Should I Pick Flaky Skin

Updated 11/21/17. And then yous just got a chemical skin. Now you're left with dry out, irritated, red, peeling skin—all perfectly common post-peel side effects. Just now what? Hither are my tips for chemical peel aftercare and managing the side effects without disrupting your pare'southward natural healing procedure.

Non all chemical peels are equal; the suggestions I share in this post are for lite to calorie-free-medium peels. These are the types of peels I perform and they're the ones with which I have the well-nigh experiences. (Yous can read almost the different depths of chemical peels hither.) The pare intendance professional person who performed your treatment should take given you detailed chemical peel aftercare instructions. If not, yous might want to consider contacting him or her since every pare type is different, as is every peel.

With a chemic skin, the name says exactly what the skin is supposed to do—peel. Your esthetician or dermatologist applied a chemical solution (acrid) to your face. The purpose was to remove the top layers of the peel along with whatsoever discolored cells within those layers. This process happens as the skin peels. While it's not always ideal to walk around with flaky skin, you have to be very mindful not to interfere with the procedure. Let Female parent Nature practise her matter. Simply put, you accept to accept the peeling and avoid doing whatever you lot can to arrive stop before its ready to. The goal is to go along the peel feeling moist, at-home and comfortable.

Chemical Pare Aftercare Dos:

Do treat your skin gently.

Be sure to use a very, very light touch when massaging whatsoever type of product onto your skin. No aggressive rubbing at all. Some of the flaking cells are still fastened to live cells, and you don't desire to hazard pulling anything off that isn't ready.

Do be extra careful when the peel is wet.

H2o melts and softens dead skin, and so it'southward very easy to rub off both dead and live cells when the skin is moist. This means avoid using washcloths or sonic cleansing brushes later on a chemical pare. Information technology's also risky.

Exercise wear sunscreen after a chemic peel.

Stating the obvious, but the skin is very vulnerable postal service-peel. UV light (even daylight on a cloudy day) is damaging your skin. If the skin is overly flaky and you're being mindful of not touching it as well oftentimes, consider trying an SPF-infused powder. You can dust it on for a quick and easy, rub-complimentary reapplication.

Practice limit your time outdoors.

After a chemical peel, you want to hibernate as much as possible to proceed your skin protected. The last things you want to betrayal your pare to are estrus and UV low-cal. It's already in such an inflamed land, you don't want to make it worse.

Practice use products with soothing ingredients.

Chemical Peel Aftercare You desire to provide as much condolement to the skin as possible to ease redness and irritation. I have every ane of my clients employ a h2o-based gel mask (no more than than one time a day) if they feel like their skin is as well uncomfortable. I suggest keeping it in the refrigerator to provide an extra cooling experience. I'll either recommend Bio Calm Repair Masque or Rapid Response Detox Masque, depending on the client's skin type. I will also accept the client use a soothing moisturizer like Phytolipid Comfort Creme.

Later on a chemic peel, practise go along your skincare routine simple and gentle.

If you lot're wondering what to put on your face afterwards a chemic peel, we recommend following this type of regimen, in this order.

Wash your skin with a gentle, low-foaming, sulfate-free cleanser. Moisture Protecting Cleanser is a great gel-to-milk formula that won't leave the skin feeling dry out.
Employ an essence but mist it on the pare. This is essentially an alcohol-gratuitous toner that removes impure tap water from the skin mail-cleansing. This is also serum-infused to evangelize excellent hydration. This provides additional comfort to irritated and peeled skin. Normally, you'd apply a toner or essence to a cotton pad then wipe it over the skin. Since post-peel you desire to minimize rubbing, instead put the production into a spray bottle and mist it on the face. If you don't have a spray bottle, then pour into the palm of your hand and pat it on the face. Moisture Infusion Toner deeply hydrates the peel and can certainly be used twelvemonth-round for skin types that need it. Like all toners, yous should leave an essence damp on the skin then your serum that follows tin can seal in its hydration benefits.
Use a no-sting, acid-gratis antioxidant serum. Since the pare has been traumatized (which is the intention), gratis radical production is very high. You'll want to suppress some of that free radical activity past using a gentle vitamin C serum. Many vitamin C serums use pure ascorbic acid as the main ingredient. Every bit the name implies, this is an acid, which is the last thing you want to add together to the pare after a peel. Instead, expect for vitamin C ingredients like Magnesium Ascorbyl Phosphate, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Ascorbyl Methylsilanol Pectinate or Ascorbyl Palmitate. All of these are considered to be best for sensitive skin since they are stable, acid-free and don't cause a stinging sensation. (Check out this absurd experiment that I did using a vitamin C serum on an apple!)
Employ moisturizer. If it's during the solar day, yous'll desire a moisturizer with sunscreen. (One with Zinc Oxide is ideal as it will exist more than soothing to the peel.) In the evening, you'll want to utilize a non-sunscreen moisturizer for your skin type. Be sure to use a light affect when applying.

