Sea sponges. Brainless ones, at that.

Spicules are the microscopic, needle-shaped bits of skeleton left behind by sponges, simple animals that spend their whole lives in one spot filtering water. Rubbed into your face, they open tiny channels in the outer layer of skin for a few minutes, so whatever you put on next gets in further and faster. That's the prickle, and that's the whole trick.

It stays in the top layer, nowhere near the 0.5mm to 2.5mm a clinic needle reaches, so it's for dullness and texture, not scarring. Check the label for Hydrolyzed Sponge or Spongilla Lacustris Extract mid-list rather than at the bottom, start twice a week, and keep acids and retinol for other nights. If you'd rather not put skeletons on your face at all, the Yepoda below uses a plant-derived spicule.