I was super prepared for the 2017-2018 cold season and I preemptively ordered a lot of acid products for my skin care. One such product was the Alpha Enzyme Peel from Abra Therapeutics. In a word, it’s a peeling solution with 6% AHA.
Some words about my skin: my skin is normal, but it’s more dryness-prone in winter. There are blackheads and enlarged pores on my nose, which are prone to clogging. I also suffer from occasional breakouts. Acne scars are also one of my main problems and I always try to fight it with the help of acids.
This product isn’t the first acid peel in my life, so I have something to compare it with.
Packaging. It’s a regular white plastic jar with a screw-on top. All the product info is given here on the paper sticker.
Some time over, the sticker has lost its appearance and now it looks like this:
Weight - 57g
On the back you’ll find the list of ingredients, they are natural, by the way.
Texture. It somehow reminds me of a liquid jelly. It’s easy to apply with a brush all over my skin.
Smell. It’s vinegar-like and rather strong. Some people might think that it’s too scented, but still it’s possible to get used to this smell.
Color. Buckthorn yellow. However, on the skin it looks transparent.
They recommend to apply the product onto the skin and leave on for 15-30 minutes. During the first 5 minutes, the product tingles my skin, but later the tingling feel becomes more bearable. After that the mask doesn’t seem to be irritating for me at all, that’s why I can easily leave it for 30 minutes.
It washes off pretty nicely from my skin, like a slime that feels really gliding.
A little bit goes a long way. I was using this mask regularly and it was almost enough for 6 months use.
Results:
After rinsing it off, my skin can be a tad red, but the reddening disappears quickly. Personally for me, this peel is barely effective. This is probably because of me using the acid products before and this product just isn’t enough for me.
My skin looks smooth and soft, though there’s also no blackheads dissolving. It doesn’t also affect the appearance of my pores. Honestly, my Clarisonic brush gives me more visible results than this product.
As for the acne scars, no visible results here either. Again, the brush is more effective here, because it peels my skin off and is definitely more delicate.
For me I won’t ever repurchase in a cinch. But I can recommend this product for those who are just getting to know acids, especially for those with sensitive skin types.
