A couple of weeks ago, I talked about “desquamation”, the process by which your body sheds old, dead skin cells naturally. This week I wanted to touch on chemical peels and how they can assist in removing dead skin while also addressing other skin issues.
As your skin ages and suffers years of sun damage, the texture of it can become rough, discolored, and it can begin to lose its firmness. Exfoliation can help, but normal exfoliation is a superficial process restricted to the stratum corneum. Chemical peels accelerate the normal desquamation process and generate a quicker exfoliation of the stratum corneum.
Chemical peels can be superficial, but based on the type of peel, they can also reach to a medium depth, affecting deeper cell layers in the epidermis. Medium-depth peels are used to treat discolored skin, hyperpigmentation, fine lines, wrinkles, sun damage and precancerous skin lesions. Medium-depth peels usually take between 30 and 60 minutes to administer. Side effects include moderate stinging or discomfort for 30-60 minutes.
The depth of peels depends on the active ingredient(s), the concentration of the active ingredient(s), the number of passes or layers applied, the type of skin (thin or thick), the type of skin preparation (eliminating residual sebum and creating an even pH), the application technique, the anatomic location, the application contact time and finally, the spacing of subsequent peels.
The way in which they work is that the chemical peels create a wound in the epidermis, which stimulates cell growth (the healing process) and the formation of important substances deficient in sun damaged and aging skin. But all peels are not created equal and their effectiveness and the depth to which they will go depends on the ingredients in your peel. Superficial peels typically use one or two active ingredients, such as alpha hydroxy acids (glycolic acid) or beta hydroxyl acids (salicylic acid) to remove the epidermis, or uppermost layer of skin. Medium-depth peels penetrate deeper into the epidermis.
Single agent peels lack uniform penetration due to the variability of skin penetration. Peels with multiple ingredients produce a synergistic effect and more uniform sloughing of the stratum corneum, in addition to having a reparative effect on the deeper layers of the skin.
I’m very excited about our (Rx Systems PF) new, soon-to-be-released Poly-Organic Peel. Our Poly-Organic Peel is a novel, cutting-edge new peel designed to repair photo-damage and brighten skin tone. We’ve created this peel by selecting a combination of complementary ingredients with different modes of action to produce a synergistic affect, creating a brightening and lightening peel, while also improving cell growth, exfoliation, and firmness.
Our combination of exfoliative and reparative natural organic acids includes a unique, innovative blend of peeling agents:
- alpha-hydroxy acid (glycolic acid)
- beta-hydroxy acid (salicylic acid)
- dicarboxylic acid (azelaic acid)
- aromatic organic molecule (resorcinol) and
- hydroxyl-pyrone (kojic acid)
Rx Systems PF’s Poly-Organic peel can be layered onto the skin to achieve a mild or medium depth peel. During your Poly-Organic Peel, you will experience a warm, tingling sensation. You may experience redness, tightening, and dryness following your peel. One to three days following your procedure you will notice mild to moderate peeling of the skin that can be concealed with the use of a moisturizer. There is no required downtime from our Poly-Organic Peel, however, a moisturizer with appropriate sunscreen should be applied every morning. In order to maintain your results, it is critical to avoid sun damage. Recovery time for mild chemical peels is usually 24-48 hours. Recovery time for medium depth peels ranges from 3-4 days to 1 week.
After one treatment you may find your complexion much improved and wrinkles less noticeable, however, for optimum results, we recommend one peel per month for six months.
This Poly-Organic Peel must be administered by an anesthetist and, upon its release, will be found at salons that use Rx Systems PF products.