Weekly Glycolic Acid Chemical Peels - The How
The information here is about weekly glycolic acid peel products. That is those with high percentages of glycolic acid.
If you are using a product that has a low concentration of glycolic acid, and so can be applied daily, these guidelines do not apply.
Be careful! Keep glycolic acid away from your eyes and any area where the skin is broken. It is a moderately strong acid.
- First test an area
- Get prepared
- Clean the area to be treated
- Application of the glycolic acid peel
- Neutralization and removal of glycolic acid from the skin
- Skin care after a glycolic acid peel
First test an area
A few people are very sensitive to chemical peels. Plus there is a wide range of peeling power in the different glycolic acid products. The other ingredients and the level acidity in different products will affect the peeling strength. Better to start at the low end and work your way up!
Test any glycolic acid product in advance of putting it on your face.
As with the first time you use a particular brand of hair coloring product, it is recommended that you try a small patch test. Following the instructions for your product, try a small area of skin somewhere on the body that is normally hidden.
Expect some tingling and perhaps a slight burning feeling and some redness afterwards. If there is more than minor tenderness, or the skin remains significantly irritated more than 24 hours after the treatment, either do not do a chemical peel or try the test again with a less aggressive treatment.
A less aggressive treatment could be a lower concentration of glycolic acid, or a less irritating chemical peel such as salicylic acid or mandelic acid.
Get prepared
If you have been using an aggressive skin treatment such as prescription strength Retin A or other retinoid, these treatments should be stopped for at least two weeks before starting weekly glycolic acid peels. Also, microdermasion should also not be done for about two weeks prior to starting chemical peels.
Before you start read the instructions for the product that you have purchased and think about what you need.
A glycolic acid treatment is going to be timed. So get a timing device ready. A watch with a second hand is fine. I like to use my digital kitchen timer that counts down and has an alarm. A nice cheap easy to use timer is the Sunbeam, 91640, 99 Minute, 59 Second Digital Count up/Count Down Timer available at Amazon.
Get your hair pulled back off your face. Use a headband, or barrettes, or clips. If you are doing any non-facial areas such as the décolletage (upper chest) organize your clothing. Remove any jewelry, including earrings that may get in the way or could get acid on them.
Do you need cotton balls? Non-alkali soap? A washcloth? A basin of warm water? Cleanser?
Finally – do you have any wounds, chapped areas, irritated skin, nicks, sunburned or any other injured area? Have you shaved or waxed? Check the areas to be treated carefully. Do you have allergies or a cold, and is the end of your nose a bit raw? Cold sores? Note all these areas, as areas not to be treated at this time – they will be made worse and probably hurt like hell.
Clean the area to be treated
Some products have better instructions than others about preparation for chemical peeling. If there are no specific instructions, clean the area to be treated with a non-alkaline cleaner. (An alkali is the opposite of an acid, so using an alkali cleanser with an acid will reduce themake the acid less acid.) Soaps are often alkaline, so do not use soap, unless you know it is not alkaline. Cetaphil is an inexpensive non-alkaline cleanser that is readily available in drugstores.
The aim of cleaning the area is to remove all skin products, such as cosmetics and creams, and any surface oils. This will allow the glycolic acid to penetrate better.
After cleaning let your skin dry before proceeding.
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