The Story Behind Chemical Peels
Chemical peels are one of the oldest cosmetic treatments for skin exfoliation. In fact, their use dates back to ancient Egypt when Cleopatra and Romans used foods acids to peel their skin. At the turn of the century, both European and American woman underwent a non-medical form of the treatment performed in salons using a secret formula. The original ingredient was lactic acid; the active ingredient in sour milk which was also used by nobles as part of their rejuvenation regime. By the time the Middle Ages rolled around, a bit of wine as well as some tartaric acids was also used.
Today, most chemical peels contain alpha hydroxy acids.
Modern Times
Over time, those early practitioners began to develop systems that would allow for differing depths of peel, but it wasn’t until the 1960’s that a team by the name of Baker and Gordon came up with a deep peeling agent that was able to work especially well around the mouth, smoothing the deeper furrows there.
Skin Care Regiments
The chemical peel continues to grow in popularity as more and more applications are found for its implementation. However, there is still a fair amount of misunderstanding that surrounds this procedure and prevents many people from enjoying the benefits. Generally, the chemical peel can be divided into a variety of categories that are based on the degree of penetration. For example, the medium peel will extend through the layer of the epidermis to the top portion of the dermis. As such, this variation is designed for those that wish to achieve significant results with acne scarring and moderate facial wrinkling.
The more superficial peel uses compounds derived from food products like sugar cane, sour milk, apples, fruits, and even grape wine. Generally speaking, the more superficial peel has lower concentrations of alpha-hydroxy acids that only work on the uppermost layer of skin.
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