Shed Your Winter Skin and Revitalize Your Complexion with a Chemical Peel

Between the chapping wind and the indoor heat, your skin may have become dry and dull-looking to match the winter mood. We’ve got news for you — it doesn’t have to be this way.

Here at Med Physique Center for Aesthetics in Austin, Texas, our aestheticians recommend numerous beauty treatments to our clients to revitalize their complexions. That includes chemical peels, especially The Perfect Peel®, which we use in our office. Chemical peels are minimally invasive, treat a wide variety of skin problems, and can be tailored to your specific aesthetic goals.

How do chemical peels work?

All types of chemical peels use an acid solution applied to the skin to remove the top, dry and damaged layers, as well as dead skin cells and debris that dull the texture. In the process, they also remove the blemishes that develop in these layers.

Collagen is the most abundant protein in your body, and its fibrous shape forms a meshwork that gives your skin strength and suppleness. However, its production declines as you age, leading to wrinkles and sags. The chemical peel removes defunct collagen cells and triggers a round of new collagen production to repair the wounds the peel makes in your skin. This allows your skin to regain the glow, strength, and suppleness it had when you were young.

When to consider a chemical peel

In addition to revitalizing your winter complexion, chemical peels effectively treat a variety of other issues, including:

• Fine lines and wrinkles: smooth skin under eyes and around mouth
• Uneven skin tone: smooths it over
• Hyperpigmentation: destroy age spots, solar lentigines, and freckles
• Uneven pigmentation: address rosacea and melasma
• Acne breakouts: remove debris that clogs pores
• Skin texture: smooth out rough patches, acne scars
• Actinic keratoses: remove dry, crusty, precancerous lesions

However, chemical peels can’t address deep creases and facial lines, loose, sagging skin, pore size, or deep scars. For these, we offer other treatments, such as dermal fillers, laser resurfacing, or a brow lift.

Chemical peel strengths

The strength of a chemical peel depends on how deep the acid solution goes into your skin. The deeper the peel, the more issues it can address, but it comes with greater recovery time. There are three types.

1. Light (superficial) chemical peel

Superficial peels use either glycolic acid or salicylic acid to remove only the outermost skin layer, the epidermis. This type of peel addresses winter skin dryness and dullness, fine wrinkles, acne, and uneven skin tone. It’s unlikely you’ll need an anesthetic, and you can repeat the peel every 2-5 weeks, as needed.

2. Medium chemical peel

A medium peel uses trichloroacetic acid, sometimes in combination with glycolic acid. It not only removes cells from the epidermis, but it also removes parts of the upper dermis layer just beneath it. It's effective at treating uneven skin tone, and the burst of collagen production it triggers fills in deeper wrinkles, lines, and acne scars. Because this peel goes deeper, you may need a sedative and/or a painkiller to stay comfortable during the treatment. You can repeat a medium peel every 6-12 months, as needed.

3. Deep chemical peel

Deep peels use a carbolic acid (phenol) solution and penetrate the cells below the upper dermis layer. Deep peels are effective at treating deep wrinkles and scars, as well as removing precancerous growths. There’s no question a deep peel is invasive, so you’ll probably need a sedative along with a topical anesthetic. We’ll also give you IV fluids to prevent dehydration. Downtime can last 1-2 weeks, and deep peels are a once-in-a-lifetime event.

Tired of dull, dry, winter skin? Med Physique Center for Aesthetics can help revitalize your complexion with a chemical peel. To get started, give our office a call at 512-212-3142, or book a consultation online with us today