Chemical Peel Benefits

The chemical peel has been a favourite skincare treatment for quite literally years. Even the ancient Egyptians favoured a chemical peel for skin rejuvenation and their use has continued through the ages. They’re the ideal winter skincare treatment, performing a chemical exfoliation that sloughs away the dry seasonal skin blocking your natural glow. However, how much do you know about a chemical peel? We’re going to decipher how a chemical peel works, whether they hurt, and what they achieve for your skin.

What is a Chemical Peel?

A chemical peel is a skincare treatment used for treating a variety of different skin conditions. Different peels contain different ingredients and concentrations of acids, so some are stronger than others. After a thorough cleanse and buffering, a layer of the peeling solution is applied to your skin and left to work its magic. After a minute or so, a second application may be performed to stimulate deep tissue cleansing. The skin is then cleansed again, and sun protection is applied to stop your temporarily vulnerable skin from burning or developing any unwanted pigmentation problems. The peels do tingle and sometimes burn a little, but nothing that requires any form of anaesthetics. The sensation is over within a minute or so.

How do chemical peels work?

A chemical peel treats many skin conditions in roughly the same manner, because they stimulate the skin’s own responses. The acid creates a controlled wound on the surface of the skin that damages and dries out the surface level of skin cells. These cells are shed by the body in the form of dry skin which will begin flaking away after around 2 days post-peel. This controlled wounding does three things: one, it encourages positive skin cell turnover and reveals fresh cells beneath those that are damaged, it encourages the production collagen for more youthful skin, and it helps to rebalance oil production. This makes it extremely useful in treating a variety of different skin types and conditions.

What does a chemical peel treat?

A chemical peel, or rather of course of multiple peels, treat complex skin conditions such as fine lines and wrinkles, acne, acne scarring, congested or spot-prone skin, enlarged pores, and hyperpigmentation. Through stimulating the fresh production of collagen, a protein essential for skin laxity, fine lines and wrinkles are sort of ‘filled’ from the inside by encouraging processes that thicken this skin. By sloughing away damaged cells to replace with new ones, hyperpigmentation and scarring can be releveled and resurfaced to encourage a more skin tone. Congested skin and active acne can even be lessened with a course of peels because they essentially press ‘reset’ on your skin’s oil production, helping to balance it out and forcing it into more of a healthy cycle.

Which peel would you recommend?

Which peel we would recommend is based on your skin condition, so our expert Aestheticians would need to meet you for a consultation to suggest which might work best for you. However, broadly speaking, we provide three different peels for different needs.

• Cosmelan is incredibly effective for deep-rooted hyperpigmentation. Freckles, extensive sun damage, and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation from skin trauma are all treatable using Cosmelan. This treatment is even suitable for ethnic skin.
• Obagi Radiance is extremely effective at treating congested, acne-prone, and acne-scarred skin. It works to relevel the skin to remodel it at its deeper levels, encouraging continued and more stable skin health.
• ZO Stimulator peel is also effective at treating acne-prone or oily skin; but it also tackles fine lines and wrinkles with less flaking and dryness than other peels. It’s a gentler peel, so those with skin conditions that aren’t particularly severe might see the benefits of this peel.