The OG skin correctors!
Chemical peels are a secret weapon in the skincare world. Not only are they designed to target and correct a wide range of skin concerns, they can now be tailored with your lifestyle in mind!
AKA no downtime if that’s what you need…
Chemical Peels are one of the most effective ways to change your skin and expedite skincare results! They offer significant results without the need for harsh scrubbing that can irritation to the barrier of the skin.
The benefits are endless:
- Aging: Combat lines, wrinkles, and loose skin
- Texture: Smooth and refine your skin’s surface, eliminate old acne scarring.
- Dullness: Restore your skin’s natural radiance.
- Hydration: Sloughing off layers of dead skin to give your skin that plumpy-hydration again!
- Dark Spots: Lighten stubborn pigmentation, creating a more even skin tone.
If improving dark spots, fine lines, dullness, texture or skin imbalances like excess oil and acne is what you’re trying to achieve, chemical peels are an excellent option for expediting your results!
What is a Chemical Peel?
A chemical peel is a solution that uses specific acids to dissolve the bonds that hold dead skin cells together. So when it comes to the surface of your skin, think of tiles and grout, when you remove the grout, you can easily remove the tiles.
When a peel solution dissolves those bonds or ‘grout’ holding skin cells together, they will freely slough off to reveal fresh skin underneath.
While the peel solution is working its magic on the surface of the skin, there is also important activity happening below.
As a peel solution penetrates deeper into the skin, it signals a controlled wound response. This response tells the skin to begin production of crucial elements within the skin like collagen production, elastin synthesis and cellular repair along the way.
So not only are you getting surface results, the deeper layers are at work to improve your overall skin health as well.
There are several different types of solutions, along with different combinations and strengths available, each offering unique benefits to the skin!
The most common acids you can expect to hear about?
- Glycolic acid: smallest molecular structure, which allows it to penetrate deeper for anti-aging and skin smoothing benefits
- Lactic acid: an antioxidant and exfoliant, which is ideal for boosting hydration and overall brightness within the skin
- Salicylic acid: unblocks pores, decreases sebum production and exfoliates making it perfect for more acne-prone skin
- Jessner solution: a combination of lactic, salicylic and resorcinol to provide a multi-purpose solution that can also be utilized with other acids for a deeper correction
- Trichloroacetic acid (TCA): works deeper within the skin to offer more aggressive exfoliation and skin correction for issues like wrinkles or scarring
Other note-worthy but more gentle acids you may hear about in skincare? Mandelic, malic, azelaic and kojic. Many of these don’t offer as aggressive exfoliating benefits, but focus more on brightening and renewing the surface of the skin.
Success with chemical peeling doesn’t stop at the specific acid used. The blend of different ingredients into a formula that properly respects your skin barrier makes all the difference in your results.
Here are some of the top considerations when receiving a chemical peel…
Skin Condition
Your specific skin type and condition will play a huge role in the selection of what acids are going to give you the best result, while also being safe for your skin.
Lifestyle
While there are chemical peels available to treat any skin type or condition, your lifestyle and health history will determine whether or not you’re a good candidate.
The goal with chemical peels is not only expedited results, but lasting skin changes. In order to safely create those changes within the skin, these lifestyle factors need to be considered first:
- Amount of sun exposure: heat triggers pigmentation just as easily as direct sun exposure. Both need to be limited post-peel.
- Commitment to proper homecare: SPF and at-home correctives.
- Health History: cancer, diabetes, hormonal imbalances, gut imbalances, autoimmune diseases
- Skin sensitivities: Allergies, past reactions, over-exfoliation or over-use of chemical exfoliants at home.
Experience of your Esthetician
While chemical peels can be a powerful component in treating unwanted skin conditions and concerns and in helping you quickly attain your skin goals, we can’t stress enough how important it is to get treatments, especially chemical peels, with an experienced esthetician. Chemical peels are causing a controlled injury to the skin, so having expertise on how to safely perform them is crucial.
As we mentioned above, chemical peels are a powerful component to getting results, but they aren’t the entire solution! Having a personalized home care regimen to maintain and further your results is also a major component in healthy and effective peeling.
Want to talk with an esthetician further about homecare or peels? Comment below with your questions or schedule a time to chat with an esthetician through our Spiral Skin Concierge below!
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