Hey everyone,
Well I started using DDF glycolic acid toner 10% one week ago and 3 days ago I started breaking out on my forehead (I rarely breakout there), and my usual places, chin and cheeks. Just wanted to know if anyone had similar experiences? Did anyone else have any breakouts? How long does this purging thing last? Does it really get worse before it gets better?
Or should I just save myself the drama and quit immediately?
I was hoping the gycolic acid would help fade marks and diminsh breakouts but I don't know....
Thanks a lot.
I am very curious about that too. I just purchased AHA alpha hyrox enhanced lotion. It has 10% glycolic acid in it too. I dont want to break out because I don't have acne anymore. I just want to treat red marks and scars. Did you use alot of it on your skin?? I'm thinking about just doing spot treat.
oh! Be so careful with that stuff! It was never meant to get into our hands, but lots of greedy skincare companies have pushed the FDA up against the wall and cut glyc and AHA into everything!!
Is this stuff that you are using OTC or from a dr.? All acids run a risk of more scarring if used too frequently...
AND, it will make you break out in places that you never did before as some mixtures contain "buffers" that can clog pores further. Some just bring out things that your bloodstream would normally carry away.
oh my gosh! i feel exactly the opposite. ever since i started using salicylic acid and glycolic acid (8% cream) its like my skin is like healing overnight. it gets rid of pimples, red marks, and all i have now are kind of big pores that look totally normal. i didnt break out at all either!
this can increase scarring ???? if used to frequently. do u have any more info about this ? like a web page i could read ? is that cuz it can inflame the skin ?? anyway i have gott a red face rgiht now from over using it. sure hope i dont get worse scars. like could u just say where u heard that and give more info ? thanks
this can increase scarring ???? if used to frequently. do u have any more info about this ? like a web page i could read ? is that cuz it can inflame the skin ?? anyway i have gott a red face rgiht now from over using it. sure hope i dont get worse scars. like could u just say where u heard that and give more info ? thanks
this can increase scarring ???? if used to frequently. do u have any more info about this ? like a web page i could read ? is that cuz it can inflame the skin ?? anyway i have gott a red face rgiht now from over using it. sure hope i dont get worse scars. like could u just say where u heard that and give more info ? thanks
I have had 4 gycolic peels done by a professional therapist a a course of 2 months and used a AHA based product line called Excuviance by Neo-Strata. You can surt the net for more info if you like.
My skin texture has improved so much - it feels better than before I had my acne breakout! The scars are still obvious sure but definately lighter than 2 months ago.
You CAN get increased scaring if you do not use this stuff properly which is why I would really advise getting profesisonals to do it. It is more expensive yes but you don't want to mess with your skin. Even with the professional, I still got some small scars due to the gycolic peels but because they usually fade away within a couple of weeks, I don't get too jumpy over the scars.
I have decided to stick with the glycolic acid and hope that this will work for my skin. I just use the glycolic toner only at night and apply it all over my face. I don't use any other glycolic products. I don't want to overdo it.
This morning when I woke up, my pimples were already healing! Faster than they would without the glycolic acid. And there are no new breakouts, so I am going to try to remain hopeful.
I am thinking when my face looks a little better I will go for a professional peel.
I would love to keep you guys updated on how it works out.
I was an esthetician for five years and worked with a truly pharmaceutical grade AHA. It was the most pure blend of fruit sugar acids and contained a very, very small amount of Glycolic. It is the only product that I'd ever recommend, beyond a few prescription treatments for acne. But, I'm not here to sell you on that.
You have to understand the way that these acids work and in a nutshell, here it is: You are creating a controlled burn to the skin. It's not unlike a sunburn, but it's chemical and the level of the "peel" depends on how much of the product you apply. A sunburn causes a different and more threatening kind of cellular damage and also breaks down the fibroblast cells of the dermis, hence, permanently damaging the elastin and collagen production. This would normally take place in the aging process and UV rays have a nasty way of speeding that up. Back to the chemical aspect of the burn; it is much more controlled. There is no UV to cause the breakdown of cell life or the general severe damage to the dermis. However, the acids, when overused or used improperly, i.e. on fair sensitive skin, pigmented skin, and/or in the wrong concentration, can cause an effect much more like that of a sunburn than anyone would have you believe.
Simply type a question or statement into your search engine; such as: "How gylcolic acid can damage skin" or "the risks of gylcolic peels". You will see a lot of info come up.
