Peels are something I am not too familiar with. Applied like a face mask, they are usually filled with enzymes and anti-oxidants to make you skin look more radiant and smooth. Since my skin is quite sensitive and the only peel I had ever used gave me severe rashes and redness, I have to say I wasn’t jumping on the chance to try another one. But then the nice ladies at Sephora had me try this and I instantly loved it. Since it is a tad pricey, I didn’t throw it into my basket straight away, but ended up buying this months later. I have been using it on and off for more than a year now and feel I can truly share my thoughts on this product.
Caudalie Glycolic Peel
Caudalie is a brand I hadn’t yet tried anything from. It looked liked a very expensive Parisian beauty brand to me. And while this product is pricier than any mask I own, it is still not that steep of a price point. This tube of 75 ml retails for €26.40. I bought mine from Feelunique.
The Packaging
Can we just talk about this nice tube for a second? I love the look of this brand. It is simple, yet elegant. I love how the product comes in a tube. So much more hygienic. I am not a huge mask user: I only ever use them whenever my skin has a particular need, so I find it important to ensure that the product remains of a decent quality.
The Ingredients
With skincare products, I always like to look at the ingredients. The active ingredients here are glycolic acid, papaya and viniferine. The latter is an ingredient that Caudalie uses in a quite a few of their products, if I’m not mistaken. All ingredients are most certainly there, but the papaya is pretty much at the end of the list. However, it’s the glycolic acid that should do most of the work, so let’s have a look at what Caudalie promise this will do for you.
The Promises
My reason for buying this is to make my skin smoother, more even and more radiant. This is a chemical exfoliant, meaning it removes a layer of dead skin but without any scrubbing action. I tried it only on the back of my hand, but even there it already worked: it instantly smoothed out any texture I had there.
I have pretty good skin (apart from being sensitive), but I do have one issue that makes me feel a little self conscious and that is a scattering on milia on my cheeks. These little white bumps are difficult to remove yourself. I have been advised by multiple beauticians to use some sort of exfoliator to help ease them out.
The Swatch
The product looks like a standard white cream. It leaves a clear to white residue depending on how much you apply. This dries down, but not to the extent where you can no longer move your face. I liked to apply this with a brush as it allows me to apply the product evenly and I don’t have to get my hands in there too much.
The Application
Freshly applied | After 10 minutes
On the face, I like to apply a few dots and then blend them out. I avoid the eyes as instructed and leave it on for 10 minutes. You can see the product is absorbed into the skin. With some face masks, removal can be an issue, but with this it is easy. I just dampen a wash cloth and I can easily wipe it off my face.
The Effect
Before | After
For a change I remembered to take before and after pictures. Apologies for my tired and worn out face, but I took these shots at 11 PM on a Friday night after a long week. I think you can clearly see the effect, be it quite subtly. The lines on my forehead are less distinct, my cheeks shows less discoloration, yet my skin doesn’t look red and aggravated. There is some redness around my nose and on my chin, but I get that just from rubbing my face.
The Conclusion
I don’t use face masks enough to really see any long term effects, but I love how the Caudalie Glycolic Peel gives my skin a bit of a pick me up. I could definitely use one when I took these pictures and I like the immediate results this gives. Since I don’t own any other masks that have this effect that are gentle enough for me, I think this is worth the price point. However, if I were to find a cheaper alternative, I would happily try it out.
Do you use face peels?
If so, which one can you recommend?
9 responses to “Caudalie glycolic peel”
That looks good!
Ik vind de nafoto zeker een positief verschil hebben. Je huid ziet er wat frisser uit
Het is subtiel maar idd het verschil is er.
I’ve never seen this Caudalie product, especially not with that nice wooden cap!
And it really does look like this picked up your skin – wow. I use AHA and BHA exfoliants regularly. One of my favourite products is the Paula’s Choice weekly AHA treatment – it contains 10% glycolic acid and the next morning my skin looks and feels so smooth and radiant.
I am afraid to use these types of products too often as I have such sensitive skin. The bottle says you can use this twice a week.
Boscia exfoliating peeling gel is highly recommended
That sounds interesting! I have their Make Up Break Up Cleansing Oil which I still have to try.
First of all your product shots really fit the elegant packaging, tres chic! I’ve really been struggling with texture & tone lately. The effects may be subtle, but I see them. This may be a brand to look into.
Thanks!