There seems to be a never ending flow of new products to the market claiming to be ‘natural products’. Glycolic acid is one of the many skin care products that can be classified as natural. It is actually made from sugar cane, and so it falls into this category.
You must be extremely careful when using any product with acid as part of its name. This is doubly true when you are applying this type of product to your skin. Glycolic acid is also used in rust removal and degreaser products, which gives you a good idea of its potency. In fact, any item that is made with more than a 10% content of glycolic acid is considered to be hazardous material.
Glycolic acid is recognized as a very popular skin exfoliating agent and is used in many products for this purpose. You will usually find this as an active agent in creams or gels. When it is applied to the skin, it will work its way through the top layers of your skin. It will actually separate the dead skin from the other layers of skin and the other components of the cream or gel and will remove the dead flake.
This peeling off of dead skin can leave you with healthier and smoother skin after the dead skin has been washed away. Once your skin has been treated with glycolic acid it will be overly sensitive to sun exposure. It is strongly advised that you avoid direct sun exposure all together following a glycolic acid treatment.
After using a chemical peel that features glycolic acid, your skin will look like it has a severe sunburn and you will have to stay out of direct sunlight until it heals. Typically you will have some skin discoloration following a glycolic acid treatment, but this will heal with time. Advocates of glycolic acid are in agreement that the mild discomfort and appearance problems are all worth enduring for that short time in order to get the benefits that glycolic acid gives you.
Will glycolic acid remove years off of your appearance? Many people will tell you that it does. Ultimately, you are going to have to be the one to decide to what level you want to use this product, but the popularity of it almost speaks for itself in regards to its benefits as a skin care treatment.