After months of freezing temperatures and limited sunlight, the skin might appear dull, dry, and irritated. Unfortunately, there is often only so much that protective clothing like gloves, hats, and scarves can accomplish.
What is more, dry skin might only exacerbate the appearance of blemishes and fine lines, further contributing to unwanted texture and skin aging concerns.
As we move towards warmer weather, the experts at Medical Grade Aesthetics can help you repair and reset your winter skin. For many patients, chemical peels successfully stimulate skin renewal, improving skin quality and texture for lasting radiance.
Keep reading to discover how a wintry climate influences your skin health and how you can prepare your skin for custom chemical peels near Janesville. If you are ready to kick off your spring cleaning, schedule a consultation with one of our licensed skin specialists.
How Does the Winter Season Affect My Skin?
When considering how the seasons impact your skin health, we have to factor in the frigid outdoor air and our indoor heating systems.
The Skin Dries
When the temperature outside drops, the skin has a hard time holding onto any moisture, leading to persistent dryness and sensitivity. With excessively dry skin, our dead skin cells might build up, causing a rough texture and dullness.
Oxygen Circulation Declines
Exposure to the elements also causes blood vessels in the skin to constrict, reducing oxygen circulation throughout the dermis. Diminished oxygenation hinders cellular turnover and collagen development, often contributing to dull, lined, or acne-prone skin.
Vitamin Production Dwindles
Reduced sun exposure during the short winter days also causes a decline in our natural vitamin D production, a nutrient essential to skin cell growth and skin barrier formation.
Skin Barrier Diminishes
Once we go indoors, the dry air heating systems accelerate skin dehydration. This combination of frosty outdoor conditions and hot, dry air extracts moisture from the skin, breaking down our skin barrier, or the top layer of skin. Even hot showers can speed up skin barrier breakdown.
Unable to properly seal our skin and protect it from irritants, our dermis becomes more vulnerable to air pollution, harsh products, oil buildup, and more. Skin barrier disruption can also limit the efficacy of products like moisturizers, affecting the skin’s ability to repair itself.
Skincare Causes Irritation
Eventually, your tried-and-true skincare regimen might start to do more harm than good. Your favorite toners and chemical exfoliants that once supported glowing results can further damage and irritate dry skin during the winter months, contributing to inflammation and redness.
How Can Chemical Peels Restore My Skin?
For patients working to repair the skin barrier and eliminate dry skin cells after winter has taken its toll, your licensed provider might recommend chemical peels. Near Janesville, our team regularly guides patients through skin healing, using personalized treatments to remove the damaged layers of skin and address your unique skin concerns.
Our thoughtfully crafted VI Peel, Environ cool peel, and other customized peels can help reduce:
- Pore congestion
- Excess oil
- Dryness
- Acne
- Uneven texture
- Hyperpigmentation
- Fine lines and wrinkles
Your provider can tailor the intensity of your peel to your skin condition and treatment goals to foster clearer, smoother skin on your terms.
What Will My Peel Look Like at Medical Grade Aesthetics?
Prior to booking your chemical peels near Janesville, you meet with a licensed medical professional in a consultation. During this conversation, you can share your current skincare routine, skin concerns, and goals for treatment.
Your provider also takes the time to evaluate your skin type and any active skin conditions to confirm that a chemical peel is the best treatment for you. From there, we work with you to shape a treatment plan that supports your lifestyle and goals.
VI Peel
Your licensed medical professional begins treatment by cleansing your skin, clearing away any makeup, oil, or dirt. When administering a VI Peel or other custom chemical peels near Janesville, your provider applies the chemical solution to the face in layers, waiting for each to take effect before proceeding with the next.
Depending on your unique treatment plan, your provider removes the solution during your appointment or recommends letting it settle into the skin in the hours following treatment.
The VI Peel solution typically contains a blend of trichloroacetic acid (TCA), salicylic acid, retinoic acid, and vitamin C. This blend facilitates medium-depth peeling, but we can tailor the concentration of ingredients to meet your skin’s needs.
The acidity of the active ingredients exfoliates the damaged and dead skin cells from the epidermis and dermis, in turn, stimulating new cell generation. These healthy skin cells brighten and smooth your complexion, calming acne-prone skin and minimizing texture and wrinkles.
