How to Use Salicylic Acid & The Best Acids for Your Skin
While we know the word acid can be a little daunting at times when it comes to skin care, they're really great for your skin and can fight everything from texture and tone to moisture. From salicylic acid to glycolic acid to lactic acid, most people serious about skin care get incorporated into skin care routines.
Salicylic Acid (BHA) is one of the most proven ingredients for reducing pimples, cleaning pores, and improving moisture and skin tone. BHA is an exceptionally gentle scrub that helps skin cells peel off like they were in our youth. As we get older, mostly due to sun damage or if you are prone to breakouts, the skin cannot peel itself off. This is where BHA comes in to help the skin act young again.
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The clear formulations are extraordinary scrubs – they can dig into your pores to break up oil and sebum deposits that, as you know, cause blackheads and blemishes.
To find out the details, WH spoke to Jennifer Rock, creator of online skin counseling The Skin Nerd and author of The Skin Nerd: Your One-stop Guide to Feeding, Protecting, and Respecting Your Skin. Here are their answers to your top acid questions.
From Salicylic Acid to Lactic Acid: Your 101
Why did acids become such a thing in the world of skin care?
With the ban on microbeads in Europe (where many of SA's most popular skin care products come from) it has given acidic peeling a place on the stage. Personally, I've always advocated the use of chemical peels over mechanical peels (like peels, grit, and brushes) because mechanical peels can cause small cracks on the surface of the skin.
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Acids are all the rage, but the word can panic people. In reality, our skin's pH is naturally and ideally acidic, so acids work with it.
Why are acids effective in skin care?
Peeling acids such as lactic acid, polyhydroxy acids, glycolic acid, mandelic acid and salicylic acid dissolve the desmosomes, the "binding agent" of our skin cells that hold dead skin cells together.
At the same time, they promote the acceleration of skin cell turnover and essentially stimulate the skin's own peeling process.
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What should everyone know before using acids?
What I see a lot in my clients is excessive exfoliation due to a lack of education about these potent ingredients.
Brands like (cult cheap skin care brand) The Ordinary sell strong acid solutions with light information or instructions so consumers can apply salicylic acid, lactic acid and retinol to their face every night, for example. This is too much and can damage the skin barrier.
When dealing with acids, it takes patience and care. Start by using them every two or three days, or even once a week. Knowing how your skin will behave can slowly increase your usage.
If you're using exfoliating acids, the rest of your routine should be moisturizing, nourishing, and skin barrier-friendly too. Vitamins, hyaluronic acid and ceramides help ensure that your skin is not overwhelmed by the acid peeling.
How should we use acids?
Skin experts, facialists, and dermatologists all have their own ideas about how people should exfoliate. I believe the best method is to use an exfoliating cleanser every two or three days at night, depending on whether your skin is tough or sensitive to touch.
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What is the Best Acid for Different Skin Types?
AHAs or alpha hydroxy acids are water soluble while BHAs or beta hydroxy acids are oil soluble.
- AHAs are usually recommended for those who are more prone to dryness, dehydration, and pigmentation
- BHAs are fabulous for those who would get pimples, blackheads, acne, and oiliness
How to use salicylic acid
Salicylic acid is a BHA that also stimulates the skin to exfoliate itself as it digs into the pore, dissolving sebum and debris. From this description, you can guess that it is the ideal acid for people with oily or acne prone skin. The general rule is to apply this type of leave-on scrub after cleansing and toning up. You would then move on with the rest of your skin care routine. During the day, the last product you apply should always be sunscreen.
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Salicylic acid is especially recommended for people with combination to oily or acne-prone skin. It can also be very helpful for rosacea and reduce redness caused by sensitive skin. For information, salicylic acid in high amounts is not recommended for use during pregnancy.
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How to use lactic acid
Lactic acid is an AHA (like glycolic acid, below), but there are some fundamental differences between them. Lactic acid has a higher molecular weight than glycolic acid, which means it is more predictable in the skin and is a little gentler, but still highly effective.
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The special thing about lactic acid is that it also has moisturizing properties. Moisturizing means water binding in every way, so lactic acid helps draw moisture deeper into the skin.
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Lactic acid is ideal for people with normal skin, dry or dehydrated skin, uneven skin tone, and lines and wrinkles.
How to use glycolic acid
Glycolic acid is the smallest of the AHA molecules, which means it can penetrate deeper into the skin than others. This is a positive thing and not so positive for some very sensitive skin as it is very strong and can cause irritation in some people.
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Glycolic acid is best used by those with slightly thickened, sun damaged, and resilient skin. Those prone to congestion may find that glycolic acid can cause pesky bumps under the skin that don't quite taper, and those with dry or dehydrated skin may benefit more from hydrating lactic acid.
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How to use hyaluronic acid
Hyaluronic acid is not a peeling acid like the other acids mentioned. It's actually a humectant that can absorb up to 1,000 times its weight in water. We make our own hyaluronic acid in our skin, but production drops dramatically as we age, which is why it's so important to take it topically.
There are a few different forms of hyaluronic acid, but the two that you will see the most common are high molecular weight HA and low molecular weight HA (often listed as sodium hyaluronate).
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Your low molecular weight HA is the type that can draw moisture further down into the epidermis and, with regular use, supports the skin moisture in the long term. Their high molecular weight HA helps to supply the skin surface with moisture and to plump it up. In an ideal world, you would use both types of hyaluronic acid.
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Hyaluronic acid can be used by anyone and is good for everyone, but it's a particularly good moisturizer for congestion-prone skin that cannot tolerate heavier moisturizing ingredients well.
This article was originally published on Women’s Health UK
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