One very important thing about the way these chems work is that they work by pulling fluid from what we can refer to as a "bylayer" of fluid in our skin. Below your epidermis is a microscopic world of ponds. As you know, if you get a bad burn, you will get a blister. The same thing happens with chemical burns. In a controlled environment, like a dermatologists office, the peel will not go so deep as to totally leach the water from that bylayer. Even then, it is happening a little. That is why some people report being a little puffy after an AHA or glyc peel. Some people even believe that their fine lines have "already disappeared!" Not the case at all, at least, not immediately after the peel has been applied! The water is brought up to the upper layers of the epidermis, and in doing so, a reaction takes place to cause dead skin cells to kind of "pop" away from the healthy tissue and encourage new healthy cells to start coming to life.
It's all very effective, but in that time, the skin becomes very sensitve. I once had a peel and just lightly scratched my jawline. Under my nail was a scarring little scraping of skin! The mark is still there after 5 1/2 years.
I am concerned about what product you are using and where you found it. Who recommended it, etc. Can you give me some backround on that and I will be able to tell you what search to run to get the best and most accurate answers.
Sorry so long! But this just scrapes the surface, so to speak!!
I don't want to discourage you, but believe me, I have had my share of scares when it comes to trying things at home. If I can save you some of the agony and get you on the path to healing by the weekend, then I will feel like all of my stupid mistakes weren't all for nothing!
Last thing, (I promise!), don't EVER put straight aloe vera on your skin. This is a wives tale that 95% of the population has been sold on. Just because something is natural, it doesn't automatically make it good for you or effective. Hemlock is natural, but I wouldn't make a tea of it...
PA2LA, thanks for a very interesting and detailed post regarding GA. I was just wondering why you recommend not to put Aloe Vera on the skin? I have often read on these boards that many people use Aloe Vera to heal their skin but whenever I have tried pure Aloe Vera the only experience I would ever have would be slight burning sensation, waking up the following day with my skin slightly red. So it does seem Aloe Vera isn't too great for my skin but what I don't understand is that there has been so much research pointing toward the plant having therapeutic properties for the skin. This does seem slightly skewed however, after reading your post and from my experience. Could you elaborate on its effect on the skin? Thanks
Hey, PA2LA, I use Doctor's Dermatologic Formula Glycolic Toner 10% on a nightly basis (got it otc from Sephora).I have been using it for 9 days now. It did cause an initial outbreak but my face is looking a little better now. I have mild to moderate acne. I have tried PERSA GEL benzol peroxide, which I like, and Clear pore by Neutrogena. My acne has been inproving over the months but I have a lot of clogged pores and some spots. I was hoping the clear pore salicylic acid would help with the pores but no, and I have been using it for months.
AHA has been getting good reviews on another board and I thought to try it. So right now I just use benzol in the day and the 10% glycolic at night. Do you think the 10% is too damaging? Would it be better to get a more gentler product? Or reduce the usage of the product to every other day? Or is it that any glycolic acid at all in the long run is damaging?
Thanks for your advice I would like to be on the path to healing!
Sorry that I didn't respond to your question about the aloe sooner. I've been surfing the Healthboards to find some help for my husband's dizziness...very scary stuff. Makes my breakouts seem like a picnic.
Anyway, if you do a search on clinical research findings of aloe, you will get a pretty broad answer to the question as to whether or not it works. I've found that in relation to those who are undergoing any peel process, it can negate the effectiveness of the peel. Kind of slowing down the desquamation process.
Not only that, but some people actually respond very poorly to it, remaning red much longer. Sometimes it's an allergy, other times it's just a poor quality aloe. Most of the aloe available to us is really of poor quality. It may be mixed with witch hazel or even alcohol, some companies put MINERAL OIL in it! NOT good for acne.
If you are one of the few that I have ever known to see a positve difference from it's use, I say use it! But, at least, get your own plant and break off a bit when needed. In my experience, aloe did a lot more for me when taken internally. But, you must take a very high quality aloe, from an extremely reputable manufacturer. I actually drank it with juice when I had my first-ever AHA peel. I had a great exfoliation and my scarring and redness was undetectable upon the completion.
The bottom line with any of these products is that you will hear 100 different opinions from 100 different people. Some people swear by whatever worked for them and fail to understand that it doesn't mean it works for the masses! Everyone must always remember that no one person's biology is the same as another's. For us, we need to keep trying new things until we find what works, FOR US. The real and only secret to any of it is to cut your losses when you think that something isn't working out. Nothing that is going to work for you is going to take more than 4 weeks to start proving itself. One life cycle of your skin is enough for you to know that you need to stop wasting your money and move on to a new product or keep the regimen in motion. So, anywhere from 21 to 30 days should be long enough to rule out or count in anything you are recommended to try.
