Glycolic Acid - What am I putting on my skin?

Acid? On my face? Really?

These where my thoughts internally when I was confessing my skincare woes to a lovely lady in Harvey Nichols a couple of weeks ago. My problems are my fine lines around my eyes (from never wearing sunglasses and squinting at everything) and my uneven pigmentation on my face.

"Glycolic Acid is the answer she declared"

 There and then - sales pitches always work on me - I purchased my first glycolic acid containing product. I had never used any products that contain glycolic acid before and was slightly concerned at putting acid on my face? As a chemistry student just the thought of putting anything like that on my face made me recoil - it didn't stop me buying it though did it?

Fast forward a couple of weeks I now have three glycolic acid containing products I think it has made a small change to my skin - not massive however it certainly isn't a miracle.

£16 - Harvey Nichols

Glycolic acid is the smallest acid molecule in the alpha hydroxy acid family (I won't bore you with all the chemistry) but in short being the smallest molecule in its family it is able to absorb into the skin the most effectively and is said to help erase fine lines, oiliness, blackheads, acne and dullness (who doesn't want to look like a strobe light?). Imagine it like a mini pac man that goes into your skin and eats all of the bad stuff and it should expose the younger skin underneath that isn't dull and tired unlike your previous surface layer of skin.

From my experience glycolic acid is in such low concentrations in readily available skin care that it is paramount to buy a product that is designed to be left on your face because the longer it is on there the better it can do its work - hence my preferred way of application is a toner. The one that I bought is the Mario Badescu Glycolic Acid Toner it was £16 - which surprised me because I was in Harvey Nichols and just expected this "very effective product" to be much more expensive.

The toner itself is a blue colour - think Maldives sea water blue - and has a very fresh smell to it driven by the presence of Aloe Vera in the product. Aloe Vera is designed to soothe your skin because after all you are putting an acid on your face. After application to my freshly cleansed face I let it soak in and it did not dry my skin out like some toners do. After a couple of days of using it I haven't broke out either which is a bonus - although on the packaging it does state not to use of sensitive skin.

£3.97 from Boots 

Now I had a wee look in Boots the other day to see if you could get Glycolic Acid products cheaper and you can! I found Nip + Fab which seem to do a whole range of glycolic products - everything from the range is currently half price in boots right now so it makes everything even more of a bargain.

The two Nib + Fab products I picked up where the "Glycolic Scrub Fix" and the Glycolic Cleanser Fix". I'm rather a fan of the cleanser as when rubbing it in with my Clinique cleansing brush, it foamed nicely and did not dry my skin out too much - no more than any other cleanser would. The next product is the scrub which is to be used as an exfoliant. Although affective i did find it very very rough and quite harsh on my skin - I would only use this product once a week and in my opinion shouldn't be used daily. It did leave my skin feeling very soft afterwards but I was quite red from what I had done to my poor face! These products are reasonably cheap - The cleanser was £3.97 and the scrub was £4.97 - and the cleanser is definitely one to keep! The only thing that bothers me about these products is the VERY strong citrus-y smell that they both have! But that is only a minor point - although temporarily your face will smell like you have used flash on it.

£4.97 from Boots 

To sum up (hello are you still there) the inclusion of glycolic acid in my routine is a good one! The Toner is excellent and the cleanser is also very good! I feel if used carefully it will help to take away the dullness that I have present in my skin but a word of warning please use an SPF as the newer skin is very delicate and easily susceptible to UV damage.

Have you made any changes to your skincare routine recently?

Sam

Toner available HERE

Scrub available HERE

Cleanser available HERE