THE BEST AT-HOME GLYCOLIC PEEL ON THE MARKET

My skin isn’t perfect, I have lines and wrinkles, redness and pigmentation. I’m fifty-two years old and while I do protect my skin from sun damage as much as I can, there have been many times over the course of my life that I didn’t. On top of that I have been known to imbibe the odd glass or three, Ooops…But you know what? I’m O.K with that. Who doesn’t over indulge sunshine and cocktails every now and then unfortunately, too much sun and booze are the absolute worst for my skin. Add to that a long history of proper poor sleep and I not only feel wretched at times, I look it.

However those usual suspects aren’t the culprit this time. I’ve been eating really well and getting to bed before ten o’clock, I even switch off my phone religiously at nine! However lately, when I catch a glimpse of my make up free reflection it’s a bit disappointing if I’m honest… Eeek who is that haggard old witch?

Moments like this are certainly unavoidable in modern life with all those silly expectations weighing heavily on our fragile shoulders. We all work way too hard and our down time is far too short, it’s stressful! Not to mention those constant pollutants floating around us, an invisible sheath of toxins. Offgassing and pesticides seep into my pores through daily life no matter how hard I try to live clean. Is it any wonder that occasionally my giant pores are probably visible from outer space let alone a shop window?

Sure diet, exercise and sleep play an enormous role in our skins appearance but there must be more I can do in terms of topical treatments? Since I’m now wearing very little make-up at all it’s more important than ever to keep my skin as plump and healthy as possible. That means ideally something to reduce redness, pigmentation and those gigantic pores. Admittedly, I’ve never been overly impressed by non-prescription creams and serums that claim to refine skin texture and reduce wrinkles.

While in the past I used prescription strength Retin A and hydroquinone with great success, the effecacy of these products depends entirely on the percentage of active ingredient they contain. Therefore I’ll see no radical improvement to my skin texture from over the counter products containing either of these ingredients.

In any case hydroquinone shouldn’t be applied over the entire face. You’ll get the best results using it to fade specific areas. Enter another terrific ingredient, Glycolic Acid. Many years ago I would regularly see a beauty therapist for a glycolic peel that always left my skin beautifully exfoliated to reveal silky smooth, plump and glowing skin. However, until now I haven’t seen the same results from over the counter products containing AHAs. Once again, they simply don’t contain enough of the active ingredient to make a difference.

That’s where Progressive Peel by Beauty RX comes in… Full disclosure, I did not expect this at-home glycholic peel system to do much more than gently exfoliate my skin. Yet just a couple of weeks into the routine I was surprised with obviously reduced pores and then after just six weeks, reduced redness and faded pigmentation, which is such a huge bonus for me. Boy was I surprised by the results…

HOW DOES THE GLYCOLIC PEEL WORK?

At first glance this three part progressive peel looks complicated and time consuming but trust me it isn’t at all. In fact I notoriously lose interest in products and fall out of routine very quickly when they require dedication from me. Not so with this glycolic peel system because a) it has a quick glance card to prompt me if I forget what part I’m up to and b) I started seeing positive changes to my skin almost immediately.

• For the first two weeks I use the serum every night. Spread over my entire face one drop at a time, taking four drops in total.
• On the first night of week three I use only the pads. Gently wiping a single pad over my entire face and neck, avoiding the delicate eye area. I felt a slight tingling sensation for about fifteen minutes.
• On the second night of week three I revert back to using the serum. Then alternate nightly between serum and pads for the next two weeks. The tingling continues but it isn’t uncomfortable, in fact it’s quite reassuring as I feel the treatment is actually working.
• Finally at week five I begin to use the cream on the first night. Applying a small amount to cover my entire face I immediately feel a prickling sensation. This is slightly uncomfortable but subsides after about ten minutes.
• The second night of the fifth week I use only the pads. Then the third night back to just the cream and alternate between the two from then on. I’m now past my ninth week and my skin has noticeably improved in every way.

NOTES ON THE PLASTIC CONTAINERS OF THIS TREATMENT

My only disappointment with the Progressive Peel is the use of plastic packaging for two of the three products. Thankfully the serum comes in glass but the cream and pads are contained in plastic pots. So what do you think I did? If you guessed that I emailed the person in charge of packaging at Beauty RX and asked what their goals are for eliminating plastic from the brand altogether, you’d be correct.

I was pleased to recieve this thoughtful reply –

Hi Michelle,

Thank you so much for your email and for reaching out. I really appreciate your passion for sustainability and I have personally put forth more efforts at BeautyRx to become more sustainable when possible.

First, we use recycled plastics and other materials. So the components themselves come from recycled plastic, anywhere from 30-60% in a given component.

Secondly, we have greatly reduced the amount of shipping when creating a product by simplifying our supply chain. I won’t get into too much detail, but instead of making 5-7 shipments for one product to be made we have cut that in half. As a sustainable blogger I am sure you are familiar with the shipping effects on the planet.

Third, we are phasing into more glass jars to replace plastic ones with many of our products. A slow move but still in mind for new launches and re-orders of products.

Fourth, the plastic we do use is the most recyclable form. HDPE and LDPE are safer for the environment than other forms of plastic. We also use paper unit cartons, which in itself is recyclable.

The Progressive Peel itself while it does come with 2 products (one of which is glass), in its entirety, it can be recycled or reused.

Again, I appreciate you reaching out. Sustainability is definitely on our minds and being a small brand we are taking the small steps that we can to make less of a plastic footprint.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Best,

Kristina

I only included the reply from Beauty RX to demonstrate how a quick email to a brand can make a difference in our fight for sustainability. This sends a strong message to the brand that we’re concerned and that we expect the brand to do better. In turn the brand is motivated to work harder on sustainability.

I’m really impressed with Beauty RX as a company and the performance of this product is outstanding. If there’s something I left out or you’d like to know, please leave your querie in comments.

Thanks for reading lovelies xxx