Ten Mistakes to avoid when you are doing a home chemical peel.

Rookie or Pro, here are some pointers for you when you are working on your skin with the Light Routine® range of home peels from CHOSEN®. Avoid these common mistakes to make sure that you get your home peel routine right!

1. Never get on to a home peel, without getting on to sunscreen first. This is where you begin – train your skin on a good sunscreen for 3 to 4 weeks and ONLY THEN, place your order for a home peel. Sunscreens can take time getting used to, and some sunscreens may not suit you. So, it is important to get your sunscreen game sorted before getting on to the peel.

2. Be gentle with GENTLE, and go easy on EASY. Home peels are chemical exfoliators, which are meant to go on the skin as a thin layer, to allow uniform removal of the top layers of the skin. Rubbing the peel into the skin can give you patchy results, redness and small bumps on the skin, and at worst, even a burn.

3. Avoid applying the salicylic acid home peel on a greasy or sweaty face. Salicylic acid is great for acne prone skin and oil control, because of its lipid solubility. If the skin is not cleansed well, then your peel might be patchy, and/or less effective. You can start workouts one day after your peel, but make sure to not rub the skin with your towel. You can use soft face tissues at the gym – handle your skin with care!

4. Avoid oiling the scalp. Scalp oiling increases the oiliness of the T-zone on the face, and this can increase pimples on the mid face region. This again is very counter productive to our goal of clearing congested skin. For the same reason, do not use oils to remove your eye makeup.

5. The best time to use the peel, is at bedtime, so that you can allow your skin to rest overnight. If you do not have a choice but to use it in the day, apply a sunscreen after 20 minutes. If you are someone that works in night shifts, you can schedule your peel for just before you go to sleep.

6. Be gentle with your icing too. Avoid rubbing the ice cubes into the skin, as this can cause redness and skin irritation. If you do not have any burning or redness (which will be the case when you use the peel for long enough), you can simply skip the icing, and just stay in a cool environment.

7. Avoid using retinol creams for 1 day before and for 2-3 days after a peel. If you are on a tretinoin based topical cream, then it is best to not plan to start the home peel, till you are done with the tretinoin.

8. Skip the chemical peel if you are planning to head out into the sun. You can always get back on your schedule a week after you are back. Provided you were good with sunscreen, throughout your trip. Pack that Pycnogenol®!

9. Avoid starting the chemical peel on delicate areas like the undereye region, and around the mouth. Start with easy to apply areas like the forehead, cheeks and chin (where pimples are more likely), and finish up with the tricky areas. Never exceed the planned time.

10. Moisturizers post chemical exfoliation are not always necessary in humid weather. But if you feel dry, follow through your DIY peel with a hyaluronic acid moisturizer or a thermal spring spray.

Before we go, a few important points.

1. DIY skin care takes practice. Always make sure to listen to your skin, and titrate your routine accordingly. Avoid too many products, to reduce skin sensitivity.

2. Acne has multiple causes. Chemical peels are just one way of decongesting the skin. Try to understand the grade of your acne in details, foods that trigger your pimples, and stress factors that break you out - and then work on these factors to give you a holistic control of your acne. Quit smoking, cut back on dairy (yes, ghee and whey are dairy), and reduce your intake of junk food. You may need to consult a dermatologist when you have a higher grade of acne. Early treatment of acne prevents scars and so this may be a very important step to take!

3. If you are on a treatment plan with a dermatologist, a DIY peel is best started when you get down to self-maintenance, and not when you are on an active treatment plan!

4. Drink up, an average water intake for summer is between 3 and 4 litres, depending on your sweating.

5. As always, an early bedtime helps to work on your insulin axis, and helps reduce pimples. So yes, to bed on time!