Chemical Peels

Chemical peels are a very popular way to refresh and rejuvenate your skin. There are three types of chemical peels: superficial chemical peels, which are the most popular and most common and that’s why we’re going to speak about them today, but there are also medium-depth and deeper chemical peels which will be the subject of another episode. The superficial chemical peels work by making the skin smoother, by restoring sheen and luster, and by evening the color. Normally, your dead skin cells on the surface of your skin fall off on the 28th day and, when they do, the top of the skin, the surface, stays nice and smooth and you don’t need a chemical peel. But a lot of these cells don’t fall off when they’re supposed to, they start to accumulate into little mounds in different places on the skin and that creates an uneven surface on the skin. That’s what causes the skin to be dull and matte, and that’s when you need a superficial chemical peel which works by dissolving off those dead cells to again restore a nice smooth surface. Most of the chemical peels I do in the office are superficial chemical peels and they’re confined to the upper part of the skin called the epidermis. This is the dead part, this is the live part, but it is only this upper part that’s affected which is the very reason that these peels are so safe, so painless and that there’s no recovery time from them. There's no downtime there's no visible marks. Right afterwards, we have you put a moisturizer and, in fact, you can even put your make-up on right away, go back to work or go back to whatever you’re doing. That’s why they’re called “lunchtime peels.” During these peels, I use either glycolic acid or salicylic acid as the chemical, but don’t let the word “acid” scare you. There's no burning; it tingles a little bit. I apply it for five minutes, and I even use just a cotton ball to put the chemical on. After five minutes, you rinse it off and, immediately afterwards, you can actually feel that the skin is smoother. To get meaningful visible results in both the texture and color of your skin though, you need to do a series of 4 or 6 of these chemical peels about every week or every other week. So remember, if you want to have more beautiful, glowing skin, give up a couple of lunch hours and get a couple of lunchtime peels.