Glycolic acid is an alpha-hydroxy acid that can be found in a wide variety of fruits. Glycolic acid itself is created from sugar cane and it can be very corrosive if used in high concentrations. Because of its corrosive nature, glycolic acid in concentrations over 10% is known to be very hazardous. Cosmetics that use glycolic acid do not have it in concentrations over 10%. Glycolic acid peels that are very popular have concentrations between 8-10%. Any concentrations lower than that will be considered to be ineffective.
Benefits of Glycolic Acid
Glycolic acid has been proven to be a very good exfoliant for the skin. For that reason it is used in a wide range of skin care cosmetics. When glycolic acid is applied to the skin it will be able to reach down to the skins superficial layers and destroy the bond that is used to keep dead skin cells grouped together. Because of this effectiveness, glycolic acid is found in a host of creams, gels and lotions, some of which are used to treat acne. Glycolic acid is also used in facial peels, which can help people have younger looking skin. Acid peels are also used to remove wrinkles, age spots, acne scars, dry skin, oily skin and skin damaged by the sun.
- Glycolic acid is able to stimulate elastin and collagen that is often found in the second layer of the skin, the dermis. Collagen is very vital to the skin and elastin is able to allow the skin to expand and not break.
- Glycolic acid is able to help remove scars that are associated with acne. The acid can reduce the ridges of these scars and that will result in the appearance of the skin being very smooth.
- Glycolic acid is able to clean out the hair follicles, removing dead cells and other substances. When dead cells build up in the follicle, acne can form. This is why it is necessary to clean out the follicles when it comes to controlling acne.
- Glycolic acid is able to even out the skin’s tone. It does this by eliminating the darker pigment that can be found in the epidermis (top layer) of the skin. Glycolic acid will not prevent the occurrence of new darker pigment but it will even it out.
- Glycolic acid is very beneficial to the skin as it is able to improve the texture.
- As an antioxidant Glycolic acid is known to be very good. It is able to join on to the skins free radicals, which in turn makes them ineffective.
- There is some success in using glycolic acid for the treatment of ingrown hairs. Ingrown hairs often occur when the hair follicle grows back into the skin. In using Glycolic acid, the product should be able to prevent this.
Glycolic Acid and Acne Benefits
- The skins texture will improve significantly after a few weeks of use
- The tone of the skin should even out after a couple of months
- Glycolic acid will control the outbreak of hormonal acne outbreaks
- Can remove acne scars
- Improvement in elastin and collagen