How Often To Get Chemical Peels
The quest for the best beauty treatments to give you smooth, even, and clear skin is always an active search, with advancements in the latest and greatest procedures developing to address all types of skin concerns, types, and tones.
Chemical peels are a beauty treatment that has been used for decades, but has evolved to target different skin concerns with varying levels of exfoliation and intensity. As a skin care treatment, chemical peels are meant to smooth, even, and resurface the skin to reveal layers of a new, soft, and clear complexion underneath.
Chemical peels are an intense form of exfoliation that results in the resurfacing of the top layer of the skin to lessen the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, discoloration, uneven pigmentation, as well as other skin concerns.
There are different variations of chemical peels that are available on the market, and each version can also be customized to target your specific concerns and cater to your skin type.
Whether you are having a light or intense chemical peel treatment done, however, each version requires its own amount of downtime, as well as time between having another chemical peel treatment administered.
So, how often should you get chemical peels as part of your beauty treatment routine? Based on the intensity of the peel, as well as how your skin reacts to the procedure, it will determine how often you should get a chemical peel. The lighter peels can be performed as often as once a month, medium peels every four months, and intense peels only one time in general.
Below we discuss the differences between the types of chemical peels, what each treatment requires, as well as how often you should be doing this type of beauty treatment.
What Is A Chemical Peel?
Chemical peels are a beauty treatment that use a chemical solution to exfoliate the skin deeply and thoroughly. Through the deep exfoliation, it removes layers of the skin toe reveal new, even layers of the skin for a brightened and smoothed complexion.
The chemical solution is able to penetrate the skin at a deeper level than a manual exfoliator, like a facial scrub, to target a variety of skin concerns.
There are a range of various types of chemical peels available that suit different skin types and skin concerns to provide the best treatment for your specific needs. The different types of chemical peels often have a variety of intensity and exfoliation levels to target your skin concerns to provide the desired results.
With each level of different intensity or exfoliation, the recovery time will vary as well as how soon after you will be able to plan another beauty treatment, whether it be another peel or another treatment entirely.
Chemical peels can also often be referred to as dermapeeling, and are to be performed by a professional.
If you’d like to see the process, take a look at this video from Cool Springs Plastic Surgery on YouTube.
Benefits Of Chemical Peels
As with most cosmetic beauty treatments, there is a host of benefits that result from having a chemical peel performed. Depending on what your are looking to address with your skin concerns, most likely a chemical peel can contribute to providing a solution for your skin’s needs.
Chemical peels are a beauty treatment that can be available and suitable for any skin type, because there are different levels of intensity that can address most skin concerns.
For example, chemical peels are ideal for evening out discoloration or hyperpigmentation. If you are looking to even out your skin tone due to areas of discoloration, chemical peels are able to exfoliate away layers of the skin to help the specific areas to leave a brightened complexion overall.
Discoloration can stem from hyperpigmentation due to sun damage, acne scars, melasma, or other areas of texture on the skin, and chemical peels work to eliminate the uneven tone to provide more clarity to the skin’s appearance.
The deep exfoliation also helps to smooth the texture of the skin by sloughing off rough patches, dry spots, or build up of dead skin cells that can contribute to the skin looking dull. The intensity of the chemical peels eliminates the areas of texture on the skin to reveal new, smooth layers of skin. The complexion is left looking supple and bright.
Along with smoothing the texture of rough patches on the skin, chemical peels are also ideal for reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. As a resurfacing treatment, the chemical peels work to reveal new layers of skin, resulting in the texture created from fine lines to be reduced and skin to appear smoother.
Based on the skin concerns you are looking to address, it will determine the type of chemical peel that is best suited for your needs.
Types Of Chemical Peels
As mentioned above, there are a variety of chemicals peels that offer different levels of exfoliation which will reveal different results based on your skin concerns.
The different types of chemical peels fall into four categories with varying levels of intensity: AHA peels, BHA peels, TCA peels, and Phenol peels. The different levels of the peels will target different concerns, as well as be better suited for different skin types and skin tones.
AHA and BHA peels are categorized as being a “light” peel, as they do not penetrate the deep layers of the skin like the more intense peels.
The lighter peels will work to target the surface layer of the skin, and are typically composed of different types of acids, such as Alpha Hydroxy Acids or Beta Hydroxy Acids. If you are looking to address mild texture, fine lines, mild discoloration, or acne, a light AHA or BHA peel would be the ideal solution for you.
As a medium peel, TCA chemical peels are developed with trichloroacetic acids that can also be combined with certain other acids for the best results. TCA peels are perfect for deeper wrinkles, acne scars, and discoloration.
Phenol peels are an intense, deep level peel that penetrates to the deep layers of the skin to provide long-lasting and dramatic results. Phenol peels also require more downtime for recovery, due to the intensity of the peel.
How Often To Get Chemical Peels?
Based on the type of chemical peel you are getting, and the concerns that you are targeting, how frequently you can have a chemical peel done again will vary. The different levels of the peels require different amounts of downtime to recover, as well as different amounts of time to in between treatments.
Light AHA or BHA chemical peels are recommended to be done once a month, to once every 6 weeks. Medium peels, or TCA peels, can be done once every four to six months, based on your skin type and needs.
Deep, intense peels, like a Phenol peel, is recommended to be done once in a lifetime, as it can leave transformative results, or potentially once every two or three years.
When To Avoid Chemical Peels
While chemical peels can suit almost any skin type and concern, there are instances when you should avoid having the treatment done.
Most commonly, chemical peels should be avoided if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. If you have undergone recent medical treatment for chemotherapy or radiation, it is best to avoid chemical peels as well.
Due to the intense peeling of the treatment, if you are also on acne medication that also deal with strong exfoliation of the skin chemical peels are recommended to be avoided. Other instances where you will need to avoid chemical peels include having frequent outbreaks of cold sores, along with having autoimmune disorders or vitiligo.
As with most beauty treatments, it is best to avoid excess sun exposure when recovering from a chemical peel to prevent any irritation or negative reaction.
It is best to schedule your chemical peels outside of the summer months, as you want to minimize the sun exposure your skin will experience while recovering from your peel.
As this is a resurfacing treatment that reveals new layers of the skin, after a chemical peel the skin is exposed and heightened in sensitivity, that should not be exacerbated by harmful sun exposure.
If you have concerns about whether you can undergo a chemical peel treatment, it is best to discuss it with the professional who would be administering your peel to see the best course of action.
Conclusion
If you are looking to add a beauty treatment to your skin care regimen but are not sure where to start, a chemical peel can be a good start into getting the results you are looking for.
With the varying levels of intensity, you can determine what type of peel would be the best option, based on your needs and skin type. No matter what level of intensity you are after, though, the chemical peels can also be customized to suit your preferences, while delivering the proper results.
Each level of peel, from light to intense, requires its own set of downtime to recover due to the resurfacing nature of the treatment. However, once the recovery is complete the results will be a smooth, soft, and bright complexion.
Related Articles
Beauty Services List – What’s Worth The Cost And What Isn’t?
