Good Acid
Where do I begin writing about “Good Acid”. There are so many acids to explore. The acid inside our bodies, and the acid we put onto our bodies. Acids used within the beauty industry are often misunderstood and can sound a bit scary for some people. We use professional grade acids to preform facial peels and there are various acids to choose from.
Peel solutions may contain alpha hydroxy acids, tricholoracetic acid (TCA) or phenol, the peel “depth” or the number of skin layers removed, is determined by both solution ingredients and concentration.
Generally, the most superficial peels are those using alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) such as glycolic acid. Often just a single treatment with an AHA peel will give your skin a fresher, healthier appearance and a radiant glow. Repeated treatments can help to further improve the texture of your skin. AHA peels can reduce the effects of aging and sun damage including fine wrinkling and brown spots.
A chemical peel treatment carried out in salon s a skin resurfacing technique in which a chemical solution is applied to the face to remove the outer surface layers of skin, allowing new, healthier skin to emerge. Chemical peels come in a range of strengths, from a deeper Phenol Peel to more superficial peels, such as a Glycolic Acid peel. At Beauty Haven we use mesoestetic peels, the range includes glycolic,lactic, salicylic and mandelic acids to the use of premixed combined peels.
The peel involves the application of a solution to the entire face or to specific areas to peel away the skin’s top layers. Several light to medium-depth peels can often achieve similar results to one deeper peel treatment, with less risk and shorter recovery time.
In most cases we use the following acids for specific skin conditions:
Best for Hydration
Lactic Acid is particularly suited to flaky skins and/or those displaying early signs of wrinkles and skin raging. This acid will brighten and add luminosity to the skin.
Best for problematic skin
Salicylic acid Available in concentrations of 10%, 20% and 30% it is particularly recommended in the care of skins with impurities or acne problems as salicylic acid is a sebo-regulator, containing antiseptic, bacteriostatic and fungicidal properties.
Best for anti-aging
Glycolic Acid -Intensive care for skin, anti-aging treatment to reduce wrinkles or expression lines as well as nourish and hydrate.
The results of this treatment can include:
- Rejuvenated and brighter skin
- Revival of dull skin
- Removal of dead skin cells
- Even skin texture and tone
- Reduced appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
- Smoother, softer skin
- Eliminated pigmentation and reduced effects of sun damage
- Reduction of inflammation and breakouts caused by acne
- Hydrated and nourished skin
A Little info about the importance of Lactic acid within the body…….
Lactic Acid forms naturally in the body during exercise, and is produced by our skeletal muscles. It is present in some foods like yogurt, sourdough and even in beer and wine which forms during fermentation.
During exercise lactic acid builds up and can cause the burning sensation in the muscles. That’s your muscles screaming at you to stop and prevent severe muscle damage, forcing you to slow down as you are running low on oxygen. Don’t you love it when your body talks to you.?
A paper from a university in New Zealand showed that lactic acid is “Good” for you, it is the most efficient fuel that your muscles need especially for exercise. Before commencing an exercise programme with my gym buddy Gillian we looked into Interval training, just in case you aren;t sure what interval training is , this means to exercise so fast that you get out of breath, then slow down to recover your breath and commence exercise quickly again to get out of breath again. After a warm up on the thread mill for 10 minutes, slow walking to start and then walking at a quick pace, followed by a short burst for one minute at heavy duty running and then slow back down to walking. We repeated this every two minutes until timer stopped. We also do this at the end of our workout to cool down. This form of exercise training spikes the heart rate and burns calories quicker.
Research states that any form of exercise helps to prevent cancers, and heart attacks. Interval training may be even more effective in preventing these two conditions because it helps to lower high blood sugar levels more effectively than continuous training. This is because our cells are more sensitive to insulin. Vigorous exercise increases the number, size and efficiency of mitochondria in your muscle cells. Mitochondria turn the food that you eat into energy. Muscle cells need a lot of energy so they have lots of mitochondria. During intense exercise we don’t get enough oxygen into our bodies hence we get out of breath, this then increases the number, size and efficiency of mitochondria in cells everywhere in your body preventing weight gain, diabetes, heart attacks and certain cancers.
Always consult a General Practitioner before commencing any form of fitness training.
If you are interested in discussing a facial peel please give us a call and we’d be happy to discuss this with you.