A couple of weeks ago, I embarked on a journey that when it comes to skincare, required great discipline. I like having a fairly intensive routine at night and for seven days last month, my routine went from eight steps to just two. TWO! It was all for a good reason though and that was to try the brand new LASPA Anti-Aging Glycolic Peel! We've all seen and tried a lot of AHAs, peels and treatments emerge, but what caught my attention with this particular product was the very brief and succinct list of just eight ingredients, the 10% glycolic acid strength and most importantly that the source of the glycolic acid comes from a patent pending two-step fermentation process using sugarcane. I've read a lot of information where people just say "use sugarcane juice for similar effects", but there is a difference in acid strength if you extract the acid which is what has been done here! This post is probably going to be pretty intense and wordy, but I found this peel quite unique so I feel like it needs its own narrative for anyone who would like to know why this particular peel is so special!
PR gifted
I am going to start off by saying that because this is a Canadian company with this product being vegan, cruelty-free and made in Canada that I already wanted to like it. LASPA is currently most well-known for their translucent and non-greasy mineral sunscreens and for the last little while I was wondering what other products the brand would come out with, but when I saw that it was an at-home peel, I thought it was a ballsy move that made so much sense because when you use AHAs, the need for sunscreen becomes even more important! Whenever I'm in the midst of an AHA treatment, I always imagine myself disintegrating like a vampire at dawn which is a morbid, yet effective visual and reminding myself to lay on the sunscreen!
As specified in the blog title, this is a 7 day at-home peel treatment (can be used anywhere from 5-7 days to see results) that uses a pure and naturally derived glycolic acid that is not diluted with milder AHAs like lactic or malic acid. In most of our skincare products, glycolic acid is synthetically created and probably cheaper and faster to product. LASPA's glycolic acid fermentation process is said to have a carbon footprint up to 35% lower than that of a synthetically created one! I would love to know how the process works one day!
Until this peel, the highest glycolic acid % I had used was an 8% treatment from Paula's Choice so I was a little scared, but in a good way to see what 10% what do. This treatment also has white willow bark extract, a natural source of salicylic acid and hyaluronic acid so your skin will not feel the least bit dry when using this. I was able to leave this on overnight as directed without even thinking about it. The only thing I did feel was the incredible guilt over neglecting my precious sheet masks!
INGREDIENTS: Purified Water, Glycolic Acid (10%), Propanediol, Witch Hazel Distillate*, Resveratrol, White Willow Bark Extract*, Hyaluronic Acid, Gluconolactone SB (this is a preservative approved by ECOCERT) *Certified Organic Ingredient
The peel is a clear lightweight gel that comes in an airless pump which I love as it is keeps things hygenic and the ingredients away from air. There is 15mL of product which is enough for two treatments of one week each. Just don't do them back to back! The brand recommends waiting 2 weeks before doing the peel again, but what I like to do is do a peel like this once every 3 months as my regular skincare routine is usually pretty good maintenance until I need my next major skin overhaul.
There are 14 organic cotton rounds included, but you can also use your hands to apply the product directly or use your own cotton rounds. The rounds that were included in the package felt much more plush than the ones I had so I had to use those instead!
LASPA determined that this peel worked optimally at a pH of 3.5 which I did test and it looks pretty darn close to orange so I can see that this peel is right around a pH of 3-4 which is what we want! The average pH of the skin is around 4.6 and though we always hear things like "don't mess with your skin's mantle", slight acidic disturbances like AHA treatments are short-lived and actually result in the skin responding positively.
No Treatment
I am a lucky gal in that I rarely break out and as I've gotten older, my skin seems to just want moisture and regular exfoliation as it does get dull over time. When I first started the treatment, I didn't have any immediate concerns and I wish that I had problematic skin just for the sake of this post so that you as a reader could see more of a difference from this photo to the last, but honestly though, there were improvements in my skin from this peel, they were too small to see in these photos. When my skin is at its best, it sort of plateaus, BUT what you can see is that my skin is NOT irritated at all from doing this every night for a week! The BIGGEST improvement I noticed was a smoother skin texture which I really saw when I applied foundation. My skin just looked so smooth and I found I didn't need to go over areas very much. Everything seemed to apply in one even bounce with no patchy areas of skin showing up.
1 Treatment
Slight tingling around the cheeks and chin, but nothing painful and it lasted all of 2 seconds. For each application there was a bit of tingling, but certainly nothing that made you want to rinse it off. Oh, this is the type of peel you keep on and do not rinse off as it needs to work overnight!
2 Treatments
3 Treatments
I feel like it was around the third treatment that I saw a bit of brightening in my overall skin tone.
4 Treatments
5 Treatments
6 Treatments
I realized that though I was posting everyday on IG Stories I totally forgot to show you guys what my skin looked like after doing the 7th and final treatment, but it was fairly close to Day 6 before with my skin being a touch more pink after the final treatment as I took a few extra passes around my nose where I get the most congestion.
Final verdict: The only negative I had about this peel was that I couldn't use any other products afterwards so for someone like me who loves the multiple step routine, I missed my other products, but I felt the one week sacrifice was worth it! I loved the simplicity of the formula and the texture and feel of my skin by the end of the seven days. A part of my feels like I should "let my skin go" a bit and then use this peel to see if I can see more of a difference from Point A to B. As I consider this peel to be in the luxury skincare sphere, I think for the 10% strength and the fact that this peel requires no other skincare products to be applied afterwards (it is oddly hydrating), that the price is fair for the ingredients and environmentally conscious aspects that have been incorporated into the product and its development. I like the brand story and the 100% focus on ECOCERT and naturally-derived ingredients so if you can afford a bit of a splurge, especially now that NONE OF US can get facials, a treatment like this will be what the skin needs to start showing some fresh new cells and glow ASAP!
You can find the LASPA Intensive Anti-Aging Glycolic Peel at www.laspanaturals.com or at the following locations.
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