9 Glycolic Acid Hacks For The Best Skin Of Your Life | Dr. Idriss' Dermatologist Tips

Welcome back, little nerds. It's Saturday morning. Get your pens and papers ready because I am spilling all the secret hacks when it comes to one of my ride or die skincare ingredients. And no, I am not talking about glycerin. I am talking about glycolic acid. This baby has been overexposed when it comes to the face and underutilized when it comes to the rest of your body. Maybe not so much around the belt area, but maybe. Actually, maybe you're gonna have to stick around to learn more. If you haven't subscribed, subscribe below like this video. Let me know what you want to learn about next week. But without further ado, let us dive into world of glycolic acid. But first, we must understand the science before we understand the hacks. Because in order to run, we must walk. Glycolic acid is an exfoliating acid. It is the smallest alpha hydroxy acid, meaning it can go the deepest. And because it can go the deepest, it can affect every layer of your skin. But a lot of skincare companies will not talk about these benefits that I'm about to tell you when it comes to glycolic acid, because it borders on drug claims. Whenever you change the physiology of the skin, it's technically considered a drug. Even though the studies and the science has shown that glycolic acid has the ability to do these things. I think that this is very important that you understand that difference, because at a certain percentage range, it can work to do these things. But if you're sprinkling glycolic acid in a product just for a marketing claim, then probably it will not do these things. But glycolic acid as an ha can dissolve the bonds of the dead skin cells, exfoliating the surface of the skin, smoothing out the surface of your skin, giving you a nice radiant surface. In the long run, as you use it regularly, you're going to help improve the look of fine lines. And because it is exfoliating your skin, but also because it is going deep and helping promote collagen production, it can help in the long run with the appearance of texture as well. And this is something that is often not promoted when it comes to skincare brands. Again, because of this iffy gray line between a cosmetic and a drug. Additionally, glycolic acid also has the ability to help with the look of hyperpigmentation, dark spots, discoloration, uneven skin tone. If you have melasma, it is a great product to incorporate as long as you're not getting irritated, and as long as you're not overexposing to the sun. Plus, this Is on is a fun one. And this is why I also really love glycolic acid. She also helps to promote the production of hyaluronic acid within your epidermis, making it a great humectant as well, and making your skin appear plumper in the process. So it's going to smoothen, it's going to help to fortify and strengthen by helping to build collagen. It's going to help make your skin look more radiant and even, and it's going to give your skin some dewiness in the long run. So this leads me to my hacks, starting with my numero uno hack, which you guys can probably guess it, it was one of my OG hacks. I coined this term and then I developed a product to take it to the next level. And we'll talk about this in a second. Everything we're going to talk about here I'm going to link, but I'm going to also link just basic glycolic acid products so you guys can decide for yourselves if you like these hacks. But number one is lip basting. And I obviously created this duo out of this hack. But it started in Wyoming in 2018 when my lips were dry af and nothing I did was helping them. No amount of Vaseline, Aquaphor lineage, you name it was helping. And so I was using. And you guys are going to laugh. This is an OG tube that is empty. Obviously it is L' Oreal's 10 glycolic acid. And I used to change the dropper and buy these pump tops because I hated the droppers. So I was using this all over my face. I applied the glycolic acid on my lips and then I locked it in with an ointment. And over the course of a few days, my lips got so much better because I was getting rid of the noise and the dead layer of skin on top of my lips. This ended up proving to be one of my favorite hacks because it was also holding on to hydration on my lips. So when I would seal it in with that rich ointment, my lips looked better than ever. Ever. But a hack being a hack. Glycolic acid wasn't great for everyone. So if you have cold sores, just be careful because it can trigger a cold sore. This was a 10 glycolic acid. I will link it below if you guys want to try it with this. We can also link a Lighter percent glycolic acid. This one is by the Ordinary at 7%. You can apply that first followed by Vaseline. The hack is elevated because it is the cousin of glycolic acid that is used in this, and so it is much gentler. It is glucanol lactone, so it's great for sensitive areas like your lips, glucanolactone, and also even your under eyes. And it's not going to irritate. And this is the base. This is my favorite thing in the world. It's like butter. It's like Thanksgiving morning. It's perfection. Although it doesn't taste like Thanksgiving, it's perfection. My number two hack when it comes to glycolic acid has to do with dry scalp. So a lot of people have flaking of their scalp and they don't necessarily have dandruff. And if they've tried Nizoral and they've tried Selson Blue and they've tried all of these shampoos that help with dandruff, but they see no improvement, Especially in the winter when it's really Dr. It might be because your scalp is dry. So this is where I love this product. It is a 7%, like I said, glycolic acid, and it works like magic. First of all, the nozzle top really helps to get it into the areas that you want to apply it on your scalp. You to let it sit before you go and you shower, allowing the glycolic acid to do its thing to dissolve those bonds between the dead skin cells and to help your skin exfoliate itself, but also hydrate your scalp in the process. So if you're itchy and really dry, this is something that I would really strongly recommend because in the long run, it's also going to help to retain the moisture on your scalp so it doesn't get as dry as easily. If you're somebody who has flaky scalp, but you're also having a lot of oily scalp, but you want to exfoliate, I wouldn't use this. I'd use salicylic acid number three. Ooh. No, it smells great. Underarm body odor, as well as hyperpigmentation here, here, or even on your knees. Glycolic acid is going to solve both odor and darkness. But hopefully you don't stink on your elbows or your knees. It's just going to help with