What Peels Are Safe for African-American Skin?

It takes care, expertise and experience to achieve outstanding results with the resurfacing of skin of color. There are a variety of techniques that are effective in the treatment of dark skin. A mainstay is a good daily skincare regimen. This may include glycolic acids, topical antioxidants and hydroquinone, a lightening cream. This foundation of daily skin care prepares the skin for resurfacing techniques and assures results that are free of complications such as blotchiness of the skin. Once the skin is properly pre-conditioned, certain TCA peel solutions are successful and we have found that our patients have been very pleased with the Artisan laser, a technologically more precise laser method that we prefer over peeling techniques. 

Thank you for your message! Chemical peels need to be used with caution on darker skin tones as to avoid hyperpigmentation. We usually require a skin preparation using a pigmentation cream prior to chemical peels with darker skin, to help avoid this risk. Usually the first time you do a peel you will want to have one that is very gentle and then you can work your way up from there as tolerated. We usually recommend starting with a VI peel which is generally more safe with darker skin tones! I would definitely recommend a consultation with a provider in your area for further assessment!