You might have already been aware of Alpha Hydroxy Acid so I decided to do a small post on Beta Hydroxy Acid first. In any case, I will be doing a post on Alpha Hydroxy Acids too for the benefit of people who are unaware of them. Now, a little overview of both these acids – these are two acid compounds which have become really famous in the skin care ranges in the recent decade. Both of them are used in all skin care products from cleansers to moisturizers but the main usage comes in the various peels which are performed by estheticians. These acids are helpful in exfoliation and keeping the skin healthy in a nutshell.
So, now starting with Beta Hydroxy Acid, the only one form of this acid is used for cosmetic purposes which is called Salicylic Acid. Yes, I am pretty sure you have heard of it and many you must be even using the products which contain this acid. Now, Salicylic Acid is also very commonly known as Aspirin. You might have read quite a few DIY recipes using Aspirin. The main usage of Salicylic Acid is for people who suffer from Acne but it also useful for other skin disorders like warts, corns, calluses, etc. The acid has quite a lot of uses – it weakens the bonds of the dead skin cells, cleans the clogged pores, kills the bacteria in the pores and also reduces the size of the pores and helps in the growth of new cells. Sounds awesome, right??? But, there is a very big disadvantage of Salicylic Acid – it causes hyper pigmentation and makes your skin photo-sensitive (sensitive to sunlight).
PS: In the next post, I shall be discussing how to overcome the problem of hyper pigmentation due to the acid.
Anonymous says
March 18, 2012 at 8:40 AMSalicylic Acid is NOT aspirin. However, it is used in the synthesis of aspirin.
Furthermore, while salicylic acid does make your skin more sensitive to the sun, so does virtually any other acne product. And finally, there is really no evidence to suggest (besides your own experience) that salicylic acid CAUSES hyperpigmentation.
But one more thing, salicylic acid peels are actually recommended for acne prone skin, these are between concentrations of 2-40%. The amount of salicylic acid in aspirin is no where ever close the upper mark.
Swati Murti says
March 18, 2012 at 9:22 AMhi I know aspirin is not salicylic acid and I didn’t mean that when I was writing the post but I guess its really conveying that meaning so I shall edit it out. and, aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid to be explicit. and, the reason I wrote about hyperpigmentation is that that actually happened with me. And, you should really check out the next post on this topic and give your suggestions: http://perfectskincareforyou.blogspot.in/2011/09/salicylic-acid-ingredient.html
and, I shall update the post accordingly…thanks a lot for pointing this out 🙂