Products containing lactic acid are a wonderful addition to your skin care arsenal. Photo by lisegagne/istockphoto.com
I admit it, up until about 45 minutes ago, my skin looked like crap.
An erratic schedule, a pile of commitments (including an overhaul of this blog) and a few new product trials meant that my skin was either getting the barest minimum attention or getting slathered with stuff that wasn’t really agreeing with it.
I was sick of looking at my craptastic skin in the mirror so today I forced myself to schedule my own appointment. I finally broke out a lactic acid peel that I have been meaning to try for a while. And while it’s Day 3 of summer, and I generally have a no-peel policy for the hotter months, I will be extra vigilant over the next few weeks on keeping my skin protected.
So, onto the lactic acid! Lactic acid is found naturally in the body, and it is found in the acid mantle of our skin (acid mantle is easiest thought of as our skin’s oil). Because it is a naturally occurring acid in the body, our skin accepts it much easier than any “foreign” acid (like, for example, salicylic or glycolic). It’s also very mild, and good for sensitive skin.
Lactic acid (derived from the sugars in milk) is a wonderful exfoliator and ultra moisturizing, and combined (as my peel was) with kojic acid, it helps with hyperpigmentation. It’s a tyronese inhibitor, which means it suppresses the tyronese enzyme that causes skin discoloration. In combination with the kojic acid (often sourced from mushrooms, soy or rice bran), which is a natural skin lightener, it helps to lighten hyperpigmentation from sun damage or from skin inflammation (such as acne) that leaves spots behind.
Result: My skin tone has evened out, and it looks and feels smoother and much more hydrated.
While you will get more pronounced results from a lactic peel, home care products with lactic acid can offer wonderful results. However, products containing lactic acid can be a bit hard to find because, for whatever reason, lactic acid just isn’t a terribly sexy AHA for the marketing types. It may not be sexy, but it’s damn effective.
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