Chemical Peels: Benefits and challenges of this beauty and skincare treatment

Dark cloudy days of monsoons are a good time to ask your dermat about suitable skin peels for your skin type and age as in the treatment of chemical peels, a mix of chemicals is applied on your skin. The chemicals work evenly to remove the top layers of skin and reveal the smooth, even skin texture, reduce blemishes and pigmentation and even remove some signs of ageing.

In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Chaitanya Nallan, Co-Founder and CEO of SkinKraft Laboratories, revealed, “Chemical peel treatments involve applying a chemical solution to your facial skin. Eventually, when you peel off the dried chemical layer, it eliminates the blistered top layer of the skin along with the dead skin, sebum, and dirt build-ups. The new skin that shows up after chemical peeling usually has lesser wrinkles and blemishes.”

Gushing over its benefits, he said, “Chemical peels are effective in treating fine lines, wrinkles, acne scars, melasma, age spots, freckles, and other manifestations of sun damage and aging.” However, he cautioned, “Chemical peels may not be a promising option when you have severe wrinkles, sags, and bulges in the skin. Your skin may become sensitive to the sun for a short period of time after chemical peel treatment. Hence, you need to apply sunscreen with a broad spectrum every 2-3 hours during the daytime.”

Asserting that depending on the skin condition, type and goal of the treatment, dermatologists determine the depth of the chemical peel, Chaitanya Nallan said, “You may need to avoid applying products containing retinol, glycolic acid, salicylic acid, etc. from a few days before the treatment. However, most people experience a slight burning and stinging sensation for a few minutes during chemical peel treatment. In such cases, the application of a cool compress can soothe the skin.”

The new universal favourite, chemical peels, are absolutely safe and work wonders if applied in correct way and quantity. Bringing her expertise to the same, Utkarsha Chawdhary, Beauty and Training expert at Boddess, shared, “Chemical Peels can range from at-home products to professional derma treatments. Talking about at-home peels they usually treat epidermis/outermost layer as they have lower concentration. Chemical Peels at home products helps in deep exfoliation by destroying dead skin cells and treating the concern.”

She added, “Chemical Peels are always concern specific. So always choose the chemical ingredient which will help the skin with the concern we wish to correct. Its observed for people with mild acne and blemish concern enjoy chemical peel with combination of salicylic acid and AHA. This a magic combination for acne prone skin. Always do a patch test, little tingling is absolutely fine but intense rash should be treated by dermatologist.”

Adding to the list of benefits of chemical peel, Utkarsha Chawdhary insisted that they should not be used more than once a week as the thumb rule is go slow and revealed:

1. Chemical peels work wonders on your top layer and exfoliate the dead skin much better than general exfoliation.

2. Better exfoliation will trigger collagen production and your skin will be more fresh and bouncy.

3. Issues related to pigmentation can be treated way better with chemical peels.

4. Most importantly, chemical peels will expedite cell regeneration process and hence your general skincare will work better on your skin.