Where Do I Find Out More About Lactic Acid Peels?

For more information about the benefits, costs, and results of lactic acid peels, talk to your local beauty expert. Your cosmetologist or dermatologist can answer all your questions about lactic acid peels and can set up an appointment for obtaining treatment. These peels take no more than hour or so of your time, an hour that will be more than well spent given how much younger and healthier your skin will look and feel. Why not get started today?

Myth 2: Getting a Lactic Acid Peel Will Hurt

Not so! Once more, lactic acid peels are gentle and use a mechanism of action that loosens and exfoliates skin using a chemical already found in our bodies. In fact, many people describe the tingling feeling they get in their skin as the lactic acid does its job as pleasant and invigorating. This tingling is an indication that the peel is doing what it is suppose to, revealing the more sensitive, living skin below. Some people describe the sensation as one of rejuvenation and health.

Myth 3: I Don’t Have A Skin Condition, So A Lactic Acid Peel Won’t Do Any Good

Many people use lactic acid peels to treat such problems as acne or the appearance of age or sun spots on the face, hands, or neck. This is because lactic acid peels have become well known as an effective treatment for these conditions. However, a very large number of people receive these peels even without underlying problems because of their excellent benefits to healthy skin. Lactic acid peels remove the dead cells that make the skin look older and more tired than it actually is. You could say that lactic acid peels wake the skin up to a healthier, younger glow.

As lactic acid peels have become more and more popular as an effective way to rejuvenate and invigorate the skin, a number of myths have grown up around the treatment. These myths often have to do with safety concerns or worries that these peels can damage the skin. Although these types of concerns are natural—your skin, your health, and your appearance are important to you—these myths generally arise out of a misunderstanding of exactly how lactic acid peels work. With just a little bit of care, lactic acid peels are in fact one of the safest, yet most effective, skin rejuvenation techniques available.

Myth 1: Chemical Peels Use Very Harsh Ingredients

Beauty and skin specialists have developed an entire array of different varieties of chemical peels. These range from the most intensive—peels that work at the deepest layers of the skin—to the much more mild. Lactic acid is one of the most mild of ingredients used in skin peels. In fact, it may be that the term “chemical” peel is a bit misleading when talking about lactic acid peels. Lactic acid is a wholly naturally derived substance that is extracted from dairy products like milk and yogurt.

For this reason, it is the type of peel most recommended for those people with sensitive skin. The only discomfort most people experience with lactic acid peels is a slight tingling in the skin as it works. This tingling is a result of the sloughing away of dead skin cells to reveal the more sensitive, younger skin underneath.

You have probably heard a lot about lactic acid peels. More and more people, women and men both, are turning to lactic acid peels to improve their appearance and rejuvenate their skin. This is because lactic acid peels are one of the most effective, all-natural ways to revitalize and invigorate your skin.

If you are new to lactic acid peels, however, you probably have a number of questions about what they are, how they work, and what you can expect from this treatment. Below are a handful of the most frequently asked questions people have about this ever more popular beauty aid.

What is a Lactic Acid Peel and How Does It Work?

In recent years, cosmetologists and other skin and appearance experts have developed an entire range of chemical peels. These peels utilize an agent of varying degrees of strength to loosen and exfoliate the outer layers of your skin. Some of these agents are very strong, such as phenol, and work at a very deep level to strip away dead skin cells to reveal the new, rejuvenated skin beneath. Other agents, such as lactic acid, are much more mild and are an excellent and effective way for those with sensitive skin to slough away tired skin cells for younger, healthier looking skin.

In fact, lactic acid, which is derived naturally from dairy products, is one of the most gentle, yet effective, of all the chemical peel agents used today. The truth is, your body already produces lactic acid on its own, making this variety of peel one of the most holistic available in today’s market. Discomfort is minimal with lactic acid peels, and results can be dramatic.

Every 28 days a new layer of skin is formed on the human body. As these new cells push their way to the top of the skin the old layers settle on the surface. This results in clogged enlarger pores, dull skin appearance and uneven texture. A lactic peel removes the dead skin cells which produces a smoother appearance.

The lactic acid in a peel works by causing the skin cell protein to break down and loosen. It is not a deep peel like TCA peels and works only on the top layer of the skin, which is known as the epidermis.

It is recommended that a person have six treatments done about a month apart since it is not a deep peel and will not greatly improve the skin with the first treatment. The most noticeable results are seen after the third session.

In a lactic peel the chemical is applied with an applicator and left on for 2 to 3 minutes depending on the area of the body being treated. After that time a neutralizing lotion is apply for five minutes. Some physicians will apply a sunscreen.
Before a person has a peel they should advise the physician if they have medical conditions such as lupus, or any type of autoimmune disease. Allergies, a history of cold sores and sun sensitive can also cause adverse reaction to the acid. If medication to treat acne is being used a person should not have a chemical peel as there is a chance for a severe reaction.

If a person wishes to do a lactic peel in their home there are product available for this. Since lactic acid peel contain between 30 and 70 percent acid a person should start out with the lowest form (between 30 and 40 percent). Any peel 50 percent or higher is best performed by a physician.

