Now if you are pregnant and want to use glycolic acid then make sure that you contact your obstetrician and ask about using AHA’s. In general using the mild form of glycolic acid with 10% concentration is absolutely safe during pregnancy.

During pregnancy a lot of hormonal changes take place and it impacts the way we take care of our skin. There are a lot of things you need to be careful about during pregnancy especially things related to skin care and beauty products. Chances are that there beauty products which may have some chemical ingredient which may be harmful during pregnancy.

Do not use the chemical exfoliants and try to use a gentle scrub.

You can sue moisturizers and cleansers which are referred as noncomedogenic.

Avoid all creams that have retin-A or accutane.

Mechanical products and exfoliants are better as then you are not consuming any potentially harmful chemicals. However under supervision and obstetrician instructions you can go in for a cosmetic

Keeping your face clean is a must and that is why make sure that your wash your face twice daily with a gentle soap.

Tip:- Always check the pH level of the moisturizer that you are using because of the fact that the concentration of the glycolic acid is also dependent on the pH level of the acid. The lower the pH level of the acid and more will be the itchiness and higher pH level acids may not be very effective in exfoliation. The skin pH level is about 3.5 – 5.5 and your glycolic acid cream or cleanser should be very near to that .

Another tip: Salicylic acid is not recommended for pregnant women but they can use the AHA’s , glycolic acid and lactic acid.

Purpose of a regular moisturizer is to control the amount of liquid that reaches the deepest layer of the skin and also it attracts the moisture from the air and then hydrates the uppermost skin layer called the epidermis. This helps as then your skin can be less oily or less dry.

Now if you are considering using the glycolic acid moisturizer then you will also get and added benefit that glycolic acid provides and that it will act as an exfoliating agent.

The glycolic acid has the ability to penetrate the skin because of its small molecular structure and then break away the dead skin cells from the upper layer and bring the fresh layer from beneath.

The glycolic acid moisturizer most common brands that are available in the market are

Peter Thomas Roth Glycolic Acid Moisturizer

Reviva Labs Glycolic Acid Daytime Oily Skin Light Cream Moisturizer

Peter Thomas Roth Glycolic Acid Moisturizer 2.2 Ounce A luxurious moisturizing complex that uses a gentle, patented time-release form of glycolic acid to help produce a beautiful, fresh, youthful looking complexion. Advanced deep skin renewing action increases cell turnover to help diminish the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and other signs of…

Aqua Glycolic Face Cream, 2-Ounces Dermatologist recommended. Aqua Glycolic Face Cream gently removes the dead skin cells from rough, dry, sun-damaged skin; Smooths the appearance of fine lines and imperfections; and helps restore proper moisture balance. For all over body use.

Reviva – 10% Glycolic Acid Night Cream, 1.5 oz cream A higher percentage of glycolic acid for those whose skin has become accustomed to 5% Glycolic Cream. Excellent for aging, problem or sun-damaged skin.

(1 oz / 30 ml) GLYCOLIC Acid 70% Skin Chemical Peel – Unbuffered – Alpha Hydroxy (AHA) For Acne, Oily Skin, Wrinkles, Blackheads, Large Pores & More (from Skin Beauty Solutions) Glycolic acid works as an exfoliating agent because of its high acidity but easy solubility. When placed on the skin as part of an exfoliating cream or gel, glycolic acid goes under the damaged upper layers of skin and destroys the ‘glue’, which holds dead skin to the surface. As this dead skin is…

Moisturizers should be part of your prevailing beauty regime and they generally provide the ability to attract and retain moisture and the main benefit that they provide is that moist skin will not then have any sort of wrinkles or fine lines appearing. I am sure that you are using the moisturizer in your daily routine however replacing the regular moisturizer with glycolic acid moisturizer will help because of the fact that you will be able to get some exfoliation also done alongside.

The downside is that glycolic acid moisturizer may have some burning sensation because of the fact it has glycolic acid. Most of the glycolic acid moisturizers have 10% concentration of the acid and that is considered very safe for home use.

The basic steps that you need to perform before you can apply the moisturizer are

First step you need to cleanse the face with a cleanser

Then restore the skin balance with a toner

After that rinse thoroughly and dry the face.

Apply the glycolic acid moisturizer.

Tip: Always get to understand your skin type before you buy a moisturizer. Oily skin type demands an oil free moisturizers and dry skin demands a rich creamy moisturizer.

