Just Skin in Green Point called me up the other day as they needed a test monkey on which to demo a Lamelle Alpha peel. I didn’t know too much about it at the time but didn’t hesitate to say yes. I’ve been popping in at Just Skin for a while and they’re very good at what they do. They also know I’m vain enough to throw a brick through their window if they exposed me to anything that wouldn’t enhance my natural fabulosity.

Anyway, as it turns out, Lamelle’s peel makes use of glycolic acid (an AHA) and I had the 20% version, meaning it was a very mild one. It also contains ‘neurosensory inhibitors’ that make it much less eina. As for the benefits, an AHA peel can help even out your skin tone while smoothing out fine lines and refining your pores. It can also help improve congested acne prone skin as it helps boost your cellular turnover which in turn speeds up healing and leaves you looking more radiant overall.

Once the peel was painted on my face, it was left on for a minute. My therapist kept asking me to rate the ‘pain’ on scale of 1 to 10 and I was definitely a ‘2’ all the way through. In fact, anything I felt was more of a ‘sensation’ as opposed to a sting. Perhaps this was due to the inhibitors or the fact that my skin’s become desensitized due to all the retinol and AHA’s I use at home but either way this was definitely the least painful/ irritating peel I’ve ever had. (The worst I’ve ever had wasn’t really painful either. It stung like a bitch, but only for a second and by the time I’d opened my mouth to yelp the pain was gone.)

Like most mild in-salon peels, there’s no scabbing or actual ‘peeling’ later on. In fact, my skin didn’t even look red or flushed. Afterwards, I went home, pottered around for a bit and then slapped on some make-up to go meet friends for lunch. They were none the wiser to my in-salon adventure. The next day, however, I could see a slight difference in my skin. It looked a little ‘flat’, a bit more refined and the giant pimple on my forehead looked as though it was finally starting to recede. Yay! My face also looked a bit drier than usual so I treated it to a slick of organic Spieza Rose & Vanilla face oil. Later that evening I noticed a few dry flakes on my forehead and sorted it out with a gentle exfoliating cream that didn’t irritate my skin at all.

In all, Lamelle’s peel was an easy, breezy experience. If I was looking for all the promised benefits however, you’d have to do a course of at least four of them. They start at R450 a pop.

Love, love 

Leigh