Radiant Beauty

By: Sarah Burns-Eggenberger
Created on 07th May 2011

By combining practitioner-administered chemical peels with a carefully considered at-home treatment plan, a clear complexion and smooth skin can be in your grasp. Sarah Burns- Eggenberger explains how aestheticians can help to navigate your skin to radiant beauty with chemical exfoliation

Would you like a healthy glow, softened fine lines and wrinkles, evenly toned, softer, smoother skin? Would you like sun spots softened, or oil production and breakouts controlled?

The natural desquamation process – the shedding of the outer layers of the skin – creates new cells at the ground level and as the skin cells age, they navigate to the top of the epidermis and then shed away.

The normal cell cycle ranges from 26 to 42 days. This process functions effortlessly for the early decades of life, but as we age the process slows down, becomes delinquent and needs assistance.

Chemical exfoliation is the preferred method to a cellular jumpstart – recreating the ideal skin renewal process – and peels have come a long way in recent years. Glotherapeutics take things one stage further by providing an at-home treatment plan that gets to work on your skin both before and after your peel.

The crucial components

Glotherapeutics chemical peels utilise key cosmecuetical ingredients to achieve the very best results.

The most recognised alpha and beta hydroxy acids are: lactic, glycolic, salicylic, modified jessner and TCA (trichloroacetic acid). These acids will cause superficial skin cells to shed at an increased rate and will normalise the shedding process.

Glycolic acid is a universal ingredient due to the fact it has a broad ranges of uses. Lactic acid will reduce water loss from the skin and will increase epidermal thickening.

Salicylic acid is lipophillic, meaning it will penetrate through the pore then digest the debris and oil present in the follicle. Salicylic acid is an anti-bacterial acid, making it beneficial for hyperkeratosis, acne, rosacea, oily and textured rough skin.

Modified jessner is a chemical exfoliant that is named after a New York dermatologist who publicised the treatment. This treatment is intentioned to address oily skin, acne, hyperpigmentation and fine lines and is often used as a combination treatment.

TCA causes protein coagulation and will minimize wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, uneven texture and acne scars. Tailoring treatments This product range allows your practitioner to tailor treatments to suit your exact skin needs.

Chemical exfoliants are classified by the depth of penetration in the skin. This ranges from light, more superficial treatments to advanced exfoliation depending on the skin’s specific needs.

There are multiple ways to individualise treatments, either more or less aggressive, that is best suited for each client’s lifestyle and needs.

There are many factors to be considered with chemical exfoliation treatment and these will determine the outcome, the overall performance and depth of the chemical exfoliation.

Just as important as the acid percentage is the pH level. The lower the pH of the chemical exfoliant, the higher the free acid amount that can penetrate. Side effects to a low pH are irritation and erythema.

In formulating, careful consideration is required to create a product that has a low enough pH for penetration but results in minimal irritation to the skin. In general the pH of a professional peel will be in the range of 1 – 2.5.

During the treatment, your aesthetician has many opportunities to customise the treatment; lactic and glycolic acid are monitored with the length of time on the skin, while salicylic, modified jessner and TCA are applied in layers.

To increase intensity, the peels can be left longer on the skin or applied in multiple layers. More abrasive applicators and increased pressure will enhance circulation and deeper absorption.

A peel prep should be used prior to the chemical exfoliation to degrease the skin. Then at the end of the treatment, it can be customised with any of the goSerums depending on the skin needs.

Home care products

For optimal results, the skin should be prepared with exfoliants at least two to four weeks prior to the first treatment. Skin conditioning will create a more uniform peel, and allow the acid to reach a deeper depth of exfoliation.

One of the most important aspects to prepping the skin is to provide your practitioner with a preview of how your skin will respond to chemical exfoliation – if there is a lot of skin sloughing then the aesthetician will know to be more cautious with the treatment and vice versa.

Closely following the home therapy plan will help yield optimal results. Similar to the way that with a weight loss programme, a workout regimen paired with healthy eating will drop the pounds, the series of positive acts of products and treatments will bring the client to their optimum skin condition that much quicker.

After treatments, the skin goes through a rejuvenation period requiring products that are healing and provide nourishment. These essential products will optimise the rejuvenation process by nourishing and healing the skin.

In conclusion

Chemical exfoliation has benefited from recent advances in chemistry and formulation technologies and this is set to just get better and better.