What's the Deal with the Peel?

There are many forms of exfoliation be it scrubs, microdermabrasion, hydradermabrasion and many more. Exfoliation provides fascinating results and can help improve the appearance of our skin. The best part is that there are countless forms that can even help the most sensitive of skins. However, the two primary forms are mechanical and chemical. What are the differences between the two? And more so, which one is better? Here is a summary to help clarify the subject.

All different types of exfoliation methods fall under either mechanical exfoliation or chemical exfoliation. The firs type, mechanical, is a means of exfoliating the skin using a tool or ingredients. The ingredients that can also cause mechanical exfoliation are facial scrubs that have oatmeal, rice bran, and many more. The friction produced cause the loosening of the dead skin found in the outermost layer of the skin, stratum corneum.

The types of tools that can cause mechanical exfoliation are a scrub head like Clarisonic, and more aggressive forms like a HydraFacial treatment that uses hydradermabrasion. It uses a patented tip that provides mechanical exfoliation facilitated by serums to provide a slip that makes it more comfortable on the skin. Microdermabrasion and Hydradermabrasion provide a deeper mechanical exfoliation removing more of the outer layers of the skin polishing it further than a scrub can.

The second method of exfoliation is a chemical exfoliation. Chemical exfoliation uses different substances that cause a chemical reaction stimulating cellular turnover to speed up and slough off the dead skin sitting on top. There are hydroxy acids, salicylic acid, retinol and enzymes, all which can provide a chemical exfoliation alone or a combination of more than one.

Different chemical peels target different types of skin concerns and work differently on the skin. PCA skin Peels are highly effective because they can be customized to deliver specific results depending on an individual’s particular concerns. They have a variety of peels that have a combination of ingredients alongside the main exfoliating ingredients to deliver a true blend. For example, the Sensi Peel offers TCA, which is trichloroacetic acid, combined with Lactic acid, which is an alpha hydroxy acid alongside other key ingredients that help soothe and hydrate the skin.

So which one is better? To obtain optimal skin health it is recommended to incorporate both methods of exfoliation. Mechanical exfoliation can help remove the outermost layer more quickly revealing fresher skin. Chemical exfoliation can help speed up cellular turnover and slough off the dead skin cells from within revealing healthier skin.

I suggest doing a combo treatment using the HydraFacial MD treatment to provide that mechanical exfoliation with deep hydration to the skin. Then doing a PCA skin Peel a couple of weeks later to provide further exfoliation to brighten, tighten and lighten the complexion. Either treatment can help promote healthier skin on its own, or together they can amplify many results.