as “natural Botox,” Kim K has long been vocal about her love for the filler-free remedy, Gwenyth Paltrow goop-approved the practice, and Ashley Graham swore off Botox, trading one needle for another.

My awakening into the fountain of knowledge that is Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) started at Soulmei Wellness, a boutique clinic in New York’s Upper East Side owned by licensed acupuncturist and esthetician Bella Pei. The timing felt kismet. Chinese medicine is having a renaissance as the internet’s “Chinamaxxing” discourse dominates the zeitgeist, fueling a renewed interest in homeopathic remedies. Our two-hour session started with a Q&A where Bella kindly interrogated every aspect of my life from sleeping habits to energy-levels; I was gratefully receiving answers to questions I didn’t even ask.

Before we dove into the needles, she read my pulse and then my tongue (a staple practice in TCM) where a simple glance can reveal your body’s health before you’ve uttered a word. Bella had curated a hybrid session that started with needling my legs to rebalance my internal energy — because remember, beauty starts from the inside-out. For the faint of heart, rest assured the micro-needle feels no more than a flick, which made me realize acupuncture is more daunting in theory than in practice.

As Bella guided me through the intricacies of each step, I collected bouts of wisdom: cupping for muscle recovery, dry brushing for circulation, mugwort for vitality boosting. The well of TCM insider beauty hacks, it turns out, runs deep.

When we reached the facial portion she delicately inserted 20+ hair-thin needles starting near my collarbone then cheeks, forehead, and even my scalp. There’s no surprise why people liken facial acupuncture to a mini-facelift. When each needle pierces through the dermis (the middle layer of skin) it acts as a wake-up call reducing inflammation, boosting collagen, and increasing circulation that results in that jealousy-inducing “I just left a treatment” look.

Then, it was time to bake under the red light. Unlike Botox which freezes the skin, acupuncture stimulates the body’s regenerative process. For the next 30 minutes, I laid under the beaming light resembling an extra-terrestrial being. Under the hue of the lamp, I drifted off, blissfully unaware at times that I still had a constellation of “spikes” across my legs and face.

After the needles, came the sculpt. Bella swept the gua sha across my face, coaxing tension out of muscles I didn’t realize I’d been clenching. Using a microcurrent device, she toned, lifted, and firmed my skin with electric pulses that had my facial muscles working overtime. You see, Bella’s a bit of a beauty whisperer — she doesn’t just treat your skin, she reads it. By the time I left she’d drained away all my sins. My brain fog lifted, my skin turned to glass, and my body had been factory-reset. I walked out like I’d awakened from a year long slumber.

And like that, TCM had me hooked. There’s something reassuring about a practice that predates algorithms, likes, and virality — you instinctively trust it. When I got home still glowing I knew I needed to find a way to bring Bella and her acupuncture magic into my day-to-day.

Throughout my deep dive to replicate the glow at home, I virtually stumbled across the acupressure mat, a padded foam covered in plastic spikes that when laid on, stimulates the nervous system. Both practices are cut from the same cloth, grounded in the concept of life-force energy. The spikes may not be needles but they deliver their own kind of therapy, decreasing stress and ushering in restorative sleep that no nighttime skincare could ever replicate.

Acupuncture reminded me that beauty isn’t always about hoarding the latest shelf-stable serum, or clogging your pores with ingredient-ridden creams. Sometimes it’s about taking a step back from products entirely and getting in tune with your own body.