If a person does not want to go through a peel procedure creams and lotions containing lactic acid are available. These products are meant to moisturize and exfoliate the skin and not remove age spots or improve sun-damaged skin. Creams should be used on the face only as they thicker. Lotions are lighter and are suitable for use on the entire body. If a person has eczema, lactic acid lotions can work very well.

Creams, lotions and peels all can cause sensitivity to the sun and sun exposure should be kept to a minimum.

Lactic acid is a milk byproduct and is one of the gentlest forms of peels on the market today. This acid is found in the human body and used as energy during exercise. It also helps prevent low blood sugar. It is one of the largest acid molecules in the human body.

This is the reason a lactic acid peel is considered to be safer than other acid peels for people with health problems or those with the condition rosacea. The lactic acid peel is recommended for people who have never had a peel before because it does not cause the redness, irritation or discomfort as other peels. The healing time is shorter than with other peels. Lactic acid peels are the only type of peels that a person with rosacea can have.

Lactic acid peels do not prevent acne and does not work on deep acne scars. It is most suited for uneven skin tone, sun damaged skin and hyper pigmentation. The face and neck is the most common area on which lactic acid peels are performed, however, any area of the body can be treated due to the mildness of the acid used.

What Are the Benefits of Lactic Acid Peels?

Because the lactic acid peel works to loosen and wash away the dead layers of skin on your face, neck, chest, or hands, it has a wide variety of benefits. First of all, given its mechanism of action—the exfoliation of old skin—these peels literarily lift away the fine lines and wrinkles that are the result of aging. Lactic acid peels are also effective in the removal of scar tissue brought on by acne. Many people, whether due to older age or exposure to the sun, experience uneven pigmentation of the skin—age spots or blotchy looking skin. Lactic acid peels reverse the damage done by the sun to return your skin to a younger, more uniform state.

How Safe Are Lactic Acid Peels?

Quite naturally, many people are concerned about safety when it comes to cosmetic treatments such as chemical peels. After all, your health and appearance are extremely valuable assets. The fact that lactic acid is one of the most mild, all-natural agents used in peels makes it ideal in terms of safety. Most people only experience mild discomfort when using a lactic acid peel, with a slight tingling of the skin as it loosens dead skin cells to reveal the more sensitive skin below. Considering the positive benefits of this peel, its safety profile can hardly be beat.

The AHAs: Helper Ingredients for Lactic Acid Peels

Often, lactic acid peels will be reinforced by the addition of other alpha hydroxyl acids. This is done so that these active agents can work in tandem to produce the desired effect of skin revitalization more effectively. Each AHA has a somewhat different mechanism of action that can be extremely effective when used in combination. In fact, certain skin types will respond more favorably to different combinations of lactic and other naturally occurring acids.

Beauty shoppers will often see or hear about chemical peel products that contain formulations of lactic acid mixed with glycolic acid. Glycolic acid is an AHA that is derived from sugar cane. It is a slightly more intensive agent than lactic acid and thus gives a boost to the peel’s exfoliation abilities. Various concentrations of glycolic acid mixed with lactic acid are formulated for different skin types and needs.

Other AHAs that are used in lactic acid peels include tartaric, malic, and citric acids. The tartaric acid is extracted from grapes, the malic acid from pears and apples, and the citric acid comes, as you probably know, from citrus fruits. Each of these naturally derived substances has its own manner of rejuvenating the skin through invigoration of the collagen layer or a stripping away of dead skin cells.

Other Ingredients

Different formulations of lactic acid peel will contain such ingredients as vitamin B12 and botanicals like aloe vera. Vitamin B12 enriches the skin to keep it supple and at optimal health. Aloe vera and other botanicals moisturize dry and flaking skin and can actually help repair damaged skin cells. Because the active agents in lactic acid peels can lead to a slight drying of the skin, the addition of B12 and aloe will keep your skin from becoming flaky as the peel does its important job.

Of course, key to this discussion is purchasing a high-quality lactic acid peel or having it applied by a reputable spa or beauty center. This will ensure that the best ingredients are used for the best possible outcome: younger, healthier, and better looking skin.

As the word gets out about the effectiveness of lactic acid peels, more people are curious about how this treatment works and the kinds of ingredients that are often found in the lactic peel formulation. These people have probably heard about how the lactic peel loosens and exfoliates dead skin cells to reveal the newer, more rejuvenated layers of skin that lie just beneath. But just what are the ingredients in the lactic peel that allow it to improve the skin and impart to it a healthier and younger glow?

Of course, as the name implies, the most important of the ingredients found in the lactic peel is the lactic acid itself. Lactic acid is known as an alpha hydroxyl acid, or AHA. These generally mild acids are often natural ingredients derived from such things as fruits and vegetables or other substances found in nature. Lactic acid is no exception, and is derived from dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and the like.

As a mild member of the AHA family, lactic acid dissolves the bonds between dead skin cells so that they may be removed to reveal newer and younger skin layers below. This dissolving action takes place over several days and over several treatments with the peel. Of course, lactic acid is found abundantly in the natural world, making the lactic acid peel a holistically sound choice in beauty enhancing procedures.

Often, however, the lactic acid peel that you purchase from your beauty supply store or have applied to your skin at a spa or cosmetologist contains other ingredients in addition to lactic acid. These ingredients enhance the effectiveness of the lactic acid peel for optimal skin revitalization.