"WOULD you ever hurt your kidneys or your lungs in order for them to come back stronger? You wouldn't. So why would you do that to your skin?" asks dermatologist and skin cancer researcher Dr Dennis Gross from New York during a virtual briefing.
"But that was what the industry was doing in the past. They really wanted 'harsh'; they said you had to have redness and downtime," he says.
Dr Gross, who founded his label Dr Dennis Gross Skincare in 2000, is talking about skin peeling in the 1990s, the treatment to get baby-soft skin on the face.
Patients were treated with high concentrations of glycolic acid and with ever-increasing dosage until the skin is damaged, red and raw.
They were then asked to stay home for a week, with no exposure to the sun, until the skin grows back.
"You literally had (industry) people coming to doctors' offices and saying 'put this on your patient'. The first week, it was 20 per cent, then 30 per cent, and then going up to 70 per cent. From 50 per cent onwards, the skin started to peel and turned red and raw.
"The result would be great, they said. Guess what? The result wasn't great and customers were not happy. The damage and downtime were unnecessary," he says.
For Dr Gross, this wasn't the way to do peeling.
"What if we use a cocktail of acids in lower doses to get the job done without damaging the skin?," he asks.
THE PEEL
Dr Gross says having good skin is the result of the right approach to peeling. His brand has a strong emphasis on keeping skin balanced and using safe and effective ingredients.
"Beyond exfoliation, micropeeling removes the inactive and least attractive part of skin— the dead layer of cells that accumulate on the skin's surface every 24 hours," he says.
Its signature product, the Alpha Beta Daily Peel, is a two-step daily micropeel which is carried out at home for clinical results.
It contains a proprietary blend of exfoliating acids to address multiple concerns. It also has resveratrol as an antioxidant, polyphenol (which protects skin from free radicals) and CoQ10 (to defend against free radicals and build collagen).
The product comes in different strengths for different skin types and conditions — ultra gentle for those with sensitive skin or pregnant women; universal; and extra strength with seven acids. The last is the label's bestseller.
Dr Gross says peel is an important procedure carried out by dermatologists, aestheticians and even doctors.
Having a healthy glow is possible with targeted exfoliation and not going overboard with peeling.
"Skin must be kept in balance," he adds.
NO MAGIC BULLET
Dr Gross says there's no such thing as a magic bullet ingredient for peel.
"Cocktailing is important — mixing and matching ingredients— to give your skin what it needs."
He says that the ingredients chosen are as important as what's not used.
"We don't use ingredients that are proven to be bad for the body or assumed bad, like parabens. We want to be 100 per cent sure. Why take a chance when we have alternatives?"
Dr Gross has expanded the peel treatment to the body, calling it the one-step Alpha Beta Exfoliating Body Treatment.
He says the triple-action body treatment does not require the same neutralisation process as the Alpha Beta Daily Peel to deliver optimal results.
"The double enzymes exfoliate immediately upon contact and allow for deeper penetration to increase cell turnover from the bottom up and to stimulate collagen.
"Our users see significant improvement in texture, keratosis pilaris, ingrown hair and discolouration. We also see 100 per cent of our subjects showing significant improvement in breakouts."
Dr Gross says the one-step treatment is chosen because the body's skin is thicker. "But you must never use this on your face," he cautions.