Almonds and green apples are good for the body. But you might not know that they're good for the skin, too, and can treat vexing conditions, such as hyperpigmentation, complexion problems and scarring.
Extracts from these foods make mandelic acid one of the newest alpha hydroxy acids. Offering a three-in-one approach, mandelic acid combines antibacterial and skin lightening action with alpha hydroxy acid activity. Thus, skin care specialists increasingly use this product to treat conditions, such as acne, hyperpigmentation and scarring. They also use mandelic acid to get extra benefit from chemical peels and microdermabrasion.
The Evolution of Skin Care
To learn more about this newest ingredient, we must first put this discovery in context. It began with vitamin A acid and AHAs.
In 1969, Albert M. Kligman, MD, and I developed vitamin A acid to treat acne.1 This development spurred the manufacturing of retinoids, giving hope for people with acne and psoriasis.
Vitamin A acid is an essential vitamin for the skin. It has specific receptors that pick it up and transport it to the cell's nucleus. In the cell, vitamin A jumpstarts new cell formation. After several months of use, patients will see fine lines and blotchy brown acne spots disappear.
The discovery of vitamin A acid helped the skin care industry mushroom. Now, most patients use vitamin A as part of a complete skin care program and have resolved problems with complexion, fine lines and even blotchy brown discolorations. However, this approach takes time and consistent use. Therefore, it's only one part of a larger picture.
The next piece of a complete skin care program includes alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs), which were developed by Eugene vanScott, MD.2 These acids boost patients' skin care programs because they dissolve the desmosomes that hold cells together. This helps strip off the superficial skin cells to open the stratum corneum. Thus, more vitamin A and other actives, such as hydro-quinone, kojic acid and ascorbic acid, can get into the skin. Using AHA toners and active cosmeceuticals brought skin care therapy to a new level.
Glycolic Acid
Glycolic acid was the first popular AHA. This material, which occurs naturally in sugar cane, is a two-carbon unit of -acetic acid with an extra hydroxyl group on the second carbon. It penetrates through the skin rapidly. In office settings, skin care professionals use high concentrations of 20 percent to 30 percent. To avoid burning the skin, they must wash off the concentrations in two or three minutes.
Too high a concentration of glycolic acid can irritate the skin and lead to reactive hyperpigmentation. However, as a skin toner with lower concentrations (3 percent to 6 percent), glycolic acid serves as an adjuvant in skin care programs.
Lactic and Mandelic Acid
Sour milk contains lactic acid, which has one carbon more than glycolic acid. This addition slowed the formula's skin penetration, making it safer and gentler. With lactic acid, we're less likely to irritate the skin or cause hyperpigmentation—even if we leave the formula on the skin for an extended time. This leads us to mandelic acid, one of the newest AHAs used in cosmetic formulations.
General practitioners once used mandelic acid to irrigate the bladder for urinary tract infections, since it's also an antibacterial. Interestingly, practitioners later discovered that mandelic acid peels off blotchy brown discolorations, such as the hyperpigmented spots left after acne inflammatory spots heal.3
Derived from almonds and green apples, mandelic acid is an alpha hydroxy acid, similar to glycolic acid, with the addition of a benzene ring. This large carbon ring slows down the penetration further. Thus, this AHA works without the skin irritation and erythema that often accompanies skin treatments with glycolic acid.
For example, practitioners and patients don't need to wash mandelic acid skin toner from the skin, although patients may need to develop tolerance for serums and higher concentrated formulas through daily use.
Mandelic acid holds potential for skin care and is being used in an increasing array of products. For example, skin care professionals can use 30 percent mandelic acid to augment therapeutic facials. Additionally, other cosmeceutical products, such as mandelic acid toners and serums, can augment existing skin care programs.
Mandelic acid also has use in other products. For example, by incorporating the antibacterial action of mandelic acid into shampoo and conditioner, we can retard Pityrosporium yeast development on the scalp. Thus, patients can improve seborrheic dermatitis and stubborn dandruff cases.
Mandelic acid is an ideal addition to the practitioner's skin care program.
References
1. Kligman, A.M., Fulton, J.E., Plewig, G. (1969). Topical Vitamin A acid in acne vulgaris. Archives of Dermatology, 99,469-476.
2. vanScott E.J., Yu, R.J. (1984). Hyperkeratinization, corneocyte cohesion and alpha hydroxy acids. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 11, 867872.
3. Taylor, MB. (1999). Summary of mandelic acid for the improvement of skin conditions. Cosmetic Dermatology, 21, 26-28.
© betterhealthyskin.com, James E Fulton Jr., MD Ph.D. All rights reserved. THIS INFORMATION MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT THE WRITTEN CONSENT OF THE AUTHOR. Reprinted from: http://healthy-aging.advanceweb.com/common/Editorial/Editorial.aspx?CC=72444
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