Aqua peel in Korea is a trending treatment that promises the dewy glow or 'glass skin' as it is commonly known as. However this treatment doesn't just provide the glow on the surface of the skin but it goes deeper in to our skin layers. This helps to get rid of issues such as sun spots, discolouration, acne and other imperfections.
Aqua peeling is a two step process that cleanses your skin deeply but also moisturises the newly cleaned skin. Often, chemical peels and acne treatments can dry the skin out which irritates the skin more. This forces oil glands on our face to over produce the oil which then blocks our pores. This is because when the skin is too dry, the brain sends signals to make it moisturised and oil is the skin's natural moisturiser.
This is a very basic look in to the cause of acne which is affected by many factors such as hormones, age, environment and stress. However, it explains a key myth in taking care of acne prone skin.
However, aqua peeling does the exact opposite of most marketed products, this treatment deeply nourishes the skin after cleaning, but how does it do that?
Want to understand how Aqua Peel actually cleanses, extracts, and hydrates your skin step by step?
Firstly, aqua peeling uses AHAs and BHAs to first exfoliate our skin. This means they remove dead skin cells and impurities that are locked on to our face by our cells. All our skin cells are 'stuck' together by a type of 'glue' made by the cells which is what makes our skin look like a continuous layer on our body.
The skin is actually made of millions of cells that are stuck together in this way to protect the body. When a skin cell dies it can sometimes still stay stuck together with the rest of the cells along with other dirt that gets trapped.
Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHAs) are a group of acids that are usually found in nearly all skin cosmetics. Most popular ones are glycolic acid and lactic acid which are especially found in any treatment related to acne and skin repair. Another popular effect is skin brightening which is done by ascorbic acid; commonly known as vitamin C.
This is because AHAs have incredible skin healing properties that affect the multiple layers of the skin. This is very useful when dealing with conditions like hyper-pigmentation which start in the deep layers of the skin and build up over time. Aqua peel in Korea takes advantage of these properties and combines it with BHAs.
Beta Hydroxy Acids (BHA) is similar to AHAs but they are different in their structure. The structure of AHAs means they can easily dissolve in water. This means they can take care of most of the dirt on the skin surface but BHA can dissolve in oil. This is important for areas that produce a lot of oil such as the nose, chin and forehead (The T-zone).
So AHA and BHA are used to clean the because it almost pulls the dirt out of our skin and this makes the first step of the aqua peel process.
A layer of AHA is first used to move all the dirt, blackheads, whiteheads and dead skin cells from where they are locked on to your face. Once the AHA does this, a suction machine can be used on the face to suck up these impurities off the surface of the face and in the pores. BHA works in the same way but for the areas that have more oil as explained above.
Once the skin has been cleaned with this procedure, the next part is to moisturise the skin with a mixture of ingredients that is unique to each clinic. Most clinics use hydrating chemicals like hyaluronic acid, antioxidants and other nourishing solutions. This will ensure the skin is left feeling soothed and protected.
This treatment is usually paired with other treatments in Korea. A popular one it is coupled with is the hydrating injection which is an injection that injects hyaluronic acid in your skin. This acid makes your skin look and feel very moisturised. It also makes the skin healthy and repairs skin conditions like large pores, dryness and facial lines. This treatment can be booked on the Jivaka Beauty site as well as the aqua peel (Link).
This is a treatment that goes one step further than simple facial. It is recommended to have this done for big events such as weddings, graduation and other big celebrations. This will give that glow that people want to have on these big days. Also, as the effects of this treatment last a up to a month, it would be great to have it done before holiday so the skin looks radiant in all the holiday pics.
Also, this treatment is known as a 'lunchtime treatment' because of how short the treatment time is and there is no downtime needed. This would make it perfect for tourists who want to get beautiful skin for their stay in Korea. The price is also lower than peels like this in other countries because of the number of clinics offering it in Korea which keeps the price low and is great for customers.
One point of precaution is that the AHA/BHA will make the skin more sensitive to sunlight, therefore it is recommended to always wear sunscreen and take extra care of sun exposure.
I really enjoyed reading this useful subject since I work in this field as a facialist🥰
