What's a Chemical Peel Anyways? - Podcast Episode 4

NOTE: This is a transcription of the Skincare Fairy Godmother Podcast Episode 1. It may have been changed slightly for ease of reading vs. listening.

In today's treatment room, we're going to learn all about chemical peels - what are they? What are progressive peels? Who are chemical peels good for and why I wouldn't necessarily recommend buying peels online.

First, let's dive into what a chemical peel is. There's two types of exfoliation, manual and chemical.Manual is things like brushes, scrubs, microdermabrasion, and hydrodermabrasion. Chemical is peels and enzymes, which work by dissolving the bonds between the skin cells that hold them together. Manual exfoliation works by scrubbing or vacuuming, sectioning.

So what are the different types of peels? There are a lot of types of peels, and they all address different things. There's glycolic, lactic, TCA, Mandelic, Jessners, and many more. Have you ever seen the episode of Sex in the City where Samantha gets a chemical peel? Most of the time, it's really not like that. That's a really outdated way of peeling the skin, in general, and that level of peel is almost always done in a doctor's office.

I can't speak for all estheticians. So I'm just going to tell you how we do peels at the Atelier. We work in what's commonly referred to as progressive peels, which are a series of four to six peels and they're spaced about two to eight weeks apart. We start with a gentle peel to see how your skin responds and get your skin "used to" the peeling process. Next, we move into a more in-depth peel and keep working our way up in strength or level at each visit if possible. So if your skin's handling it well, meaning there was no irritation post-peel (you might have some redness and flaking but it shouldn't be coming off in sheets, and definitely, you shouldn't ever have any rashes or hives - if you are, then that's something you would want to talk to your aesthetician about).

Once we've completed your peel series, we go to maintenance facials, which are done about every four to six weeks. You can repeat a peel series to increase your results after about a six month break typically.

Who are chemical peels good for? Honestly, because there's so many different types, they're really good for literally everyone. A skilled, knowledgeable esthetician should be able to tell you based on your skin type, tone, and goal which peels you can and can't do, and develop a treatment plan accordingly. There's so many things that peels are good for, and it's definitely worth bringing up with your esthetician if you're not sure.

Lastly, why shouldn't you buy peels online?

Well putting it frankly, you just never know what you're getting when you order something like that online. Peels can be really aggressive and dangerous if not used properly. So unless you're ordering one from your esthetician to use at home under his or her direction, I just wouldn't recommend it. It's not safe.