Do utilise a natural peel brightener.

Chemical Peel Aftercare Vitamin C Since chemical peels can stimulate melanin activity, you lot don't desire to end up with mail service-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, a condition in which you develop brownish spots or patches mail service-peel (common in peel that already struggles with discoloration/brown spots). I recommend that my clients utilise a vitamin C serum, as mentioned above since vitamin C works beautifully to calm melanin cells.

Chemic Peel Aftercare Don'ts:

Don't selection or pull at the flaky skin!

The whole purpose of a chemical peel is to lift away surface dry, damaged cell layers and reveal younger-looking, healthy new cells. But to practise this, the peel has to shed. That'due south the role that people dislike the virtually. Picking off dry, flaky pare when it may not be ready to come off can effect in scarring and unnecessary redness. You really accept to go out information technology alone. Again, let Female parent Nature her exercise her job.

Don't use a washcloth, facial scrub or sonic cleansing castor.

Equally mentioned above, expressionless, flaky skin softens upwardly when exposed to water. It can exist very tempting to want to rub away that dryness with a washcloth, facial scrub or Clarisonic. Please don't use whatever of these. Should any new cells come along with it (which they will!), you'll current of air upwards with scabs all over your face. I've seen it happen fourth dimension and time again. This certainly defeats any benefits from getting the skin in the kickoff place.

Don't over-moisturize after a chemical peel.

To compensate for post-peeling dryness, don't over-moisturize. When the skin is peeling and flaky, it'southward normal to desire to continually use a skin oil or heavy moisturizer to comfort and alleviate dryness. While yous Practise want to go on the pare moist because moisturizers can assist healing and y'all certainly don't want the peel to crack, it's important to know that the whole purpose of a chemical peel is to peel. The less rubbing, massaging and tugging on the skin you lot do, the amend. Just utilize a comforting moisturizer and allow the pare do what information technology wants to do—shed. If you are going out and desire to camouflage some of the flakiness, patting a few drops of a treatment oil on the skin like Pro Remedy Oil will aid information technology be less noticeable.

Don't exfoliate with acids or enzymes.

It is so important to not remove the peeling skin before its time. Yous must permit the pare shed naturally on its schedule, not on yours. Acids and enzymes, whether in a cleanser, toner, serum, mask or moisturizer, will only irritate the pare farther and maybe burn and temporarily scar the skin. While I love exfoliation, and you lot'll want to get back to that ii weeks after a peel to go on up the results, this is not the time.

Don't eat highly acidic foods.

Only as y'all don't want to apply topical acids to the skin, you lot likewise don't desire acidic foods getting on the skin. When things like lycopersicon esculentum sauce, oranges and salsa bear on the face, they can lower the pH of the peel to the point of causing serious irritation. I've seen a lot of people get burns/rashes on the sides of their oral cavity post-peel from eating pizza. It got all over the corners of their mouth without them even realizing it was happening! When you take a peel, your moisture bulwark is in a very damaged state and acts extremely sensitive and particularly. Since the mouth area is the place where you lot'll see the nigh amount of peeling due to facial movements from talking and yawning, this surface area can be very reactive.

Don't sweat too much later a chemic pare.

Peculiarly at the height of the peeling, your protective barrier is very damaged. When you sweat while working out, the salt tin can cause a stinging sensation which may further the irritation.

Don't use any type of retinol or prescription retinoids.

These types of products work to stimulate cell turnover from deep. This is definitely great for the peel, only information technology's what'due south already occurring considering of the peel. Like acids, y'all'll want to use these once your peel heals, but not quite yet.

And then there you have it. Tips from my extensive experience to minimize post-peel reanimation so you lot can get back to your regularly scheduled life—only with new, fresher-looking skin! Lastly, here's how you can give your skin a skin at home.

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Celebrity Esthetician & Skincare Expert
As an esthetician trained in cosmetic chemistry, Renée Rouleau has spent 30 years researching peel, educating her audience, and building an honour-winning line of products. Trusted by celebrities, editors, bloggers, and skincare obsessives effectually the world, her vast real-globe noesis and constant research are why Marie Claire calls her "the almost passionate peel practitioner we know."