What is a glycolic peel?

If we could only look this good forever!

I was at work this morning and saw one of my regular glycolic peel clients.  When we finished and she left our receptionist asked, "what does a glycolic peel do?".  I explained very briefly that a "peel" removes the dead skin cells, helping your skin look younger.  She then said, "how come more people don't do this?".  

When we are young, our skin regenerates rather quickly, every two to three weeks on the epidermal level.  As we age and our skin is abused with our day to day living (such as sun, stress, pollution), the cell turnover slows down causing the dead skin layer at the surface to be thicker because old cells build up and stay on the surface longer. We loose moisture and start to notice signs of aging, fine lines, wrinkles, loss of elasticity, etc.  Because collagen production is less, the skin becomes thinner. Collagen and elastin begin to break down, causing the skin to lose its flexibility and resilience. Daily exposure to sunlight causes the amount of pigment in each cell to increase, producing freckles or age spots and uneven skin tone.

A glycolic peel will help fight the signs of aging, by increasing cell turnover, thus helping the skin look and feel younger.  To really see the difference in what a "peel" can do, you should start a scheduled program.  I usually suggest doing one a week for the first month, and then one time a month from then on.  I was recently asked this question:  "How come you don't have that line in between your eyebrows- and you are older than me?"  My answer:  "I have been taking great care of my skin, doing peels, and using Aveda skin care.  You can help reduce that line too- you just have to be committed to it."

So, why don't more people get glycolic peels?  I have no idea!