Hey there! I am an at home chemical peel user and fan of MUAC Makeup Artists Choice. A suggestion for you to look into their Mandelic 25% as well as there combo Salicylic 15%/Mandelic 15%. Mandelic is gentle but it works on active acne, inflammation and post inflammatory hyperpigmentation. It will help unclog your pores and heal. You can work up to using it 2 xs a week (the 25% one). I would potentially wait on the Lactic acid peels until you get your acne under control with Salicylic and Mandelic. Always start out with the least time and patch test. Be gentle to your skin and it will resopnd in turn. If you are going to use salicylic or mandelic, I would focus on using those for 4-6 weeks and then once things calm down look into Lactic/Glycolic to help with fading. Hope this has helped a bit! Good luck and lots of hugs!

To start things out let me give you all some background information!

I'm seventeen years old and currently a senior in high school. I've suffered from cystic acne for over five years now. A lot of it is hereditary because my dad suffered from severe acne when he was growing up as well. I have had a serious problem with picking, mainly because when I first got acne, I was not well informed about treatments and things not to do so I always picked my acne, and it has turned into a really bad habit. Due to my picking, I have a lot of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. It's gotten to the point where there is really no area on my face that isn't scarred. My acne has also spread down to my neck in the past year and I am beginning to develop scarring there too. I spend hours and hours online everyday educating myself on all things acne and I have tried almost everything to help it, but nothing works in the long run.

About three-four months ago I decided to order a home lactic acid peel from SkinLaboratory. Since then I have done about ten peels and I haven't really seen any difference in my PIH. I've read online that people with active acne shouldn't use lactic acid peels because they will only make things worse. So I have looked into salicylic acid peels, but the problem is those don't help post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation very much (and I've heard they burn like crazy!) I've read that you should wait until you no longer have active acne to use lactic acid peels, but the problem is I haven't had any periods of time without active acne since middle school, and I don't foresee myself suddenly no longer breaking out, because that's just normal for me. Like I mentioned before, my acne is largely due to hereditary reasons. I have a very strict skincare routine and even with that, I still break out. So I don't want to wait until I no longer have active acne to reap the benefits of lactic acid peels, because I will be waiting for a very long time.

 

So in summary.. should I continue using lactic acid peels every week? Or should I maybe switch over to salicylic acid peels to control my acne, then begin using lactic acid peels again when my acne has subsided? Is it safe to use both salicylic acid and lactic acid peels at the same time (not mixed obviously, but using both at different times within a week or alternating every week between the two?) Also I am not very familiar with salicylic acid peels, but I've heard it makes you very dry and flakey. And that could be a problem because I am still in high school, so I wear makeup 5/7 days of the week. And no, I can't just not wear makeup to school, because only two people outside of my family have seen my skin. It is a major insecurity for me and I just really look forward to the day I can be confident with little or no makeup.

So, I hope my question is clear! Thank you!

Hey there! I am an at home chemical peel user and fan of MUAC Makeup Artists Choice. A suggestion for you to look into their Mandelic 25% as well as there combo Salicylic 15%/Mandelic 15%. Mandelic is gentle but it works on active acne, inflammation and post inflammatory hyperpigmentation. It will help unclog your pores and heal. You can work up to using it 2 xs a week (the 25% one). I would potentially wait on the Lactic acid peels until you get your acne under control with Salicylic and Mandelic. Always start out with the least time and patch test. Be gentle to your skin and it will resopnd in turn. If you are going to use salicylic or mandelic, I would focus on using those for 4-6 weeks and then once things calm down look into Lactic/Glycolic to help with fading. Hope this has helped a bit! Good luck and lots of hugs!

To start things out let me give you all some background information!

I'm seventeen years old and currently a senior in high school. I've suffered from cystic acne for over five years now. A lot of it is hereditary because my dad suffered from severe acne when he was growing up as well. I have had a serious problem with picking, mainly because when I first got acne, I was not well informed about treatments and things not to do so I always picked my acne, and it has turned into a really bad habit. Due to my picking, I have a lot of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. It's gotten to the point where there is really no area on my face that isn't scarred. My acne has also spread down to my neck in the past year and I am beginning to develop scarring there too. I spend hours and hours online everyday educating myself on all things acne and I have tried almost everything to help it, but nothing works in the long run.

About three-four months ago I decided to order a home lactic acid peel from SkinLaboratory. Since then I have done about ten peels and I haven't really seen any difference in my PIH. I've read online that people with active acne shouldn't use lactic acid peels because they will only make things worse. So I have looked into salicylic acid peels, but the problem is those don't help post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation very much (and I've heard they burn like crazy!) I've read that you should wait until you no longer have active acne to use lactic acid peels, but the problem is I haven't had any periods of time without active acne since middle school, and I don't foresee myself suddenly no longer breaking out, because that's just normal for me. Like I mentioned before, my acne is largely due to hereditary reasons. I have a very strict skincare routine and even with that, I still break out. So I don't want to wait until I no longer have active acne to reap the benefits of lactic acid peels, because I will be waiting for a very long time.

