Glycolic acid skin peels, also nicknamed the lunchtime peel – are they really effective anti wrinkle treatment for your skin?
A lunchtime chemical peel, also called a glycolic acid peel, involves putting a mild chemical solution like glycolic acid on the face area (and neck and hands if requested). The glycolic acid is a mildly caustic chemical. The glycolic acid facial peel is touted as a mild approach to treat superficial skin problems such as brown sun spots, freckles, acne and rough skin. The glycolic acid peel is minimally invasive and really only affects the topmost layer of your skin.
The way the peel works is that your face is cleaned, and then the glycolic acid chemical is applied carefully. Depending on the strength used, it is left on your skin for several minutes. Then, it is taken off using cold water (and sometimes baking soda) to neutralize the glycolic acid chemical. Your skin will be a little red after the peel, similar to if you had gotten a mild sunburn. If the acid is left on too long in sensitive areas the skin might get a little coat of white looking frost over that part. You are told to wear no makeup or light non-comodogenic (non- irritating) makeup. Only a very light coat of anti-bacterial neosporin might be needed in irritated areas. In general, you want the skin to breath, dry and peel. Over the course of the next few days, the top layer of skin might darken slightly and then dry up and peel lightly. After a light peel is done, the resulting skin is nice and smooth.
If enough glycolic acid is used, you are going to have peeling skin in about three days and to tell you the truth this can be rather annoying as it looks like you have dry skin. The peeling is mild with a glycolic acid peel thus you can really go about your normal life without it being very discernable to any one but yourself. Your picky girlfriend might ask you why your skin is peeling and tell you to go get some lotion, but its unlikely anybody else would even notice anything. You do have to avoid the sun and wear sunscreen to avoid irritation of the sensitive skin. Within 4-5 days your skin will be totally back to normal looking freshened. While they call it “walk-in walk-out” you should realize that in fact you most likely will have some mild residual effects, like slight redness followed by lightly peeling skin, over the course of the next 3-5 days. In other words, don’t risk geting one of these lunchtime peels days before your wedding and honeymoon.
If you were to use Retin-A, for a few days, you might get a similar effect (a mild peeling) to a glycolic acid peel for a lot less money. Retin-A can cause a drying effect and mild peeling skin very similar to what a mild glycolic acid peel does to you. Any time you get rid of the topmost layer of skin, the resulting skin is going to look freshened up.
I consider the lunchtime peel to be minimally effective (if at all) considering the price. Basically, these peels are more like spa treatments than a plastic surgery or cosmetic dermatology treatment. It will pamper you but do little else. These lunchtime peels are offered in a variety of locals from hair salons, to Medi-spa’s, doctor’s offices, spas and by estheticians and nurse practitioners. They became popularized in the media as a no down-time beauty treatment and since you can go right back to work after the peel many women want to try it as a quick fix. The cost of these peels generally runs from $75 to $150 dollars depending on where you get it done. The cost of the peel verses benefits tell me that they are not worth the money. I would not get a lunchtime peel unless I was totally rich and looking for ways to spend more money on my beauty.
The glycolic peel is pretty much ineffective on deep lying problems like wrinkles, severe acne, fine lines and skin pigmentation problems such as age spots. For these types of problems, a deeper chemical peel such as a TCA peel or Obagi Blue Peel are generally recommended. TCA peels penetrate far deeper into the skin so as to have a more substantive effect, however they require downtime for healing and are a far different animal from the walk-in walk-out lunchtime peel. Real chemical peels are in a totally different league (and should not be confused with) the lunch time glycolic peel. Of the stronger chemical peels, the TCA peel is the one to get in my personal opinion. A stronger peel is quite serious and should be administered only by a reputable dermatologist or plastic surgeon. It also requires serious downtime to heal.
If I were that rich, I would get these lunch time glycolic acid peels as well as all the other luxury treatments on the spa menu! Since lunchtime glycolic acid chemical peels do smooth the topmost layer of the skin I would probably get them periodically but only if I had plenty plenty of money to blow. Pass me the winning lottery ticket please.