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Experience the transformative power of our advanced chemical peel treatments, personally tailored by Imagen’s renowned skincare specialists to address your unique complexion concerns and reveal your skin’s natural radiance.
Entrust your rejuvenation journey to our expert practitioners who combine medical-grade formulations with artistic precision to deliver the subtle, natural-looking results that inspire confidence while ensuring your comfort and safety remain our highest priority.
A medium depth, combination peel that contains anti-aging ingredients in addition to the peel, the Perfect Peel can improve sun damage and age spots, reduce appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, improve acne and its scars and firm skin by stimulating collagen production.
The Perfect Peel is a medical grade chemical peel that contains Glutathione, a powerful antioxidant that penetrates deep into the cellular layer of the skin to fight oxidant damage and provide improvement in premature wrinkling. It also reverses melanin metabolism, to lighten dark pigments.
What to expect with the Perfect Peel:
It is generally recommended to repeat the Perfect Peel every 4-6 months to maintain your skin health.
Our board-certified surgeons provide personalized consultations to address your unique goals and questions. Let us guide you toward the confident transformation you deserve.
A chemical peel is an acidic compound that encourages skin resurfacing.
Yes! But with all things, chemical peeling is best in moderation. It induces cell turnover, helping to keep your skin young and fresh. A buildup of dead skin cells on the surface of your skin will make it difficult for your products to penetrate and give you a dull look to your complexion. Removing the top layers stimulates the production of new skin cells in the deep layers of the epidermis.
A chemical peel is ideal for treating a dull complexion and evening tone and texture. It can also help with fine lines and wrinkles, but you must have realistic expectations…one chemical peel isn’t going to take years off your appearance. Chemical peeling is great for acne, in particular salicylic acid peels, and can help to minimize acne scarring and reduce hyperpigmentation.
Chemical peels can improve the appearance of scars by smoothing the edges, reducing pigment in the scars, and stimulating new cell growth. But non-surgical treatment cannot remove a scar. A surgical treatment can remove a scar but will replace it with a new one. Scars are a part of life.
You must understand that a chemical peel is a process. Almost always it will look worse before it looks better. Depending on the acid used, the peeling process may take as little as a day with a light peel or as long as 3 weeks for a deep peel. Most of the peels used today have a peeling process of about 5-7 days, with some persistent flaking for a few more days with a medium depth peel.
Why you should prep your skin before a chemical peel:
There are a couple of reasons to prepare your skin prior to a peel.
First, it will help reduce your risk of complications. One of the most common complications of a chemical peel is hyperpigmentation. This occurs because the inflammation caused by the peel stimulates the melanocytes. By pretreating with hydroquinone, you decrease the risk for this complication. Be sure to include sunscreen as part of your pretreatment, as hydroquinone will increase your sun sensitivity.
Additionally, preparing your skin prior to a chemical peel will help you get a better result. Pretreatment with retinoic acid or other exfoliants for a month before your peel will allow the peel to better penetrate to its ideal depth. Retinoids will also help to stimulate collagen production, further improving your results.
If you have a history of oral herpes or cold sores, you should also pre-treat with an antiviral medication like Acyclovir. If you do not have a prescription for this already, you can ask our doctors to provide one for you.
After washing your face and then removing excess oils with acetone, the chemical peel is applied in layers with a brush or pad. The number of layers applied will depend on the intended depth and the type of chemical peel. Some peels need to be neutralized, an additional step in the peel process, while others are self-neutralizing. That’s it! You’ll go home with the peel on your skin and the acid will do the rest.
You may feel a slight burning or stinging with the initial application of the chemical peel. Some peels contain a low concentration of phenol, which can help to anesthetize the skin, making subsequent layers more comfortable. Once the acid has neutralized, the peel is not uncomfortable. Your skin will feel tight and dry, this is normal and expected. You can apply cool compresses if the itching or dryness is uncomfortable. You may also have some itching while you shed and as your skin heals.
How much downtime you have will depend on the depth and type of chemical peel. A very light chemical peel may have some redness initially followed by light flaking, or you may not have any downtime at all. The most common medical grade chemical peels will be of a medium depth, which will generally have some level of shedding for about a week to 10 days. A deep chemical peel may have several weeks of social downtime.
Your skin will initially feel very dry and tight. This is because the peel works by releasing the superficial layers of skin from the deeper ones. These superficial layers then dry out and eventually flake or peel off. The flaking typically starts around your nose or the corners of your mouth and progresses out from there. In the case of a medium depth peel, you will likely have sheets of skin that fall off — yes, you will look a bit like a lizard. It is very important not to pick or pull at the loose skin.
The actual peeling process will generally take about 3-10 days, depending on which type of peel you are using. The results from a peel can last for up to six months with good skin care and sunscreen use. If you are using the peel for acne scars, the results may last longer assuming you no longer have active acne.
The most common side effects of a chemical peel are itching, burning and dryness. The most common complication is hyperpigmentation (that’s why it’s important to prep before the peel!). This complication occurs most often in darker skin colors (Fitzpatrick IV and above). Other possible complications include blisters, chemical burns, herpes outbreaks and bacterial infection. Be sure to avoid sun exposure and use sunscreen after the peel as your new skin will be more sensitive to the sun.
The ideal candidate for a chemical peel has mild photo aging (sun damage) and uneven skin tone. Lighter skin types (Fitzpatrick I-III) are the lowest risk for complications. You must be able to follow your post peel instructions and guidelines. If you are a picker, a peel might not be an ideal treatment for you. It is paramount to leave the skin in place until it falls off and not scrub or rub or pick/pull at the skin.
Light chemical peels can be safely used on all skin types. For darker skin types (Fitzpatrick IV and above), it’s best to prep the skin beforehand. Medium depth peels can be used with caution in darker skin types (up to IV-V) with at least a month prep with a retinoid and hydroquinone. Deep peels should not be used on dark skin types (Fitzpatrick IV-VI).
For the darkest skin types (Fitzpatrick V-VI), it is preferable to do serial chemical peels with a light peel rather than a single deeper peel. It may take longer to attain the desired result but will be much less likely to cause complications.
The cost for a chemical peel will depend on the type of peel and who is applying it. You should expect to pay more for deeper peels and those applied by a physician rather than an aesthetician. Because the deeper peels will tend to get you a more impressive result than a light peel, it’s likely worth the additional cost.
Imagen includes light and medium depth TCA peels in our memberships, so your chemical peel with our physicians could be as low as $99.
A chemical peel is generally considered a cosmetic treatment and as such is not usually covered by insurance. If you are using your chemical peel to treat active acne, it might be covered. You should always discuss your coverages with your insurance provider.
