We have talked about chemical peels a number of times here at BeautyTipToday. We are big fans of glycolic acid peels and have become an experienced at-home peeler.
With our oily skin, we find glycolic acid to be quite effective in the exfoliation department to reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and sun damage. Plus, these peels deliver smoother, more even skintone with less visible pores. Skin care experts claim that glycolic acid is the most effective for peels due to its small molecular size, which allows it to penetrate into the skin more easily.
It's always best to have a dermatologist apply a chemical peel. The pro can determine which peel strength to give you, control how your face is reacting under the peel, and exactly how many minutes to keep the glycolic acid on.
And yet, many of us learn the skin care ropes and start chemical peeling at home. Usually, at-home peels are SAFE, but as we like to say, Burns CAN happen to good people.
This happened to us late Wednesday night, June 6th, which would actually be Thursday, June 7th, because the mini accident occurred AFTER midnight, when we strangely enough, like to do our peels.
What went down?
We had been using a new glyolic acid cream and cleanser 24-hours prior to our peel. And we left the glycolic acid peel on for a bit too long, which turned out to be 6 minutes. We were using a 50% strength, which we've been accustomed to for about a year. We noticed our face and neck quickly turning red, and yet, we took no action and decided to let the peel do its thing.
When we attempted to wash off the peel, the burning began and continued. We dried off our face and neck, kept them both bare and went to sleep.
Today is Saturday and we are still a bit swollen, red and peeling. We have a couple of small brown spots on the upper cheeks and one under the chin/neck. Other than that, we feel good--no more pain. We are going to be just fine.
Dermatologists advise putting on emu oil or aloe vera to soothe burned skin following a chemical peel. Other than that, if you are going to be an at-home peeler, well, you are on your own. So, follow directions exactly. And good luck!
Here are some excellent glycolic acid peel directions from PlatinumSkinCare.com.
Use of Chemical peels can certainly help reduce the visible signs of aging. These peels contain mild acids that help exfoliate skin and remove dead cells and debris from your antioxidant skin minerals such as zinc, selenium, calcium, copper peptides, antioxidant vitamins such as vitamin A, vitamin C and Vitamin E, sunscreen to protect skin from harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun; essences boost the firm and fortify skin collagen, anti aging and numerous additional useful elements.
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