Refresh and Restore Your Skin With Chemical Peels
- Posted on: Dec 10 2018
When you hear “chemical peel,” do you instantly see images of someone with peeling, red, painful-looking skin? Images of tabloid alarmists cemented this idea in the public consciousness that chemical peels are terribly painful procedures that leave your face a mess. Well, we’re here to tell you that nothing could be further from the truth!
In fact, chemical peels are some of the most effective and popular procedures here at Azul Medical Spa. They are an integral component of many of our facials (like the HydraFacialMD or the Azul Platinum Facial). We also offer them as stand-alone treatments, at many different strengths, according to your specific needs.
What Do Chemical Peels Do?
Your skin, especially your face, is constantly braving the elements. You are constantly shifting it around, from smiling to frowning, to raising your eyebrows, to squinting your eyes. All this wear and tear can take its toll, especially as we start to get older and produce less collagen and elastin. Our skin just doesn’t recover the same way it used to, so how can we maintain a flawless complexion and healthy glow? Through exfoliation!
A chemical peel is a type of exfoliation. We can use chemical peels to dissolve the tonofilaments (microscopic fibers) that hold our skin cells together. This creates cellular turnover. While the body does this naturally, an exfoliating peel can speed the process up, getting rid of old skin cells and revealing the newer, fresher, healthier cells underneath.
One of the reasons that the painful red face is such a cliché is because there are lots of practitioners who aren’t particularly adept at giving chemical peels. They may take a “one size fits all” approach. While at Azul, we are experienced in many different peels. As professionally licensed aestheticians we have undergone extensive training and then continued specialty training working directly under the supervision of Dr. Flaharty.
What Can Chemical Peels Treat?
In Florida, our faces are exposed continuously to the sun. As a result, many people suffer from sun damage, resulting in a rough texture and reddish skin. A chemical peel can help correct this, breaking down the sun-damaged skin and replacing it with healthy, new skin cells. Chemical exfoliation has many other benefits as well, such as reducing the appearance of old scars, evening out irregular skin tone, shrinking enlarged pores and even minimizing surface-level wrinkles!
Chemical peels can also help with skin blemishes like blackheads and acne. If you have any stubborn blackheads or other debris just beneath the skin, a chemical peel can help “loosen them up,” allowing us to remove them. Chemical peels can also temporarily reduce the amount of oil that your skin produces, leading to a reduction in acne.
Different Kinds of Chemical Peels
Not all chemical peels are the same. Depending on the substances used and their concentrations, a chemical peel can be anything from a light scrub to a heavy exfoliation. This all depends on what results you are looking for and your skin’s sensitivity.
Three of the most common peels that we offer here at Azul are:
- The ViPeel
- The Vitalize Peel
- The Jessner Peel
- The Trichloroacetic Acid (TCA) Peel
ViPeels are some of the most popular peels due to the variety of strengths and the incorporation of a topical numbing agent, making them effective and virtually painless.
The ViPeel is formulated to remove the top layer of dry, dead skin allowing healthy, new, skin to show. It also stimulates the body’s natural production of Collagen, further improving skin texture and tone. Each peel takes less than 30 minutes and healing time is minimal. Peels target: rosacea; fine lines and wrinkles, hyperpigmentation and mild acne scars.
The Jessner Peel is a moderate peel that is one of the most popular at Azul. It can significantly improve the tone and texture of the skin, speeding cellular turnover. A Jessner Peel is considered by many to be the best “fit” for most people, as it’s not too strong and not too weak.
The Vitalize Peel is a combination of alpha hydroxy acids and retinoic acids. If you have sensitive skin, or you’ve never had a chemical peel before, this might be the best choice to start with. Its gentle exfoliation will help to reduce pore size and get rid of your dead skin cells and other debris.
If you want something stronger, you want to try the TCA Peel. This peel may result in the red, peeling skin we were talking about above, as it’s designed to reduce superficial pigmentation like sunspots, re-texturize the skin and minimize the appearance of surface wrinkles. That said, if done correctly, your skin should recover quickly, leaving you with a flawless complexion! TCA peels are often chosen as an alternative to a laser procedure.
There are a few things that you should keep in mind immediately following a chemical peel. First, the skin is the body’s first line of defense against UVA/UVB rays, so you will want to avoid the sun until your skin has fully recovered. If you are going out, make sure to use an effective sunscreen or sunblock, like one of our Azul SkinHealth sunscreens. You will likely need to avoid putting on makeup for the next day or so, especially if your skin is sensitive. Use moisturizers to keep the skin hydrated and help speed healing.
As you can see, you have nothing to fear from chemical peels. Certainly not when you have the professionals here in our Azul Medical Spa performing the procedures. Chemical Peels aren’t the only cosmetic procedures designed to improve your skin texture and tone that we have at our Medical Spa. We offer a number of mechanical exfoliation treatments, like microdermabrasion or dermaplaning. We also have both surgical and non-surgical laser skin resurfacing procedures here at Azul, including CO2 laser skin resurfacing, Fraxel laser skin rejuvenation, and our newest treatment, Halo laser treatment. If you’d like to learn more about all of these procedures, you can call us at (239) 415-7576 to book a free consultation. If you’d like more information about everything we have to offer at Azul, please visit our website at www.azulbeauty.com!
Tagged with: Azul Cosmetic Surgery and Medical Spa, Facial, facials, procedures
Posted in: Procedures