BioKorium's Blog and Skin TV

                                                By Vivian Moreno, Esthetician

     This is one question I get a lot, simply because everyone wants to have a chemical peel in order to improve their appearance.  We’ve been told it’s an easy and quick solution for our facial woes.  But depending on the season, a peel may not be conducive to receiving optimium results, and aren’t results what we expect?  Therefore, the time of the year is important because Chemical Peeling as if putting your skin thru a major workout, its trauma to the skin and the conditions for recovery is what’s equally important. 

I have already begun my chemical peel for the winter.  Because of my age I will try to fit in at least 3 peels for the winter (and some spotting especially around my mouth!)? People want the peel and the results, but what they don’t  realize or understand is what is occurring below our skin during this process.  No one teaches us this, even the professionals don’t, so we freak out.  Skin Redness can be compared to a sunburn, and is a sign of the skin’s natural inflammation process at work, which initiates the process of healing.  Another example is Heat Bumbs, which are a sign of healing and is a direct result of your skin responding to the chemical peel.  You skin may also experience wrinkling, tightening, itchiness and a dryness.  All these sequences need to be understood in order to make the final goal productive.  And each of these sequences need to be further understood in order to comprehend what is necessary to heal and calm the skin by the use of the proper products.  But let’s look at the reason why Winter is more beneficial than Summer.

     The Summer Season consist of more sunshine therefore more heat, which is not as conducive to a chemical peel, especially in regards to the healing aspect. With heat there is more opportunity for infection as well as its effect on nerve endings, causing more pain and irritation.  With more sunlight there is more opportunity for skin discoloration.  Sunscreens, I simply don’t believe in them, I believe the ingredients can do more harm than good, and can interfere with receiving optimum results post peel.

Therefore, the Wintertime is the the perfect time to prepare your skin for the following summer by doing a peel.  It’s the perfect time and seasonal environment to build skin strength and skin immunity which leads to skin health.  What I mean, is that if you have skin health, your skin will have the strength and ability to endure and absorb the challenges of the following summer season.  The Pros of Wintertime are first, the temperature, in the winter it is cooler, the cool temperature feels better on your skin and  is less irritating when your skin is healing. There is a reason why most surgeries are done a sub normal temperature environment.  A cooler surgery room means less chance of infection and other anomalies.   Wintertime has less sunshine.  Less sunshine means less opportunity for infection and less pain. Sunshine and peeling don’t mix. The most important thing with minimal sunshine is there is less opportunity for discoloration and better opportunity for natural healing.

     If you decide in getting  a professional peel, another thing to be addressed is to be sure your professional really knows what they are doing.  Beware, beware, beware!  A chemical peel performed correctly will lift and tighten the skin, add amazing clarity, reduce and eliminate fine lines and wrinkles, and most importantly, bring your skin back to better health.  That’s why the professional you choose to perform this procedure is important.  A Chemical Peel done wrong will cause deeper wrinkles, dry your skin out, increase the opportunity for discoloration and age the skin faster by the very anti-aging methods used causing faster sagging of the skin. How you may ask can this happen?  For example, if you go in for a tummy tuck would you expect you tummy to look the same a year or two from now?  I would have to say no, unless you maintain it by diet and exercise.  Otherwise, your tummy would began to sag once again.  This is the point, if you accept the short term quick fix, not thinking of the long term repercussions, the short term decision may not be the best decision in the long run.

     My own philosophy, and it’s been our companies philosophy, is to teach and give my clients the knowledge and proper tools to do their own peeling.  Because, after all, who is the best person to take care of your skin, but yourself.  Further, a BioKorium Peel has been designed to receive dramatic results without the trauma of a professional peel.  Simply, we have found that is not necessary to undergo all that trauma for optimal skin results. Because isn’t this what it’s all about, not to be burden by a healing process which will interfere with our normal pattern of life? Less down time means that we can continue with our normal daily living.  In conclusion the pros to Wintertime Chemical Peels are: Optimum Healing, decrease discoloration, less opportunity for infection, less sunlight, cool weather feels good, less discomfort and decrease healing time.