Peels Revealed
- katherinetaber
- Jan 28, 2015
- 2 min read
At Home Peels
At home peels are always questionable. Is it this particular peel the right one for me? Will it be too harsh and leave me with burns or overly red skin? Should I go for a glycolic peel, alpha hydroxyl, or a citric acid peel? Then there is the final question, will it work at all?
So by ingredients alone we can tell not all peels are created equal and neither are their results.
Dark Spots/ Sun Damage
Trying to correct age spots and other pigmentation issues is extremely difficult and let’s be honest, it’s very expensive.
When treating hyper pigmentation you will need a product line that has several important ingredients: citric acid, retinol, and soothing botanicals like lavender and vitamin E. A peel for hyper pigmentation should boast the citric acid and possibly the retinol. Generally you will find that the peels will contain 1%-2% of the acid at the most. I strongly suggest sticking to the 1% until you visit a esthician and get the go ahead for a higher concentration. It may also be difficult to find a 2% because of the danger in burning your skin at home.
Smoothness, General Aging Issues, and Texture
The style or peel I like is a two step process. One, called the activator pad, which is a dampened cotton round that is spread over the skin and left on for up to ten minutes. Following the processing time of the activator pad, another damped cotton round called the neutralizing pad will be spread over the skin in the same fashion as the previous step. This pad does just as it says; it stops the acids from working. Generally speaking the product line will ask you to rinse the peel off. NEVER splash products off. Remove them with a wash cloth or preferably a damp paper towel.
A couple of brands I have found good results from are Exuviance (they have both an AHA/PHA peel as well as a Citric Acid Peel (CA). I also have had excellent results with Peter Thomas Roth’s UN-WRINKLE PADS. Though the name gears them toward aging issues they also work well on acne.
So as a close, as always, arm yourself with knowledge but with peels remember this, just because a peel feels good on the surface immediately doesn’t mean it is working below the surface. Your skin appearance should continue to improve not just feel better on the surface.
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