Now adding to that debate are the treatment toners like those with glycolic acid and the salicylic acid. These are definitely helpful as the glycolic acid can easily penetrate the skin and unclog the pores. This is definitely a plus from the plain vanilla toners as the they at least have the glycolic acid which helps in removing the dead skin cells.

Toner is definitely needed before you apply the glycolic acid creams so that the pH level is balanced.

This again leads to question as to how you will choose your toner.

Normal skin has a ph level between 4.5 and 6

If you have oily skin then you pH level will be more than 6 and if you have dry skin the pH level will be less than 4.5. So always buy a toner which will either increase or decrease the pH level based on your skin type.

In addition the glycolic acid will make sure that it penetrates the skin will unclog the pores.

The most common glycolic acid toners that are available are

Mario Badescu Glycolic Acid Toner

Reviva Labs Glycolic Acid Facial Toner

Remember that the glycolic acid toner will definitely have some tingling sensation than the regular toners and most of these contain the 10% concentration of the glycolic acid.

Glycolic acid as suggested in post about the glycolic acid cream is the fruit based AHA which can easily penetrate the skin and then break the bond that will loosen up the dead skin cells.

Cleansers with glycolic acid have the benefit that you can very easily have the benefit of removing the bad things on the skin as well as getting the glycolic acid to work to penetrate the upper skin surface and then removing the dead skin.

There are a lot of brands that are available in the Glycolic acid cleansers category and these are

Murad AHA/BHA Exfoliating cleanser – this also contains the salicylic acid as well as lactic acid.

DERMAdoctor Wrinkle Revenge 1 – This has the 12% glycolic acid and is claimed as the one which exfoliates the cellular build up.

Peter Thomas Roth Glycolic Acid 3% Facial Wash – Surprisingly this one has only 3% glycolic acid and that means that it can very easily the most gentle of the cleansers.

Glycolic Acid Facial Cleanser by Reviva Labs – This cleanser by Reviva Labs is soap free and oil free and is hydrophilic cleansers. Hydrophilic means that it is water activated and the best part is that is that it does not have any oils which means that there is a very good glycolic acid action on the skin.

M.D. Forte Facial Cleanser II, Soap-Free, Oil-Free with Glycolic Acid

The challenge with today’s skin care routine is that you have a lot of products to use especially if you have the acne or the wrinkles. Apart from makeup foundations, lotions and regular cleansers you will have the eye creams, deep wrinkle creams and a plethora of other products. That said there are challenges in using all of these in combination and hence it is always a good ideas to eliminate a few them and then go for the easy way out.

The easy way out is to use the pads and I have earlier told you about the ponds eye gel pads which are best for regular eye care. In fact there are a number of companies that are now bringing out cucumber eye pads which will help in using the natural thing cucumber rather than getting the cucumber and then cutting it out and using it.

Same is the case with glycolic acid pads. You can use them once or even twice and toss them away.

Concentration of glycolic acid pads. As opposed to prescription strength formulations that are available in the market with more than 10% concentration these glycolic acid pads only come with 10% concentration.

As far as the pads that are available in the market the most common ones are the

DCL glycolic acid pads – these are to be applied on clean skin and then set for 20 minutes. After use you will have to rinse the face. The instructions say that you will have to use these for three weeks for maximum benefit.

Peter Thomas Roth Max Complexion Correction Pads – These contain 10% glycolic acid and 2% salicylic acid.

Peter Thomas Roth Un- Wrinkle Peel Pads

DDF Glycolic 5% Daily Cleansing Pads

Dr. Denese Facial Firming Pads

In general it is reportedly very helpful for treatment of acne. The benefit that glycolic acid brings for the acne treatments is that easily penetrates the upper layers of the skin because of its small molecular structure and the removes the upper dead skin layers thereby being very effective in acne treatment.

What happens in people who have acne is that three different types of acne scars are formed and these are the atrophic, icepick and hypertrophic. These acne scars look very bad on the skin and also if you have to get them eliminated from the skin it is a tough time consuming process and that is why it is important that you use exfoliating agents like glycolic acid to remove the acne.

As I described in my earlier post about glycolic acid peel that there are three types of peels with varying concentration of glycolic acid peels that you will need to be careful about while buying the glycolic acid products.

Over the counter products or Peels

Now you can get the over the counter cleanser, glycolic acid creams as well as lotions with varying strengths. There are prescription strength glycolic acid peels available which have the concentration of more than 10%. No doubt that they are more effective in reduce the occurrence of acne as well as removing the acne scars however they may have more side effects than the normal glycolic creams. The glycolic acid will generally go underneath the upper layer and will also unclog the pores so that acne will not recur.

