There are many ways in which day to day living, ongoing wear and tear, and the natural aging process can affect the look and overall resilience of your skin. Despite the expansive range of injectable cosmetics that are designed to instantly turn back the hands of time, one of the absolute best methods for naturally rejuvenating your complexion is by relying upon its inherent healing abilities. Chemical peels do exactly this. This procedure breaks down damaged and dead skin cells to reveal the bright, healthy skin beneath. In so doing, it triggers a natural healing response that includes the rapid proliferation of new skin cells, and significant increases in the production of essential, skin-supporting substances like collagen. These are just a few of the many reasons why facial peels have long been popular among appearance-conscious San Francisco residents.
How a Chemical Peel is Performed
During this treatment, a mild, acid-based solution is applied directly to the surface of the skin. Depending upon the type of peel being performed and the targeted peel depth, this solution may be cleaned off after several minutes, or it may be left in place until it is fully absorbed. Once the application process is complete, a soothing moisturizer will be applied. This product will not only pamper the skin as it reacts to the peel, but it will also offer protection from the sun. Patients are then given special after-care instructions and sent home. The topical agent used in this procedure will gradually break down the topmost layers of skin over the days that follow treatment.
Issues a Chemical Peel Can Correct
The benefits of a facial peel are numerous. When a light peel is performed, only the very top layers of the skin will be broken down by the acidic, topical application. Apart from at-home exfoliation, this is skin resurfacing at its mildest and most effective. Eliminating damaged or dead skin cells at the surface layers will allow the much healthier, new skin cells beneath them to shine through. This has a virtually instant, brightening effect on the entire complexion. Beyond merely getting a youthful glow, however, patients can also expect to see a significant decrease in superficial blemishes over time. Dark spots, sun spots, melasma, and any other issues with hyperpigmentation will slowly start to fade. Within weeks of treatment, most San Francisco patients see considerable improvements in overall skin tone.
There are also a number of textural issues that these procedures can address. As damaged skin layers are eroded away, the body begins working overtime to rebuild its protective covering. As new skin cells are produced at a significantly more rapid rate, fine lines and wrinkles will become less noticeable, and enlarged pores will look far smaller. When facial peels are performed at a greater depth, these procedures can even help minimize the appearance of deep and pitted acne scars.
How Your Skin Will Respond to a Facial Peel
While your body works hard to repair itself from the controlled, surface-level damage that a chemical peel is designed to cause, your skin will be bolstering its own defenses as well. Non-invasive facial rejuvenation treatments like chemical peels have the impressive ability to incite a major increase in normal collagen production. This in turn makes treated skin more elastic, resilient, and all-around youthful-looking over time. Moreover, for people who are starting to notice volume loss in the midface, the peel process can help delay or slow this more advanced stage of facial aging.
Make Your Skincare Products Work Better
One lesser-known benefit of the facial peel is its ability to enhance the overall efficacy of skincare products. This is great news for San Francisco locals whose favorite cleansers, toners, and moisturizers haven’t been delivering the same results that they used to. Once layers of dead and dry skin have been stripped away, these products can deliver their active ingredients, and all of the essential and skin-supporting nutrients that they contain down to the deepest levels of the dermis, which is often where they’re needed most.
Understanding the Healing Process for Chemical Peel Procedures
The depth of a facial peel will ultimately determine the length of the healing process. For a light peel, people can expect to experience a slight lightening or darkening of the treated skin for a period of one to seven days. With mid-depth peels, the healing process can take up to two full weeks. Throughout much of this time, the skin may appear red and tight. Deep facial peels, which are frequently performed to minimize the evidence of advanced aging and severe acne scarring, can require one or more months of healing, depending upon the topical agent used and the individual’s natural healing abilities.
Chemical Peels Have Evolved Throughout the Years
Although this popular, skin renewal procedure has been around for ages, it has become much more gentle and soothing to the skin in recent years. Peeling of the skin is not actually a huge or painful issue given that dead and damaged skin will naturally slough away on its own. In fact, patients are often advised against using exfoliation tools or other abrasive products to expedite this painless, post-treatment process. It should also be noted that all patients are sent home with comprehensive skincare kits that are designed to help them protect and pamper their skin as it heals. Rather than being aggressive in the effort to produce rapid and remarkable results, these treatments trigger natural skin repairs while supporting the skin in its efforts to gradually heal itself.
When Should You Get a Chemical Peel?
Chemical peels are the perfect procedure for anyone who is looking to improve the overall texture and tone of the skin. This treatment can balance out dark spots and other areas of discoloration, minimize the appearance of mild acne scars, and reduce the size of enlarged pores. It also has the ability to minimize superficial wrinkles and fine lines, particularly at the brow, and at the mouth and eyes. Peels that are performed at a greater depth are able to address more serious skin issues, including some forms of deep and pitted facial scarring.
Get in Touch with Us for More Information
To learn more about our chemical peels and what they can do for you, we warmly encourage you to reach out and make an appointment with Urban Allure. At our convenient location in San Francisco, our caring and dedicated team of professionals will be pleased to explain this option to you in greater detail and answer any questions you may have. Contact us today to set up your consultation – we look forward to speaking with you!
