Are Laser Treatments and Chemical Peels Damaging Your Skin?

With all the recent advancements in results-driven professional skin procedures, it is now so much easier to attain healthy, glowing, younger-looking skin. And certainly as an esthetician, it gives me great pleasure to be able to help my clients solve their skin woes.

But what I’m seeing more and more in a woman’s quest to look younger is they get too many aggressive treatments that could actually be injuring the skin. They feel if a facial treatment doesn’t hurt, doesn’t burn, isn’t making their skin red or they aren’t peeling, it’s not doing anything—and this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Two examples of such treatments are chemical peels and laser treatments.

Let’s compare it to exercise and pretend you’re a marathon runner. We can assume you have an amazingly toned body, right? Well, not exactly. Running exercises your legs tremendously, but doesn’t really exercise your arms, abs and your back—to the extent it does your legs. You might also get leg cramps from tight muscles because you don’t stretch enough…

Now let’s compare it to your friend. She goes running, goes biking, does pilates, does yoga, works her abs with crunches, lifts weights, and does kick boxing. Do you think her body might be more toned and fit? Absolutely! It’s because she is working out her entire body and not just one type of exercise day in and day out. (Read my skin care tips on how to care for your skin before and after exercise.)

Nutritionists will also say that you need a variety of foods in your diet to get all the nutrients and vitamins it needs. You don’t want to eat the same foods day in and day out.

Your skin is the same. It needs a little bit of everything—not a lot of only ONE procedure. And in the case of chemical peels and laser treatments, every time you receive one, it injures the skin to repair itself (which is actually a really good thing and its purpose) but in the process, it also stimulates inflammation and damaging free radicals that age the skin if done too often. That’s not bad once in a while, but if that’s all you are doing to the skin, those free radicals will be running so rampant that it may cause more harm as well as dehydrating the skin because your skin won’t be able to retain its natural moisture.

Note: it’s so important to be using anti-oxidants like our Vitamin C&E Complex every day to neutralize damaging free radical activity caused from aggressive treatments.

Bottom line: A variety of skin care procedures such as hydrating facials, ultrasonic exfoliation, microdermabrasion, light therapy, oxygen, Bio Visage, laser treatments and chemical peels will all be beneficial in getting your skin healthy and younger-looking.

Schedule a consultation at our skin care spas and we’ll be sure to develop an effective anti-aging, results-oriented strategy that gives you beautiful skin.

Which products are right for your skin? See our nine skin types and get products recommended.

Read: Is the Clarisonic brush helpful or harmful?

Read: How to Prevent Lines and Wrinkles from Forming

Read: How to Care for Your Skin After a Chemical Peel

For more expert skin advice, check out Skin Source–the A-Z guide on all things skin. Also sign up here for our skin tip e-newsletter, follow Renée Rouleau on Twitter and like our Facebook page. You’ll be your own skin care expert in no time!

Renée Rouleau

Celebrity Esthetician & Skincare Expert
As an esthetician trained in cosmetic chemistry, Renée Rouleau has spent 30 years researching skin, educating her audience, and building an award-winning line of products. Her hands-on experience as an esthetician and trusted skin care expert has created a real-world solution — products that are formulated for nine different types of skin so your face will get exactly what it needs to look and feel its best. Trusted by celebrities, editors, bloggers, and skincare obsessives around the globe, her vast real-world knowledge and constant research are why Marie Claire calls her “the most passionate skin practitioner we know.”