Don't get me wrong, I think that acid peels are wonderful and can have such a multi-faceted affect on your life. You feel better, you look better and you can carry that feeling around for weeks after a peel, knowing that the effects last for quite some time. Having said that, it is so important to go to a salon that specializes in skin care or a physicians office. I wouldn't trust the largest organ of MY body to a person who will be coloring someone's hair while I'm being prepped for my peel! Google Danne' King...and know that I'm not trying to sell you on what worked for me. Just use the info that you get as a starting point in your quest for YOUR miracle cure. The claims of the manufacturer have be reasonable and if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
BTW, neosporin gets unjustly pushed aside as a good product for healing lesions and red spots. It doesn't clog your pores so badly that it isn't worth waking up with the red marks GONE. It is also antibacterial, so it has it's merits. Here's another crazy one for redness and swelling: Preparation H. Yes, hemorroid cream! That's an understandably unadvertised L.A. secret! You can't possibly believe that models and actresses don't ever try to "pick" at their breakouts!!
pa2la - hey great post!! i was wondering what your skin is like after the peel you had when you scrached your face. was it liek red and inflamed ? was it dry ? i nevr had a peel done at a derm but done some "home peeling " also onem time i got a chemcial burn from tea tree oil my whole face shribbled up. do u think that caused the kind of cellular damage that UV rays can alaso cause ? thanks
pa - one more q.. cant u achive the same result as a peel by using a AHA over a period of months ?? and also, you couldnt get rid of the shallow indent scar u have ?
pa - one more q.. cant u achive the same result as a peel by using a AHA over a period of months ?? and also, you couldnt get rid of the shallow indent scar u have by doing another peel?
a.s.girl...the kind of cellular damage from tea tree oil and AHA's is usually topical and temporary. Thank goodness! I've done the trea tree burn myself, as I am the QUEEN of overtreatment at home! It takes about a week or two before you look normal and your skin just gets really dry and you have that constant flaking to deal with. But, there is no deep cellular damage to worry about. UV or very deep blistering (true) chemical burns have to capacity to damage the mitotic layer of your skin, or what we call the dermis. Very few products OTC have the ability to penetrate deep enough through the epidermal layers to have any effect on cell division or cell proliferation (the life span of your cells).
After my AHA peel, the one in which I scratched my face, there was inflamation at the site. It remained red when everywhere else had been exfoliating. I treated it with a product that I used on my clients. It was a gel that helped new cells come to life, but more importantly, it prevented the cells from recording trauma to their memory. It you got a sunburn, you would want to put this stuff on within a 1/2 hour of getting out of the sun! If the cell can't remember the injury, then it can't be permanently damaged. That stuff, mixed with another product that was formulated to imitate our own sebum (the molecules of that product were smaller than our own sebum and didn't actually clog pores), was helpful in keeping the wound from looking worse than it could've! I suppose that if it happened to me again, I would treat it with neosporin; assuming that I wouldn't have access to the other stuff.
You might be able to get rid of deeper scarring, even scars from other peels, but in that case, I'd advise you to get a pro peel. You shouldn't try to go that deep with any home product. You also have to remember, that you won't totally eliminate those kind of scars, but you can refine them to the point that you can no longer see them without very, very close inspection.
pa!!! i think i missed your post the first time! so you put the whole 100 percent tea tree oil on and left it on all night adn was shribbled up too ? its good to kno thier is no cellurar damage! thank god for that how do u know so much . r u 100 percent sure on that ??? thanks ! sorry ! o i am agoin to read your post again cuz it is very infomrative.
yes, 100% tea tree oil...on my whole face! It felt like it was on fire! But, being the experimentalist that I am, I thought, what the heck, my skin looks like crap anyway! I didn't have any blistering, just lots and lots of flaking. Wearing a black top was out of the question! I would look like I was out in the snow!
It's always a good idea to consult a physician if you even think that you may have caused some severe or serious damage. Even after my years of experience in skincare, I am still not even close to being qualified to diagnose the severity of an individual's situation, on a microscopic level. I also don't have the benefit of seeing what your skin looks like. To be 100% sure that you will not experience some level of damage would require the opinion of an MD or a well qualified para-medical esthetician***seeing you in person***. But, I can tell you from my personal and professional experience that I would be 85% sure.
It sounds like you are trying a lot of the things that I tried. Have you ever seen a dermatologist? I prefer MDs over salon skincare because I don't like feeling like I'm being sold something. I don't want to risk my skin or spend more money than I'm really comfortable spending, just because someone wants to meet their commission requirement! It's scary, but it happens.
What is your age group? Do you have good insurance? Need to know in order to suggest what to try next and determine how much you are able to spend.
I would like to be on the path to healing!
its good to kno thier is no cellurar damage! thank god for that 
