There are plenty of ways to build glycolic acid-based products into your routine. The best way to determine which works best for you, is to determine why you’re interested in using glycolic acid in the first place. Here are some ways this powerhouse ingredient can be put to good use:
Glycolic acid helps to reduce acne scarring and inflammation
To help fight acne-prone skin, find yourself a good cleanser that contains glycolic acid. We recommend using this cleanser daily either in the morning or just before bed. Avoid using it more than once a day - a little often goes a long way.
Clean your skin with your glycolic acid cleanser of choice thoroughly, as you would with any standard facial cleanser. For those looking to pack an extra punch, follow with a glycolic peel toner, like L’Oréal Paris Revitalift Laser Renew Anti-Ageing Glycolic Peel Pads, daily for six weeks.
If you’re not noticing the changes you were hoping for, simply stop treatments for a couple of weeks to give your skin a break and then start a second round of treatment. You can repeat this same treatment until your skin’s inflammation goes down. If you do repeat your treatments, giving your skin a break between treatment periods is essential to keep your skin’s natural oils intact. The last thing you want to do is strip your skin of its ability to protect your itself from free radicals and harmful bacteria.
If you’re more focused on solving acne scarring than actual inflammation, there’s no need to adhere to a daily schedule. Committing yourself to a light glycolic acid peel routine once or twice a week will help to reduce scarring and give your skin a healthy glow.
Glycolic acid has a range of anti-aging benefits…
Building glycolic acid-based products into an anti-ageing routine couldn’t be simpler. There are a wide range of anti-ageing products that have jumped on the glycolic acid bandwagon, and for good reason.
As mentioned above, when glycolic acid is absorbed into the skin, it makes quick work of separating the ties that hold dead skin cells together. This then helps to give your skin a smoother, more youthful appearance. Once skin cells are separated, glycolic acid help to dissolve the layer of dead skin. This in turn helps to gently exfoliate, while unclogging pores and allowing new skin to breath.
Beyond allowing fresh skin to rise to the surface, glycolic acid aids in minimising discolouration – a common sign of ageing skin – and helps to stimulate the fresh growth of natural wonder protein: collagen. Now, you’re starting to see why we rave about this miracle molecule.
Applying glycolic acid little and often is favoured over a more extreme approach, and the best way to work glycolic acid into your anti-ageing routine is to add in a simple, low-dose product daily. Incorporating your favourite glycolic acid containing product into your daily routine takes the guesswork out of counting what day of the week your treatment falls on. It also saves a costly visit to the dermatologist or medispa for a routine chemical peel.
Glycolic acid helps to exfoliate and fight dryness…
If you’re less concerned about acne or wrinkles but find yourself with pesky dry patches or unevenness that you’d like to treat, consider glycolic acid an easy ally to the cause.
We’ve already mentioned all the ways that glycolic acid works to slough off dead skin cells, but did we mention that it also helps to attract moisture from the air, coaxing it into the skin to increase hydration and minimise any additional dryness? Amazing, right? Not only that, but it’s a great product to use in the morning in the form a cleanser or serum because it helps to prep your skin for other product use. It sets your skin up for smearing on your favourite moisturiser and even smoothes your skin, ready for your makeup application.
To use it for exfoliation, consider using it in conjunction with a secondary moisturiser. L’Oréal Paris Revitalift Laser Renew Home Peel Kit can be used for a multitude of benefits, including exfoliation and hydration.
The kit contains L’Oréal Paris’s Revitalift Laser Renew Anti Ageing Glycolic Peel Pads and L’Oreal Paris’s Laser Renew Advanced Anti Ageing Care SPF 20. The former of the two products contains ready-to-use glycolic acid pads that are perfect for incorporating daily exfoliation into your routine. The second product is all about protecting your fresh new skin cells from the harmful effects of UVA/UVB rays. This cream is enriched with a 3% concentration of Pro-Xylane™ and LHA, all wrapped up in a triple action formula that when combined helps to refirm, refine, and shield your skin from damage. A kit like this is perfect for daily use. We’re pretty sure you’ll notice a transformation in your skins luminosity and smoothness in no time at all.
What to consider when using glycolic acid
Beyond these more specific routines, there are a few other things you might like to consider when choosing the glycolic product that works best for your skin type. Night creams should be progressively applied. Begin using them once a week, followed by every 3 nights if your skin responds well to the initial inclusion in your regimen. Peeling treatments can be applied once or twice a week for a gentle, exfoliating action. They don’t necessarily need to be used every single day to be effective. In many cases, less is more. Dermatologists use higher concentrations of glycolic acid (20 to 70%) to remove several layers of skin over a short, set period of time. In your at home products, lower concentration glycolic acid products used over a more frequent period of time have been shown to be just as effective. It’s all about what works best for you, your skin type, and your routine