If you are interested in doing something more substantial than doing it at home then there are several spas and salon that offer the glycolic acid peel treatments. These spas follow a strict weekly regimen and you may require a few sessions before you can see the affects of acne.

There are several things that you should know about the glycolic acid treatments and these especially to be noted are

It will cause severe itching

It will induce redness and cause a burning sensation.

You will need to put on a sunscreen before going out in the sun as the skin is very supple after the peeling treatment.

Since glycolic acid has the small molecular structure that is why this works wonderfully well.

Benefits are that it stimulates the production of collagen and elastin fibers and that helps in making sure that wrinkles and the fine lines are definitely erased. It also helps in skin care conditions like the psoriasis, acne and dry skin.

There are a variety of glycolic acid products that are available in the market and these are

Facial Cleansers

Facial creams

Skin rejuvenation lotions

Gel wash

In general the companies that sell the glycolic acid products will sell the glycolic acid set which will contain the following and going by the costs of these buying the glycolic acid rejuvenating acid set makes economic sense

pH prepping solution – The benefit of this solution is that it lowers the pH level of the kin and hence it helps in penetration of the glycolic acid in to the skin easier.

Glycolic acid cleanser – This is important before you start applying the glycolic acid peel as then you can easily have the dirt and the grime removed from the face.

Glycolic acid peel with strengths varying from 30% to 70%.

Neutralizer – This is needed if you are doing the at home chemical peel and suddenly feel that you will not be able to tolerate the glycolic acid.

Moisturizer/Sunscreen – This is a must if as you do not want to expose the new skin to the sun.

An example of good glycolic acid lotion is the MD formulations Glycare Lotion.

Other Good brands include

Peter Thomas Roth Glycolic Acid 3% Facial Wash

M.D. Forte Facial Cleanser III

The way the glycolic acid peel works is that concentration of about 50% is used. These definitely are higher concentrations and you need to very careful when you are using these concentrations.

There are a lot of at home glycolic acid peels which are available over the counter and these formulation may have the concentration only up to 3-10% as these can then be easily managed at home.

How does it work?

This peel basically does the Exfoliation. Now exfoliation is a process by which the old dead skin cells are naturally removed and the newer looking skin come from beneath however that said the slow are at which exfoliation happens is given a boost with these external exfoliating agents.

The way to apply it is to use the sponge and apply on the targeted areas and the leave it there for a few minutes. The time for which this should be kept is again based on the kin of skin you have and you can get that confirmed by visiting a dermatologist.

The glycolic acid will penetrate the upper layer and loosen the bond that binds the upper dead skin to the lower layer. As the bond loosens the skin gives away the dead skin cells and you get a newer skin from below.

While using at home you can easily use this solution by cleansing the face and the applying the cleansing glycolic acid peel for some time and then rinsing off the solution. The total time may be up to 20 minutes. There will be mild burning or tingling sensation and then later you will have somewhat of a redness and or pink colored skin. It may take a while to go off and you cane easily use a makeup to make sure that it is not visible.

In general there are various strengths of glycolic acid peels that are used and these are

10% glycolic acid – This is the mildest form and can be sued at home

30% glycolic acid

50% glycolic acid

70% glycolic acid – Strongest form and is recommended to be used by professionals.

The benefit of applying glycolic acid is that it helps in reducing the acne conditions and also is very effective as an anti aging treatment. It also works very well in the hyper pigmentation conditions.

The glycolic acid in its pure form can be very dangerous and that is why for the facial wrinkles and acne a glycolic acid with a concentration of less than 10% is recommended. In fact anything more than that is highly dangerous. Think about it that glycolic acid in pure form is used for industrial purposes such as degreasing.

Benefits of glycolic acid

Glycolic acid is used as an exfoliation agent and moisturizer. The way it works is that gets under the upper layer of he skin and literally peels off the dead skin cells. You can the wash off the glycolic acid applied and the dead skin cells.

Since this acid is very strong a lot of manufactures of cosmetic creams using the glycolic acid generally do not use the concentration of more than 10%.

Once you have applied the glycolic acid cream the skin will look very sun burnt. This is because of the strong action of the acid. It does take several days to get the normal skin back and when the normal skin is back then the skin will look very smooth and you will get a youthful look.

Tip: – After applying the glycolic acid peel you need to make sure that you use sunscreen to shield the skin as they sun may cause damage to the newly exposed layers of the skin.