Meet Glycolic Acid, My Soon-to-Be Skincare Ingredient Bestie

Wed, 18 July 2012 2:09PM

After proclaiming my love for nourishing facial oils and my Clarisonic Mia, with which I will never part, my skin took an unexpected and unwelcome turn for the worse in the last few weeks. The dreaded cheekbone congestion is back – with a vengeance. Along with a side order of dry skin. Thanks for that, winter.

I should preface by saying that by no means could my skin be classified as “bad,” and fortunately, with a coat of BB cream and a touch of Nars Bronzer, I can generally get away with it. But this is more about my skin actually feeling, well, clean. Quite frankly, I’d like to sort out my skin so that I could skip makeup all together. Wouldn’t we all!

As a little beauty luck would have it, I was introduced to a new skincare friend by the name of glycolic acid. I must admit, I’ve never used any glycolic-based products before, because as I mentioned, my only real issue has been small bouts of congestion and traditionally glycolic acid has been renowned for its anti-ageing and brightening properties. (Although on the anti-ageing front, since I just hit my mid ‘20s, I guess I should really be starting to think about fine lines and dreaded wrinkles ).

As for a little meet-and-greet, if you haven’t heard of, or tried glycolic-based products before, here goes… Glycolic acid is what’s known as an AHA, which stands for alpha hydroxy acid. It’s a chemical exfoliant, which means it works without you having to manually scrub away. And what it does is basically dissolve the bonds between dead skin cells (which contribute to a dull, lacklustre complexion) at a deeper level than your regular exfoliating products. As you know, if you scrub too hard too often, this can actually damage your skin further. Especially if you’re on the sensitive side.

Here’s the new endota spa Glycolic Clearing Cleanser, $45, available the end of July, 03 9230 2200. As to not freak my skin out too much, I’ve just been taking baby steps, using it twice a week in conjunction with my regular routine, whenever my skin is feeling like it needs a thorough, deeper cleanse. I leave it on like a mini-mask for around two minutes and then wash it off. Afterwards, my skin feels refreshed and also kind of tight – but in a good way! While I feared that glycolic might leave my skin with even more dry spots, I’ve found that massaging in a nourishing face oil when needed – even using it as a spot treatment – has kept my skin supple and plump.

Oh the other tweak I’ve had to make: ease up on my Clarisonic addiction. Which makes sense: after all, glycolic acid is an exfoliant, so if you also use manual scrubs or skin brushes, you’re going to push the skin love a bit too much.

On its own, I’ve found that a glycolic cleanser is oomphy enough to begin breaking down the congestion, while at the same time leaving my complexion feeling brighter and evening out my skin tone to boot. So if you haven’t yet gone down the glycolic acid route, I highly recommend the trip!

What about you, Primpettes: Do you already use glycolic-based products?

What brands do you favour?

Has your skin gone a little (or a lot) nuts this winter, too?

Hayley x

Posted by: Hayley Bennett

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Tags: aha, alpha hydroxy acids, bumps, congestion, endota spa, glowing skin, glycolic acid, skin, skincare