The Glycolic Peel
Each month, in conjunction with Kaya Skin Clinics, our courageous correspondent will venture to the frontiers of male grooming and bring you a full report.
Each month, in conjunction with Kaya Skin Clinics, our courageous correspondent will venture to the frontiers of male grooming and bring you a full report.
Why get one
Acid peels give you smoother, better toned skin. They were Cleopatra’s secret, she would bathe in sow’s milk, full of lactic acid. Since your skin gets patchy with age, peels can normalise the differentiation, which is why it’s best to get a lab-tested glycolic peel than a fruit peel—fruit peels, like all home remedies, don’t tend to be as even in acid concentration.
Which kind to get
Start with either a glycolic peel (based on a sugarcane extract) or a salicylic peel (based on a winter tree bark extract). They’re mild but effective. A medium depth peel would lead to visible peeling of the skin. Deep peels are impossible with Indian skin, since it leads to pigmentation.
What happens
First comes the face inspection—you put your head in a box, they snap on the ultra-violet lights and your reflection looks like a relief map of greasy and dry parts. (Well, mine did—I have combination skin). Then a nice lady in a white coat lies you down in a chair and applies burning acid to your face, while fanning you with a book. If it burns too much in one section, she neutralises it with a jet of cool solution. That’s how it goes—burning, cool jet, fan—for about two minutes.
What it feels like
A million hot ants nibbling away at your epidermis. You want to itch your face off or plunge it into ice water. How Cleopatra put up with a bath of this, I have no idea.
How it works
It dissolves your epidermis right down to your upper dermis, the first level of skin that regenerates new skin cells. Without acid, it’d take three weeks for the old epidermis to shed, and then unevenly. With a peel, it takes a couple of minutes. But you need to go back for a few more sittings to get the full effect.
Why get one
Acid peels give you smoother, better toned skin. They were Cleopatra’s secret, she would bathe in sow’s milk, full of lactic acid. Since your skin gets patchy with age, peels can normalise the differentiation, which is why it’s best to get a lab-tested glycolic peel than a fruit peel—fruit peels, like all home remedies, don’t tend to be as even in acid concentration.
Which kind to get
Start with either a glycolic peel (based on a sugarcane extract) or a salicylic peel (based on a winter tree bark extract). They’re mild but effective. A medium depth peel would lead to visible peeling of the skin. Deep peels are impossible with Indian skin, since it leads to pigmentation.
What happens
First comes the face inspection—you put your head in a box, they snap on the ultra-violet lights and your reflection looks like a relief map of greasy and dry parts. (Well, mine did—I have combination skin). Then a nice lady in a white coat lies you down in a chair and applies burning acid to your face, while fanning you with a book. If it burns too much in one section, she neutralises it with a jet of cool solution. That’s how it goes—burning, cool jet, fan—for about two minutes.
What it feels like
A million hot ants nibbling away at your epidermis. You want to itch your face off or plunge it into ice water. How Cleopatra put up with a bath of this, I have no idea.
How it works
It dissolves your epidermis right down to your upper dermis, the first level of skin that regenerates new skin cells. Without acid, it’d take three weeks for the old epidermis to shed, and then unevenly. With a peel, it takes a couple of minutes. But you need to go back for a few more sittings to get the full effect.
