Diana Bianco, lead esthetician at Daireds Salon & Spa Pangea
 
A facial peel is a treatment in which an acid solution is used to remove the damaged outer layers of the skin. The peel enhances and smoothes the texture of the skin. This promotes the growth of new skin and the new skin has a better texture and smoother more radiant appearance.  It is an effective treatment for facial blemishes, wrinkles, and uneven skin pigmentation.
 
A facial peel can restore a more youthful appearance to wrinkled, unevenly pigmented, sun-damaged, or blotchy skin. However, a peel cannot reverse the aging process or completely remove deep scars. Wrinkled skin that is loose and sagging may also require a face-lift, laser resurfacing treatment, or combination of procedures for best results.
There are several types of facial peels from which to choose.  Light or superficial facial peels can treat sun damage, fine wrinkles, and unevenly pigmented skin.  Deeper facial peels remove more layers of skin for use with deep or coarse wrinkles.  The benefits of deeper facial peels may be apparent for many years.

Types of Peels

Light peels: Alphahydroxy acids (AHAs), Betahydroxy acids (BHAs) Light peels are the mildest of the chemical peels. These peels include glycolic, lactic, and fruit acid peels (AHA) or Salicylic Acid (BHA). They burn off only the outer layers of the skin to smooth out fine wrinkles and/or rough, dry skin. AHA and Beta lift peels may also be used to improve the texture of sun-damaged skin, balance out skin pigmentation, or diminish some types of acne scars. These peels are often repeated to achieve the desired results.  
Medium peels: Trichloroacetic acids (TCA) A TCA solution is used for medium depth peels. This is generally used to treat skin with moderate sun damage, surface wrinkles, and/or uneven tone or pigment abnormalities. Full-face TCA peels take approximately 15 minutes.   

Side Effects
 
The most common side effects of a light chemical peel treatment are:

·                        redness, peeling or flaking of the skin
·                        burning during the treatment