MEDICAL GRADE SKIN PEELS
MEDICAL GRADE SKIN PEELS
Reveal brighter healthier skin with our advanced nurse practitioners
Our skin peels can be tailored to your skin target your skin complaints
Reduce fine lines and wrinkles, congested dull skin, sun damage.
Administered in a clinical environment by qualified and registered nurse practitioners
What is a Medical Grade Chemical Skin Peel?
A chemical peel is a procedure where a chemo-exfoliant agent (can be gel, liquid or a mask) is applied to an area of the body (most commonly the face). The chemical peel sinks to the desired layer of the skin and stimulates peeling. This peeling eliminates surface skin with the aim of:
- Stimulating collagen and elastin
- Unifying skin tone
- Eliminating or softening wrinkles
- Reduce blemishes
- Improve appearance of scars
- Diminish pigmentation
- Close open pores
- Get rid of blackheads
- Purify the skin
What is the importance of skin peels?
There are many genetic and environmental factors that lead to the skin feeling dull, tired, congested, pigmented, dry, oily, inflamed, blemished, wrinkled and scarred amongst many other skin complaints that can make us feel less than fabulous. But why does this happen and why can skin peels help? Our skin goes through 6 week cycles, which means it takes a freshly new made skin cell six weeks to mature, make its way to the top of our skin and fall off. This is a process called exfoliation which happens naturally in our skin. However when skin is subjected to external factors such as moisturisers, physical exfoliants, UV rays, make-up, harsh cleansers and life in general, our natural skin barrier becomes compromised and weaken. This can lead to dryness, irritation clogged pores and an array of wonderful blemishes for us to endure. Applying cosmeceautical moisturisers, lotions and potions, hinders natural exfoliation over time by clogging the pores with trapped skin cells that should have naturally fallen off and sends signals to skin cells below that it is hydrated so no need to produce oil. Skin therefore becomes dry after cleansing, application of cosmeceautical moisturisers clogs pores and the cycle continues.
The lotions and potions that are made by cosmetic companies sold on the high street or in supermarkets, are only able to have substances that sink into the top layer of the skin (dead squashed compact skin) or sit on top and therefore have little to no effect on overall health of the skin as they are not medical devices (products that are able to skin into the layers of the skin). Physical exfoliants (such as those with beads, bits and abrasive pieces), brushes, gloves, dermaplaning and microdermabrasion cause micro-tears in the skin and can damage the skin compromising the skin barrier. Therefore the safest and most superior way of exfoliating the skin, is to either apply topical prescription/medical grade lotions or chemical skin peels.
Skin peels therefore, kick start exfoliation of the skin by increasing skin cell turnover and peeling the old skin to bring new decongested skin underneath. To see the full effects however, a course of 6 peels spread 2 weeks apart is required for the skin to have completed at least one cell maturation cycle.
It is important to note that for any real benefit from our topical products, the ingredients in the products should be fine enough to go through the skin barrier to make any significant changes in the skin. Pharmaceutical skin products are therefore more effective at delivering optimal results for the skin because the substances present in their products are classed as medical grade, meaning the products are ground smaller to travel into the correct layer of the skin.
What are the different types of skin peels?
There is a huge range of chemical skin peels, each with different functions to target specific skin complaints. Firstly, skin peels are categorised into 4 levels, depending on which layer of the skin the chemical peel reaches.
1 – Highly superficial (superficial stratum corneum)
2 - Superficial (epidermal to basal layer)
3- Medium (papillary dermis) – MEDICAL GRADE
4 – Deep (reticular dermis)
Our Kita-Aesthetics nurse practitioners administer up to level 3 chemical skin peels, including medical grade skin peels.
Chemical skin peels are also categorised into different types of chemical; substance that is used
- AHA
- BHA
- TCA
Depending on the depth the skin peel reaches in the skin, usually determines the amount of peeling one would experience, however this varies from person to person. In general, the deeper the peel the more peeling.
For optimum results of each peel, there are be protocols that should be followed. It is essential to prepare the skin, prior to a peel. There are products which can be used for two weeks to prep the skin before hand or the option of having a pre-peel peel which is a superficial peel. This ensures that the skin is degreased and ensure maximum and even penetration of the chemical skin peel.
TCA Peel:
TCA is the abbreviation of Tricholoracetic Acid. It is a chemo-exfoliant that acts on skin protein and triggers the activity of fibroblasts and the macromolecules n the extracellular matrix. It is a very aggressive skin peel and therefore can only be used on Fitzpatrick types 1-3.
15% TCA – Indicated for stage II and III stage wrinkles, fine lines and moderate photo-aging. Fantastic for skin dullness, superficial acne scars and comedogenic acne. This peel is a level 2.5 therefore goes deep into the basal layer of the skin.
35% TCA – Indicated for stage III to stage IV skin aging, advanced photoaging, medium to deep wrinkles, skin dullness, dyschromia and superficial acne scars. This is a level 3 skin peel therefore works in the papillary dermis, therefore the epidermis is completely removed after the whole peeling stage which is then renewed until fully regenerated. Excellent peel for aged skin and blackhead removal.