the dark, is there. You could put this in a rollerball to help your underarms. There's also certain deodorants like this one or this one that has glycolic acid in it. I will link those below if you just want to get the product itself. If you don't want to buy a specific deodorant with glycolic acid, you could try using this, putting it in your own rollerball, or even just putting it on a cotton pad and letting it sit on your underarms for a little while. It's going to help minimize the discoloration and help with the unevenness of your skin tone. And in the process, which leads me to number four, hyperpigmentation or dark spots all over your body. Like I said, your elbows, your knees, or even sunspots on your chest, wherever it is, like I said, glycolic acid comes in several different strengths, right? This was 7%, this one is 10%, and this is my own Dr. Idris's flash mask at 15. Usually you're going to find glycolic acid anywhere from 1%, 2%, 3%, which they probably will not market the percentage up to usually 15 over the counter. So she's quite strong. Let's say you have dark elbows. You can apply it to your elbows every night, leave it on overnight and wash it off in the morning. If you have sunspots on your body or anywhere else, or even, for example, like I said, I've had a breast reduction. I would use the deep puffer for the redness, but I use this as well for the hyperpigmentation. And you do not see those scars. I sadly cannot share those pictures with you, but you have to take my word for it. Maybe one day I will share a close up of my scar, but this is a great one to use. And because it's your body and you can tolerate it more and your skin tends to be thicker, you can use it more than two times a week, up to four or five times a week, as long as you're not out in the sun going wild. Number four, the chicken skin on the back of the arms. Also known as keratosis pilaris. This is a mask so you can let it sit on that area before you take a shower, let's say. But let's say you shower in the morning and you just want to go, maybe you could use this on your arms. Followed by a urea cream. I love this one by Isden. It is their uridine lotion. 10. The combination of glycolic acid and urea works wonders if you're someone who's bougie and just wants to Buy the product dedicated for this issue. Necessaire, for example, has le Peeling Corps, the body peel, which has glycolic acid in it to help your skin exfoliate itself on its body. But you can literally take this and this and call it a day. Or if you're using this for your face, you could do the two in one combination. Which leads me now to rough hands. Winter is one of those seasons that really takes a toll on our hands. So anything that can exfoliate and hold on to the hydration of our hands helps. I love doing a DIY hand mask where I apply this on my hands and I let it sit for, like, anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes when I'm watching a TV show, followed by a really thin, thick, rich moisturizer that I might even use a nitro glove on in order to help hold on to that moisture. So people with eczema, this is a great trick to do, especially those also who have calluses. I started weightlifting, and so I have a couple of calluses here. I may do this myself. You can apply this as a mask on those rough spots or on the eczema, allowing those dead skin cells to sort of work its way off. And then you can lock it in with a really rich gasoline or aquaphor to hold onto that hydration. Neutrogena also has their Norwegian hand cream, this guy right here, that can really hold onto the hydration number seven, the cuticles of our nails. We often just think of using cuticle oil on our nails, and I probably would not use this because it's too strong, but this is a great one to use on your nail cuticles to help to make sure that they don't become rough and you don't get a hangnail. So you can apply this on your cuticles again. I love the nozzle, followed by a nice cuticle oil on top to massage it in to make sure that your cuticles look their best. I just had a manicure. I can't take credit for that hack for these hands right now, but it is something that I have done in the past, which leads me to our feet. I love to do this, especially in the winter, because I don't get pedicures as often in the winter. But I will do a foot mask with this. I'll apply this to my feet. I'll put saren wrap, I'll watch a TV show, I'll wash my feet or I'll even sleep with them overnight on my feet. And then in the morning, I'll moisturize But exfoliating your feet can make a big difference, especially in the winter time when it is really dry and we are not looking at our feet that closely. And then my secret hack number nine is the sun is not our amigo and there is no safe tan when it comes to the sun. But when you self tan, then you can't get ahead. Self tatters are one of those things that I have a love hate with because I never get it right when I do it for myself and it's rare that I do it because I think it emphasizes sunspots. However, when I have an event and I want to self tan my body, I always exfoliate the rough surfaces with glycolic acid first. So I'm talking about the hands, I'm talking about the elbows, I'm talking about the knees, I'm even talking about the chest because I want to make sure that there are no patchiness or like you know when you're self tanning and you have like dark areas where the self tanner just concentrates, this helps to minimize that look. Especially here, especially here, especially here or here. So exfoliate those bony surfaces of your body around your ankles, your elbows, your hands, your collarbone. Even if you want your armpits, allow that to do its thing. 20 minutes, shower, do your thing, come out and then apply the self tanner. You guys will thank me later that your self tanner goes on to so much more evenly. Evo. There you have it, my nine top secret hacks that I love when it comes to glycolic acid and I'm so curious to know which hack you are going to be trying first. So please let me know in the comment section below. And don't forget to hit subscribe and like this video for more skin to secrets. And next week we're going to go a little bit left field in terms of anti aging treatments. I'm talking about IV nad, glutathione, etc so if you guys have any questions about that, leave your questions below. I will be reading them to help me come up with an outline and to answer your questions for next week. If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I had recently had a scare when it comes to an at home IV surface and I will be talking about it next week. I'll see you guys then. Have a beautiful Saturday.