Literature Couture recently tried the Ole Henriksen micro/mini peel system and had some irritation issues with the lemon strip product (one of three products in the kit.) Let’s take a look at the label to see what might have caused her problems.
Lemon Strip Ingredients:
Water (Aqua)
Our favorite solvent.
Algae Extract
Not really sure why this is the second ingredient. It won’t have any peeling function but it may help increase viscosity/give texture.
Glycolic Acid, Lactic Acid
Alphahydroxy acids that give the product it’s peel power. Too much of these can definitely make your face sting!
Glycerin
A moisturizer in a leave on product; doesn’t really do much but adjust texture in a product like this.
Xanthan Gum
Another viscosity/texture controlling agent.
Methionine, Hydroxyproline, Aspartic Acid, Arginine Aspartate
Amino acids. I can’t imagine why they’re in the product except to make the label look good.
Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Extract
There are those who say licorice extract is an anti-inflammatory and will help calm the skin. I don’t see how it would do much good in a chemical peel product. But hey, it can’t hurt.
Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Vaccinium Myrtillus Extract, Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Extract, Acer Sacharinum (Sugar Maple) Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Extract, Biosaccharide Gum-1
Various extracts that don’t do anything but make the product like nice and natural.
Potassium Hydroxide
pH adjustor.
Phenoxyethanol
Preservative, although the pH is probably so low you don’t really need one.
Fragrance
Why would you need fragrance in an already irritating peel product? This may be another reason her face was stinging. If anything, I’d put enough lemon extract in to give the product a nice scent and skip the fragrance.
Have you used this product?
Leave a comment and share your thoughts with the rest of the Beauty Brains community.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I’d say the lemon oil would be irritating too. why do you even need a fragrance for a peel?
Thats what i thought, lemon and orange extracts arent irritants?. Besides why using fragance in every single product? Im very sensitive to fragance so much that I was about to use a fragance and colorant free dogs shampoo (I didnt cause the label warns “only intended for dogs”).
I have not used their peel but do have their eye gel. It was promoted by Kate Gosslin last year as her “Botox in a jar”. I am too young for a facelift but use the best products to keep my face firm. I’ll have to give this peel a try. I love that you break down the product ingredients. We should definitely pay more attention to what we are putting on our skin.
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