Chemical peels in London. Acid, depth and skin type, what each depth achieves, recovery, and the pigmentation risk that is routinely understated.
A chemical peel applies an acid to remove a controlled depth of skin, prompting the surface to renew and the dermis to lay down new collagen. Superficial peels brighten and refine with almost no downtime. Deeper peels achieve more and demand more recovery and more caution.
Conditions this treats
The cost of chemical peels in London is driven by depth and by what surrounds the treatment. A superficial peel sold as a facial and a primed medium-depth peel with review and aftercare are different undertakings. Price reflects the agent, the number of sessions, the preparation period and the training of the practitioner.
Cost follows the assessment rather than preceding it. What treatment costs sets out how a written quotation should be built, and the guide to choosing a skin clinic covers what an unusually low figure has normally had removed from it.
Chemical peels give results that build across a course and then need maintaining. A superficial peel brightens for a few weeks, which is why four to six are given two to four weeks apart. A medium-depth peel produces change that can hold for months to a year, provided daily sun protection is worn.
Peels are classified by how far the agent takes effect. Superficial peels affect the epidermis. Medium peels reach the upper dermis. Deep peels go further, and are effectively a surgical-grade procedure with anaesthesia, monitoring and weeks of recovery.
Depth is not simply a function of which acid is in the bottle. It is determined by the agent, its concentration, its pH, how it is applied, how long it is left on, and how the skin was prepared. The same acid at the same strength behaves differently on skin that has been primed with a retinoid for six weeks and on skin that has not.
The decision being made is how much damage to do, deliberately, with the intention that it heals better than it was.
Combination peels exist for good reasons and are not automatically better. What matters is whether the agent was chosen against your skin and your finding.
Chemical peels are safe when the agent and depth are matched to a recorded skin type and the skin has been primed. The principal risk is post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, which is considerably more likely in skin of colour and after sun exposure. Infection, prolonged redness and scarring are uncommon and follow depth rather than brand.
The Fitzpatrick scale describes how skin responds to ultraviolet light. It is crude and it remains the practical starting point, because the higher the type, the greater the risk that inflammation leaves a brown mark that outlasts the problem being treated.
Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation is the complication that turns a peel into a longer problem than the one you arrived with. It is largely preventable: appropriate agent, conservative depth, priming over several weeks, and absolute sun protection afterwards.
Ask which Fitzpatrick type has been recorded for you, how it changed the choice of agent and depth, and what the plan is if pigmentation appears. Vagueness here is a reason to go elsewhere.
Melasma deserves separate mention. It responds to some peels and it relapses readily, and it can be aggravated by heat as well as by light. A peel plan for melasma should be cautious, topical-led and long term. See pigmentation.
A practitioner who cannot describe how they would manage each of these is a practitioner to decline.
Expect preparation before the peel itself, commonly a topical routine for two to six weeks. On the day the skin is cleansed and degreased, the acid applied in timed layers and often neutralised. Superficial peels give one to three days of tightness and light flaking. Medium peels shed visibly for five to ten days.
Skin is usually primed for two to six weeks beforehand, commonly with a retinoid, a pigment-inhibiting agent where relevant, and daily sun protection. This is not an upsell. Priming makes the peel more even and reduces complications.
You should be asked about:
During treatment expect stinging and warmth that build and then subside. Superficial peels are usually comfortable. Medium peels are not, and that should be stated plainly beforehand.
After a superficial peel: tightness and mild redness for a day, then light flaking for two to four days. After a medium peel: noticeable redness, darkening of the treated skin, then sheets of peeling from around day three to seven, resolving over roughly ten days.
Choosing where to have chemical peels in London depends on the depth involved. Superficial peels are performed well by trained aesthetic therapists. Medium depth belongs with a medically trained practitioner who records skin type, primes the skin, can manage pigment complications, and reviews you afterwards rather than sending a product list.
Peels sit across the boundary between beauty therapy and medical practice. Superficial peels are widely and legitimately performed by qualified aesthetic therapists. Medium depth work belongs with a medically qualified practitioner who can prescribe and manage complications.
Ask which depth is proposed, what specific training the person has for that depth, what the follow-up is, and what happens if the result is uneven. In London, many premises offering these treatments require a local authority licence, which addresses the premises rather than the clinical judgement. See choosing a skin clinic.
Chemical peels are not performed over active infection, an erupting cold sore, broken or inflamed skin, or a fresh tan. They are postponed in pregnancy and breastfeeding for most agents, and after recent isotretinoin until the prescriber agrees an interval. A history of keloid scarring calls for caution beyond superficial depth.
The same order every time, with the decision made at assessment rather than at the point of sale.
The skin is examined in consistent light and the finding is named before chemical peels is discussed as an answer to it. Skin type, medical history, medicines and the routine you are already using all change the plan.
For energy-based treatment, particularly in higher Fitzpatrick types, a test patch and a wait rather than a full treatment on a first visit.
The finding, the treatment, the number of sessions, the interval between them, what you use at home and what it costs, in writing. A typical course is superficial peels: 4 to 6 sessions, 2 to 4 weeks apart.
Conservative settings first, escalated across a course on the basis of how your skin actually responded rather than on a fixed protocol. Afterwards, superficial: 1 to 3 days of tightness and light flaking. Medium: 5 to 10 days.
Written aftercare covering sun protection, what to apply, what to stop and the signs that mean you telephone rather than wait.
Where the finding will not respond to this treatment, that is said plainly and the correct route is discussed instead of a compromise.
Superficial peels work cumulatively, so four to six spaced two to four weeks apart is typical, then maintenance. A single medium peel can achieve a substantial change alone.
Not always, and visible peeling is not a measure of effectiveness. Superficial peels often produce only light flaking while still working.
Yes, with the right agent, conservative depth, priming and strict sun protection. The risk being managed is post-inflammatory pigmentation.
Allow at least two weeks for a superficial peel and a month for anything deeper. Never have a first peel in the week before something important.
Salicylic acid peels help congestion and active acne as part of a wider plan. They do not replace medical treatment for moderate or severe acne.
Home products work at much lower strengths and are not equivalent. Using strong acids bought online without supervision is the usual route to a chemical burn.
Contact the practitioner promptly. Post-inflammatory pigmentation responds better when addressed early, with strict sun protection throughout.
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Tell us what you are seeing on your skin and what you have already tried. You will get a considered reply setting out whether this treatment applies to the finding you have described, what an assessment would need to establish, and what the alternatives are.
hello@aestheticlaunchlab.comPlease do not send clinical photographs or medical records by email. If something has gone wrong after a treatment, contact the practitioner who treated you, or NHS 111, rather than waiting for a reply here.