Skin Deep Beauty by Christine Lindsay

Chemical peel season isn’t over just yet! You still have time to get to your local esthetician for a series of peels to get that summer glow!

Chemical peels are a treatment using chemicals to increase our cellular turnover rate. This procedure can only be performed by licensed professions such as medical doctors, nurses, and estheticians. While the results don’t happen over night, the process does leave the skin youthful, and glowing!

It’s ideal to get chemical peels in a series of 3-6 treatments depending on what your skincare professional recommends for your skin. Since it’s essential to avoid sweating after a chemical peel, it’s sometimes best to get this treatment in the fall and winter months.

Benefits of Chemical Peels

Benefits of chemical peels include improvement of skin tone, removed dead skin cells, stimulates elastin and collagen, and reduces fine lines and wrinkles. Chemical peels also reduce the appearance of scars and hyperpigmentation, helps clear breakouts, increases hydration in the skin, improves skin barrier function, and it reduces appearance of aging and sun damage.

Types of Chemical Peels

Before The Procedure

Glycolic peels are great for all skin types except sensitive skin. Benefits include softening fine lines, lightening hyperpigmentation, smooths texture, and stimulates collagen.

Lactic peels are great for sensitive and dry skin. Benefits include reducing the appearance of fine lines, smooths texture, and hydrates the skin.

Salicylic peels are great for combination and oily skin. They have anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that helps to treat acne.

Malic peels are good for all skin types except for sensitive skin. Benefits include treating acne, reducing signs of fine lines, smoothing textures, and it helps the skin retain hydration.

Tartaric peels are ideal for dry skin. Benefits include diminishing appearance of fine lines.

Before Care

Do not exfoliate or wax 72 hours prior to getting a chemical peel. Contraindications to this procedure include pregnancy, aspirin allergy, serious medical conditions, compromised skin, and recent use of a retinol or accutane.

After Care

The down side is 7-10 days of healing. It is very important to avoid exercise and any activities that cause sweating for at least 48 hours after your chemical peel. Sunscreen is your BFF. The skin is so incredibly sensitive after a peel so applying sunscreen regularly throughout the day is essential. It’s important to keep your skin moisturized and hydrated after your peel. Talk to your doctor, nurse or esthetician about which after care products they recommend for your skin.