The day that I got what was probably the second facial of my life, my esthetician quickly shut down my entire skincare routine after I told her that I was (naively) still using salicylic acid face washes like an acne-ridden teenager. Apparently, I was supposed to have graduated to chemical peels and retinol by now.
Eventually, my regular dermatology visits would include bi-monthly chemical peels and laser treatments that had my skin glowing.
And then came the coronavirus.
Like many, I haven’t been able to go to a dermatology office in months, dealing a major blow to my revamped skincare routine. My face started to take notice, breaking out in pimples that led to scarring and a rough, dull skin complexion. Knowing laser treatments weren’t going to happen for a while, I tried to find some over-the-counter chemical peels, but they did nothing for my face. As a dark-skinned Black woman, my skincare needs are sometimes different from what people with lighter-complexions might need.
I reluctantly set up a virtual dermatology visit, praying something could be done miles away from a medical office, but I had little hope. That was until my doctor recommended the ISDIN Isdinceutics Night Peel.
At first I wondered if, like many doctors, she was just pushing a brand she was obligated to recommend, but after the first few uses, I could see the nightly chemical peel was working much better than anything I was trying at home. Using alpha-hydroxy acids (AHAs) and hydroboost, it was gentle enough for me to use with my retinol but strong enough to cause a noticeable peel without overdrying.
I asked my dermatologist, Dr. Adebola Dele-Michael, why she recommended this peel for my skin and she said, “this peel is gentle enough to be used daily yet it has proven ingredients to address skin discoloration.” And she even uses it herself! “It is one of my go-to at-home peels during the shelter-in-place order and it is very user-friendly so one does not have to worry about side effects,” she said.
While Dr. Dele-Michael believes the night peel’s ingredients “are synergistic with one another for significant improvement and minimal skin irritation,” she warns that you shouldn’t use just any product without consulting a board-certified dermatologist because “many non-professional chemical peels have ingredients that are very irritating to the skin.”
ISDIN, coupled with my retinol, moisturizer, and sunscreen has my skin balanced and back in working order, but it does come with a hefty price tag.
The ISDIN Night Peel costs about $112 for 30 ampoules, but they last about 48 hours after opening, so you can stretch one ampoule over a couple of nights. I generally get about two uses out of each and now that my skin is doing well, I only need it a couple of times a week.
Using the ampoules themselves has a bit of a learning curve as it requires using a little plastic sleeve to pop the top off and then a dropper tool that really needs to be placed securely to avoid a mess. But once I figured out how the ampoules worked, it was smooth sailing from there.
Now, no matter when I’m able to venture back into my dermatologist’s office on a regular basis, I’m confident the ISDIN Night Peel’s got me covered.
ISDIN Night Peel Exfoliating Night Serum (10 Ampules)
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