PRP facial and vampire facial: what the evidence shows

PRP facials have become familiar through social media, often under the name vampire facial. The idea is appealing: using something from your own body to refresh your skin. The evidence is more cautious than the marketing. Here is what a PRP facial involves, what the studies show for skin quality, fine lines, acne scars and the under-eye area, and who should not have it.

What a PRP facial is

PRP stands for platelet-rich plasma. Platelets are small blood cells known mainly for helping blood to clot. They also release growth factors, proteins involved in tissue repair, and the theory is that concentrating them can encourage the skin to renew itself.

To prepare it, a small sample of blood is taken from your arm, much like a routine blood test. The tube is spun in a centrifuge, which separates the red cells from the plasma. The layer richest in platelets is then drawn off and used on the face, usually within the same appointment.

There are two main ways of applying it:

• Injected PRP. Tiny amounts are placed into the skin with a fine needle, for example around the eyes or across the cheeks.
• The vampire facial. The skin is first treated with microneedling, which creates thousands of tiny channels, and PRP is applied over it or injected during the session.

An important point: there is no single recipe. Kits, spin speeds, platelet concentrations and application techniques differ from clinic to clinic, and from study to study. A 2025 systematic review found clear discrepancies in technique and dose between trials ^[3]. Two treatments both called a PRP facial may not be the same.

How your skin is assessed first

Before any treatment, a doctor needs to understand what is actually bothering you. Dull, tired skin, fine lines, acne scars, pigment, dark circles and loss of volume all look different and respond to different things.

At the consultation, the doctor examines your skin in good light, asks about your skin type and how it reacts to the sun, and reviews your medical history. That includes blood disorders, medicines that affect clotting, infections, cancer treatment and anything that affects healing.

If you have had fillers or other injectables before, say so. It helps the doctor decide where and how to treat, or whether something else would serve you better.

What the evidence says, area by area

Skin quality and fine lines

This is where PRP is most often promoted, and where the evidence is weakest. An overview of 13 systematic reviews, covering 28 primary studies, found that most were uncontrolled. Confidence in the reviews was low or critically low in 12 of the 13, and the authors concluded that the evidence is insufficient to draw firm conclusions ^[1].

That does not mean it never helps. In another systematic review, 11 of 12 studies reported improvement, but many outcomes were subjective ^[2]. A 2025 review found improvement in wrinkles and texture in four studies, with signs of increased dermal density under the microscope ^[3].

A small, double-blind trial compared PRP on one side of the face with plasma containing few platelets on the other. Both sides improved in the fine lines around the eyes, with no significant difference between them, and neither improved the folds from nose to mouth ^[6]. That trial included only ten people, but it is a useful reminder that part of the effect may come from the injection itself.

Acne scars and the vampire facial

Here the evidence is more consistent. A meta-analysis of 14 controlled studies with 472 patients compared microneedling with and without PRP. Adding PRP roughly tripled the odds of more than 50% improvement in scar appearance, and severe redness or swelling were no more common ^[5].

Microneedling itself does a good deal of the work. If acne scars are your main concern, our guide to microneedling explains what it can achieve on its own.

The under-eye area

A systematic review of 19 studies with 455 patients looked at PRP around the eyes for wrinkles, dark pigmentation and sun damage. In three randomised trials, people treated with PRP were more satisfied than those in the comparison groups ^[4]. Follow-up averaged only about three months, and the authors called for better-designed studies with longer follow-up ^[4].

Dark circles have several causes, from hollowing to pigment and visible veins. PRP will not replace lost volume, so the cause matters more than the technique.