I felt pangs of anxiety as I sat in aesthetician Mary Schook 's office, waiting for what would be one of the more unexpected beauty treatments I had ever undergone. I couldn't help but think: This woman is about to exfoliate my face with a razor...what if she slips? Then, my name was called.To buy myself a bit more time, I masked my nervousness in a shroud of professional curiosity and proceeded to ask Schook a laundry list of questions about what I could expect from dermaplaning — a treatment that involves exfoliating one's face with a sharp razor.Thankfully, my anxiety waned as she broke it down for me and I settled into her plush operating chair. To be clear, my nerves weren't for a lack of trust: Schook's a licensed aesthetician, product formulator, founder of M.S. Apothecary , and bona fide "face whisperer." (The latter is according to a former colleague.) But still, a razor? Well, it turns out, the procedure is actually pretty simple and totally pain-free.To begin, Schook cleansed and moisturized my skin. Once my skin was prepped, she applied a light layer of emollient gel to my skin — this provided the necessary "slippage" for smooth dermaplaning. So basically, a very fancy shaving cream. Then, Schook brought out the pièce de résistance: a slender, sanitized razor.She used this razor to gently scrape the surface of my skin, taking bits of dead skin and dirt away with each motion. I learned that if all goes well, this procedure is meant to give me smoother, brighter, and more even skin — not to mention eliminate all unwanted peach fuzz and facial hair. "After dermaplaning, your skin-care products absorb better and your follicles are less likely to fill up with dead skin, oil, and debris," she explained.