by
Portia
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m always looking for ways to keep my skin soft, supple, and smooth. With the way this winter has been going, my skin needs all the help it can get. I usually stick to my staples, shea butter and mango butter, on tough areas. However, those products alone weren’t quite cutting it. I remembered being prescribed a glycolic acid lotion a few years ago for a bout of severely dry skin. I used it for a month or two and it worked like a charm. I had extremely soft and moisturized skin – the complete opposite how you would expect an acid to perform.
While I wasn’t informed about the benefits of glycolic acid back then, I couldn’t deny the amazing results. I started to do some more research on it in the fall and found that glycolic acid has many benefits for the skin, and is perfect for African-American/black skin. Glycoloc acid is an alpha hydroxy acid and is used along as a facial peel or in skin care products – prescription and over the counter.
Glycolic acid’s benefits:
There are other deeper penetrating acids, like trichloracetic acid and phenol acid, that produce similar results, but they can actually cause further damage to darker skin tones because they seep much deeper into the skin.
I learned that most people use these acids alone and wait for their skin to peel, (as seen in this video by Naakie Nartey) but some of these acids can also be found in lotions, toners, and face wash. I have been using Alpha Skincare Renewal Body Lotion, with 12% glycolic acid, for a few months as a part of my nighttime routine and it has seriously relieved my elbows of rough and dark skin.
As I stated in a previous post, I spend most of my time typing, which means that my elbows are abused because they are constantly rubbing against a desk. After just a few weeks of using the lotion, my elbows are soft and are slowly starting to lighten up. I loved my results so much, that I started using the lotion on my legs as well. I’ve also been using a glycolic acid serum on my face before bed, and I have seen an improvement in the overall texture of my skin and the size of my pores. I have seborrheic dermatitis on my face as well, and glycolic acid has really helped with flare ups.
Glycolic acid is not only heaven sent for black women who suffer from acne, hyperpigmentation, and uneven skin tone, but it is also the best acid that black women can use. Other medium surface acids and deep surface acids, like trichloracetic and phenol, get too deep under the surface of our skin and can cause keloids and very dark marks on the face and body. Glycolic acid is a superficial acid and is he safest, yet most effective when it comes to battling discoloration on African-American skin.
Even if you don’t ever feel the need to get a glycolic acid peel, it would be helpful to add a glycolic acid beauty product to your skin care regimen if you have any of the issues mentioned above. It is not an overnight miracle, but it definitely will improve your skin overtime. I’m looking forward to seeing what my legs and elbows look like by the spring, as I’ve already been using glycolic acid lotion for a few months. I also plan on getting a toner that has glycolic acid in it to help even my skin tone. As with anything, use caution when trying out new beauty products. Do a patch test on your skin to see if glycolic acid based products are right for you.
Do you have experience with glycolic acid? How do you use it in your skincare regimen?
