Video Transcript Hand and Body peeling with TCA and Glycolic acids.
Many people make the mistake of only focusing on the face when they think about aging skin – when the neck, chest and even the hands and arms will quickly give away your age!
Today I am going to talk about and demonstrate two different chemical peels that you can use on your hands and all over the body.
With the body, you will find that you need to apply a much stronger acid to get good results. This is because the skin on the body is literally five times thicker than that of the face and neck. *And the skin around the eyes is even thinner!
We have two acids we like to use on the body to help with pigmentation, moles, skin tags, scarring, crepey-ness and many other issues. They are
TCA 30% **20% is also an option and may be preferred if you have very dark skin.
And
Both of these acids are great choices when you want to treat the body. Out of the two, the TCA 30% is the strongest.
First things first. Warnings and recommendations.
Always pretreat your skin before a body peel. You have many layers of dead skin that will slow the acid’s penetration. Use a daily acid wash like our 15% Body Wash and / or a cream like our 25% Triple Treat Body Lotion every day for about 2 weeks prior to your peel application.
If you are dealing with sun damage, melasma or have a naturally darker skin tone, pretreat the area with Fade Bright or another melanin inhibitor for 2 weeks minimum - prior to performing a peel.
*You will also want to do this after your peel has rinsed to help with pigmentation.
Do not apply these acids on, or near mucus producing areas.
USE GLOVES if you don’t want your fingers to peel.
Last one – ONLY do this peel 1x every 4-7 weeks. We are going to be using a higher percentage of strong acids, and you will need the appropriate down-time before another application.
Now it’s time to start our peel. Let me Walk you through the process and demonstrate the application.
So let me make sure I have everything I need here:
I have my Peel Manual turned to pages 10 – 11.
TCA 30%
Glycolic 70%
Gloves – so my fingers don’t peel all over.
Gauze pads
Prep B or you could use 90% rubbing alcohol
Cold water and a wash cloth for rinsing.
For after care I have our
Luminosity .50% Retinol Cream
Emu oil
Now, I have already washed my hands and arms. So the first step is to defat the skin.
I am going to take a gauze and saturate it with Prep B. Now I’m going to fold it a couple of times and give it a squeeze.
I need to wipe down all the areas where I am going to apply the acid on BOTH arms.
What I am going to do today is one arm in the Glycolic 70% and the other in the TCA 30%
This will be a little experiment to see how well each side flakes.
Now prepare your gauze pad with the TCA and give it a squeeze.
I am going to go over my fingers, hand and onto the arm where I have years of sun damage with a SINGLE layer of acid.
**If you are using a 20% TCA, then you’ll be able to apply multiple layers of acid. Many people will apply 2-3 layers and then spot treat a 3rd layer on just the problem areas with a Q-tip.
We are going to Wait 5 minutes and then check the area.
NOW – everyone is different – so, you may or may not see some FROSTING.
Frosting is a white haze ( or white speckles) that shows you the TCA is actively coagulating your skin’s proteins. It will naturally go away in about 15 minutes or so and is not a cause for alarm.
Now I am going to rinse the acid off so I can do my other arm.
This time we are going to apply the Glycolic acid.
Application is just the same. Just a single swipe to all areas you wish to peel.
With Glycolic, the acid will need to be neutralized. I am going to aim for 10 minutes, but I will neutralize early if my skin becomes too irritated or red.
Now that I am happy with my timing, I am going to get some nice cold water and rinse the acid off well for a minute or so. This is going to neutralize the glycolic acid.
We need to remove ALL of the peel solution and calm any inflammation. **It is perfectly fine to keep rinsing with COLD water until your skin feels perfectly normal again.
Now pat skin gently dry.
IF you are dealing with pigmentation or have a darker skin tone – NOW is the perfect time to apply a few drops of your melanin inhibitor to help reduce the likeliness of getting Post Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation. If not, then let’s move forward.
Because I want to get some great peeling, I am now going to apply our .50% Luminosity to get deep penetration of Vitamin A. *Apply this 1x per day until your skin is ready to peel, then you can stop.
You may follow this with Emu oil or our Essentials Healing Blend if you wish for more hydration.
Now, we are complete, so here is what to expect next.
When we are applying an acid to our body, it can take a longer time period for the skin to peel. So if it doesn’t start flaking in 3-5 days – don’t be alarmed. It can take upwards of 10 days to begin flaking and then another 10+ days to finish. If it takes less time – or if it takes more time – never worry, its perfectly normal for YOU!
Also, with higher percentages of acid you can sometimes get a second WAVE of flaking, so no worries if your skin dries again after you thought it was done. We did a deep peel and this is a perfectly normal option which may or may NOT happen to you.
Over the course of the next few days your skin will look worse!
Your skin will get dry and wrinkled looking.
Your spotting can look darker.
Your skin’s surface can possibly turn a darker color. This is not the time to panic that you have a burn. It’s normal when your skin is dead and getting ready to slough off to turn darker.
Just in case you aren’t aware, ANY chemical peel is considered a controlled burn.
Your skin first needs to be wounded so that it can stimulate new tissue growth in the skin. We are just doing that with an acid.
*Look at a few pictures on our TCA page to see what this dark skin looks like when you are applying multiple layers of a higher percentage.
The biggest thing right now that your peel is done is to KEEP your skin hydrated.
If you let it dry out – you will end up with a mess of tiny dry flakes. With hydration you will get larger pieces coming off and it will be more manageable.
Remember to NEVER just rip off any flakes. You can take some scissors to any loose skin, but that is all.
TIPS
Keep your skin hydrated and wear long sleeves.
Try not to do a peel too close to any events where you need to look good. Your skin could peel for upwards of 14 days, so always keep your schedule in mind - just in case!
Before you know it - all the dead skin will be gone and your skin will be looking so much better – but probably not perfect…
Make sure you wait at least 1 month before doing another follow up peel. It can take up to 3 peels to get your skin where you want it.
Use retinol or triple treat lotion every day to keep things moving along and DON’T FORGET THE SPF every day!
Are you ready to start peeling your body? Do you still have questions? We are here to help, just reach out to us.