So in summary.. should I continue using lactic acid peels every week? Or should I maybe switch over to salicylic acid peels to control my acne, then begin using lactic acid peels again when my acne has subsided? Is it safe to use both salicylic acid and lactic acid peels at the same time (not mixed obviously, but using both at different times within a week or alternating every week between the two?) Also I am not very familiar with salicylic acid peels, but I've heard it makes you very dry and flakey. And that could be a problem because I am still in high school, so I wear makeup 5/7 days of the week. And no, I can't just not wear makeup to school, because only two people outside of my family have seen my skin. It is a major insecurity for me and I just really look forward to the day I can be confident with little or no makeup.

So, I hope my question is clear! Thank you!

Thank you so much for the input, I really appreciate it! I'm definitely looking into purchasing either the mandelic or mandelic/salicylic peels! I'm a bit torn on which one to purchase though as they seem to do very similar things, but I'm leaning more towards the 25% mandelic acid peel. Have you used either of these peels and have a preference? Also are these peels gentle like lactic acid peels? I've never experienced any major peeling with lactic acid peels, and I love that about them.

I've used both and like them both. I started with the Mandelic 25% and have done that 3 times. I have not "peeled" from it. My pores did purge a bit, but it was only clogs that were already under the surface and any spots that were already there dried up or became less inflammed. It also helped even out my texture and reduce pigmentation. This Friday I did the Salicylic/Mandelic acid peel and holy cow, it cleared me up in the past 3 days. I had some remaining clogged pores on my jaw and cheeks and this dried them out, minor peeling, like it just looks a little bit like dry skin and my moisturizer has helped. You actually want a bit of peeling when it comes to hyperpigmentation because the layers are coming off of old dead skin and new layers to come through with less pigmentation. I was scared of "peeling" that you get from other TCA type peels, but this is very minor. I left it on for ahbout 3 1/2 and can't wait to use it again. I am pretty much close to 95% clear, just a few clogs and PIH left. Thanks to consistent exfoliation along with Birth control and Spiro. I also bought their Mandelic toner to use after I was with Cerave, and truly love it. It cleans off that top yucky layer without overdrying my skin. Being a girl is fun isn't it!? It's a great thing you have such a good cleansing routine so early in life, it will help you later on for sure. WIshing you the best!

 

Hey there! I am an at home chemical peel user and fan of MUAC Makeup Artists Choice. A suggestion for you to look into their Mandelic 25% as well as there combo Salicylic 15%/Mandelic 15%. Mandelic is gentle but it works on active acne, inflammation and post inflammatory hyperpigmentation. It will help unclog your pores and heal. You can work up to using it 2 xs a week (the 25% one). I would potentially wait on the Lactic acid peels until you get your acne under control with Salicylic and Mandelic. Always start out with the least time and patch test. Be gentle to your skin and it will resopnd in turn. If you are going to use salicylic or mandelic, I would focus on using those for 4-6 weeks and then once things calm down look into Lactic/Glycolic to help with fading. Hope this has helped a bit! Good luck and lots of hugs!

Thanks again for the help! Now since I am limited when it comes to spending, if you had to recommend only one of the peels which would you recommend? Or I could get a 1oz size of one of them and a sample size of the other. I'm just not sure which of the two would be more helpful for my current acne situation.

I've used both and like them both. I started with the Mandelic 25% and have done that 3 times. I have not "peeled" from it. My pores did purge a bit, but it was only clogs that were already under the surface and any spots that were already there dried up or became less inflammed. It also helped even out my texture and reduce pigmentation. This Friday I did the Salicylic/Mandelic acid peel and holy cow, it cleared me up in the past 3 days. I had some remaining clogged pores on my jaw and cheeks and this dried them out, minor peeling, like it just looks a little bit like dry skin and my moisturizer has helped. You actually want a bit of peeling when it comes to hyperpigmentation because the layers are coming off of old dead skin and new layers to come through with less pigmentation. I was scared of "peeling" that you get from other TCA type peels, but this is very minor. I left it on for ahbout 3 1/2 and can't wait to use it again. I am pretty much close to 95% clear, just a few clogs and PIH left. Thanks to consistent exfoliation along with Birth control and Spiro. I also bought their Mandelic toner to use after I was with Cerave, and truly love it. It cleans off that top yucky layer without overdrying my skin. Being a girl is fun isn't it!? It's a great thing you have such a good cleansing routine so early in life, it will help you later on for sure. WIshing you the best!