This exfoliation process also promotes renewed collagen genesis and enhances the quality of your elastin fibers for stronger, more supple skin and improved skin tone.
Preparing Your Skin
During your consultation, your licensed medical provider describes your pre-care instructions to prepare your skin for chemical exfoliation.
For many patients, these guidelines include:
- Omitting all exfoliation and scrubbing from your skincare routine 3 to 5 days before treatment
- Avoiding use of active ingredients like retinoids, AHAs, and BHAs 48 to 72 hours prior to your appointment
- Limiting direct sun exposure in the week leading up to a chemical peel
- Discontinuing use of self-tanners or other harsh products on the treatment area
These simple steps help promote skin health and optimal treatment outcomes.
Caring for Your Skin
As the skin sheds dead cells and steadily regenerates, you should see your radiant results about 3 to 7 days following treatment. Most patients see ongoing improvements in tone and texture in the subsequent weeks as well.
After receiving one of our chemical peels near Janesville, your provider can outline helpful care steps to maintain your renewed glow. We often advise the following approach to recovery:
- Avoid picking at peeling skin
- Use a gentle cleanser and moisturizer to hydrate the skin
- Apply sunscreen to protect your new skin cells as the dermis heals
- Avoid direct sun exposure for at least 2 weeks after chemical exfoliation
- Do not use products containing exfoliants or active ingredients until peeling subsides
Environ Cool Peels
Among our traditional chemical peels near Janesville, we also offer skin rejuvenation and resurfacing with Environ’s cool peel treatments, not to be confused with the CoolPeel laser treatment.
This lighter peel can gently address pigmentation, dryness, skin aging, breakouts, and more with distinct formulations for cleansing, blemish control, renewal, and recovery.
During your appointment, your provider smooths the custom blend over the skin, applying the formula in layers. The treatment carefully peels away the surface of the skin, removing the broken-down tissue clogging your pores and causing fine lines and discoloration.
The caustic ingredients within the peel also create controlled, superficial damage, stimulating the skin’s healing response, which promotes new collagen production. With restored collagen generation, the skin can repair itself, knitting a tighter framework that better hugs your features.
Preparing Your Skin
Leading up to your Environ cool peel, your licensed practitioner guides you through essential skin prep steps. They can also provide a comprehensive list of products to avoid based on your treatment plan.
Typically, they recommend that peel patients:
- Stop using exfoliative or abrasive skincare products, like retinoids, salicylic acid, and glycolic acid, the week prior to treatment
- Avoid scheduling other exfoliating treatments, like laser resurfacing, less than 2 weeks before a peel
- Apply sunscreen every day in the weeks leading up to your appointment
- Arrive at the Environ cool peel appointment with clean skin free of any products
Caring for Your Skin
An Environ cool peel treatment calls for less downtime than deep peels, as the controlled, repetitive peeling approach creates minimal damage to the dermis. Most patients find they can return to light activity within 1 to 2 days of treatment. As your skin heals, you should observe your provider’s post-care steps as directed.
Often, these instructions include:
- Minimizing makeup application to the treated skin within 24 hours of the peel
- Limiting strenuous exercise and other behaviors that could induce sweating for the first day following your appointment
- Double cleansing the skin with an oil-based and water-based cleanser if the skin feels tight or dry in the week following treatment
- Applying a gentle moisturizer liberally to the skin after washing and as needed
- Avoiding harsh skincare products (like AHAs or BHAs) for at least 1 week after treatment
- Protecting the sensitive skin from direct sun exposure for 7 days post-treatment
Taking the time to care for your skin helps preserve the refreshed results of your exfoliative treatment.
Foster Lasting Rejuvenation
A peel creates controlled damage to the epidermis and dermis to foster improved skin regeneration and healing. Though this “damage” might seem counterintuitive, these peels stimulate lasting cellular turnover, supporting a stronger skin barrier that can weather any season.
The perceived “damage” also induces deeper skin healing, prompting essential collagen and elastin production to tone and tighten the skin.
Target Seasonal Skin Concerns With Peels
After months of harsh temperatures and dry air, a chemical peel can give your skin just the boost it needs. With curated chemical peels near Janesville, you can restore life to your skin any time of the year.
Discover how our other cleansing facials, like the DiamondGlow, can support skin health.
