 | | Glycolic Acid Skin Care Benefits Are?
You should use a 15-20% "leave on" glycolic acid product twice daily for the best results, full benefits are achieved after 6 months.
The question is … what can’t it do? Glycolic (glahy-kol-ik) acid
- Collagen (kol’-ah-jen) and elastin (e-las’-tin) production is stimulated in the second major layer of your skin called the dermis. Collagen functions as a "Jell-O" mattress and elastin gives your skin expandability to change shape and not break. If you pinch your skin and it stays pinched the elastin is in very poor condition. Your skin should snap back into place like a rubber band. Try gently pinching a baby’s skin then your own to see the difference.
Collagen provides the skin’s firmness and volume and defect-free in our youth allowed the top layer to appear smooth and taut.
As we age the collagen thickness decreases and flattens allowing the top layer to flatten or sag.
Collagen loss is greater in certain areas due to specific reasons, such as sun damage or facial expressions and the surface reflects those losses as wrinkles since these areas dip below the surface.
Age takes a toll by thinning your skin, your body stops readily producing collagen and elastin around the age of 28 years after this skin care products stimulating the production is needed to keep your skin in top shape. Alas, time to fool Mother Nature.
- Scarring from acne or a trauma is reduced by lowering the top ridge of the scar and raising the bottom of ice pick (indent) scar for a smoother appearance. Some clients see an improvement in the gray shadowing caused by this type of scar. Acne scars happen when the pimple or cyst destroys skin tissue as the lesion progresses. Glycolic acid will never make a scar worse as it is restoring the skin.
Hypertrophic (raised) scars become flatter, closer to skin level, less visible to the naked eye. Improvement with scarring occurs approximately 6 months to 1 year with twice daily applications of a 15-20% “leave on” glycolic acid product.
- Glycosaminoglycans (gli-kos-ah-me-no-gli’kan) (GAGS) are produced in the second major layer of your skin called the dermis.
These are moisture-binding ground substances that bind water to themselves expanding the dermis for a smoother appearance and turgor (to'gor - the normal consistency of living tissue).
One of these compounds is "hyaluronic acid" which binds water so tightly its appearance is gel-like.
A visual aid is to imagine a dry sponge, by adding water the sponge will grow in volume holding the water inside and plumping the sponge.
If you stimulate more GAGS in your dermis they will bind water plumping and smoothing your skin reducing wrinkles. Your skin is much healthier than before especially after losing GAGS with age.
- Cleans your pores called follicles by loosening the glue-like substance or bond holding dead cells together, repeated use keeps them clean.
Dead cells can build up inside your follicles setting the stage for acne and preventing this process is necessary for controlling acne.
Glycolic acid prevents dead cells from clumping together which eventually harden forming a plug preventing sebum your skin’s natural oil from reaching the surface of your skin.
Oil should be able to flow freely carrying dead skin cells to the surface to be sloughed off.
Skin over the age of 28 years is considered to be mature skin and the cell turn over process is starting to slow down.
Glycolic acid helps mature skin by removing dead cells that have a case of the "lingers."
When the whole "cellular turn-over" process slows old cells are allowed to sit on the surface of your skin causing a dull and lifeless appearance.
Removing old cells stimulates the replacement of new cells restoring the luster for a fresh and healthier appearance.
When your follicles are clean the walls lay together appearing smaller and more refined on the surface. It’s medically impossible to reduce pore size but you can make them look smaller.
- Skin tone evens in the top layer of your skin called the epidermis by sloughing old dark pigment.
Glycolic acid will not stop your melanocytes cells responsible for your skin color from making new darker pigment but will exfoliate the old dark pigment.
Use a skin bleach from the Skin Bleach-Brown Marks category to stop new dark pigment from occurring.
- Skin texture is restored to healthy, smooth and soft. Surface cells can become broken or splintered the rough jagged edges create a rough or dry feeling and your skin looks dull and lifeless. This also allows precious moisture to evaporate drying your skin. Glycolic keeps the living cells packed down like tiles on a roof or fish scales and removes the dead rough cells. Tightly packed living cells return the luster of your skin which is an SPF 1 and slows the evaporation rate of moisture.
- Anti-oxidant or endial. Glycolic acid attaches itself to free radicals in your skin rendering them harmless before then can damage good skin cells.
- Ingrown hair called pseudofolliculitis barbae (soo-do-fo-lik-u-li-tis) (bar-bay) is characteristic of individuals with curly hair who shave and common in the beard and neck region. These red lesion bumps often form pus from the hair curling and growing back into the skin causing inflammation, infection and a foreign body reaction.
Skin can grow over the hair opening forcing the hair strand back into the skin before it reaches the surface.
Glycolic acid prevents skin from growing over the hair opening helping to prevent this condition.
There is some information indicating it helps straighten the hair so it will not curl back into the skin. Nicholas Perricone, M.D. holds the patent for ingrown hair use.
Every order has a personalized application schedule to help you reach twice daily applications ensuring the following glycolic acid benefits:
- The texture of your skin will improve within the first few weeks.
- Skin tone should even out after 3 months.
- Collagen and elastin improvement will start to be evident after 6 months reducing wrinkles and firming your skin.
- Hormonal acne breakouts can occur up to a year after starting glycolic acid but should improve each month.
- Small scar reduction takes 6 months to a year for improvement.
Every human body improves at a different rate so have patience with yourself.
The nice attribute of glycolic acid is your skin will keep improving with time.
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