Beauty product of the week: Peter Thomas Roth FirmX Peeling Gel
Image: Instagram user peterthomasrothofficial
This chemical exfoliant leaves your skin bright and baby-soft.
Why we love this product
I've tried a fair few chemical exfoliating products. I've even reviewed a few before. But the FirmX Peeling Gel from Peter Thomas Roth is very different.
Most chemical exfoliants will use AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) to help breakdown the dead top layers of skin. Some will even use BHAs which go deeper into the skin to help lift out dead skin in the pores. But this Peter Thomas Roth product uses enzymes instead. It contains a mixture of pineapple, pomegranate and keratinase enzymes plus cellulose.
The quick verdict
Why is it good? A chemical exfoliant that won't leave your skin irritated or raw.
How much is it? $75 for 100mL.
Where to buy it? Sephora
So why enzymes? Well, enzymes exfoliate in a similar way to AHAs and BHAs but they're a lot gentler. So if you have easily-irritated skin or dry skin that can't handle acids, then enzyme exfoliants are a better solution. Why? Well, it's a bit weird but enzymes "digest" dead skin and only dead skin. Acids can sometimes lift off too much skin and leave you red and raw, whereas the enzymes only remove what is already dead.
This particular product works in a very interesting way. You apply it to a clean but dry face. It works much better on dry skin than wet. Use quite a lot too. Since it's not an acid, you don't need to worry about burning yourself or using too much. Then proceed to massage it all over your face.
I immediately started to notice rolls and beads of what looked like dead skin lifting off my face. It's crazy how quickly this product seemed to work. I continued to massage it all over my face and neck (avoiding the eyes) for about a minute and more and more dead skin continued to roll off my face. I'm sure some of what I was seeing was the product drying up and rolling off but I could tell a lot of it was from my face by the colour.
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I use warm water and a Face Halo to remove the dead skin and leftover product. Once my skin is dry again you can really see how well the product works. My pores were smaller, my skin was brighter and my face was baby-soft. I love using smoothing products like this because they help your serums and creams absorb better and they allow your makeup to sit on your face a lot more evenly.
But the best thing about this was that my face didn't feel raw, burnt or stinging at all. There was no tightness or dryness at any point during or after using this product. Since I have oily skin, I don't mind a little bit of tightness – my skin will be shiny again in five minutes. Regardless, it's nice to find a product that can give you that cleaning, exfoliating effect without stripping or drying.
While I still think AHAs, BHAs and even face scrubs have their place – I still really love face scrubs! This is a fabulous product to brighten and purify skin that works on all skin types. If you're someone that has always been afraid of chemical exfoliants because you have sensitive skin, try this one. Unless your skin is truly hyper-sensitive, this is an exfoliant you should be able to use.
Affordability
This exfoliant retails at $75 for 100mL, which I think is a little bit pricey. But, it does work really well. I was gifted my first product but this is something that I will definitely repurchase myself. So I guess I think it's worth it.
Where to buy
I generally buy Peter Thomas Roth at Sephora but you can also grab it at Cult Beauty if you're already doing an order there.
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