What you need to know before having peels

We would like to share a great blog by Jonathon Pritchard from Guinot Australia on In Salon Peels, as not all peels are equal and great care needs to be taken with the skin afterwards. Good quality home care and the use of a  sunscreen afterwards is so important!

“Peels can be fantastic tools for great skin results, if treated with respect. Some peels (glycolic peels) are great for the skin and safe to use, but not all of the peels are safe, some of these peels are very strong, if you don t treat your skin safely enough after these kind of peels your skin can get sensitive and other problems will occur.

I think peels are way over prescribed these days. It reminds me hearing in the news how doctors over prescribe antibiotics and the problems that has created. I wonder what problems are we creating in the long run with all the peels that people are having?

Peels are not THE solution to all skin problems. And certainly,not the only solution. Peels should not be done long term. For any skin. And most importantly, peels should not be done without a thorough consultation and a complete commitment to preparing the skin at least two week before the peel.

If you are considering peels, your skin needs to be hydrated and in good condition to withstand the treatment without long-term damage. This means using quality skin care every day to get it into top condition. And if you don’t like to wear sunscreen, or you forget to wear it every day, forget about the peels, and for that matter any other invasive treatments such as lasers, microdermabrasion or needling. Peels thin the skin, making it more exposed to the damaging effects of the sun. So you absolutely must get in the habit of wearing a strong sunscreen every day first.

If you are treating certain conditions, pigmentation for example, you need to be using a tyrosinase inhibitor (serum with vitamin C and/or niacinamide) for at least two weeks before you commence your course of peels to get good results.

There are many other considerations, this is why a thorough consultation is essential before you do peels, your skin may not be ready, and may need other treatments to get it into optimum condition first. There are also many contraindications to peels that your therapist needs to go through with you.

After a course of peels, one or two a year as maintenance is fine, and in between, you should have facials on a monthly basis that focus on rebuilding a healthy skin, loaded with vitamins, minerals, peptides, cell communicating ingredients, anti-inflammatory, anti-MMP, anti-glycation and of course antioxidant ingredients for your skin type and skin concerns”