DCL Multi Action Penta Peel

DCL is a new to me brand I've been playing with over the last few months. The Multi Action Penta Peel pads came in the Cult Beauty x Caroline Hirons box during the holiday so I knew they would be good. Details per DCL aka Dermatologic Cosmetic Laboratories:

A groundbreaking multi-purpose peel developed with a blend of five naturally derived acids that gently resurfaces and renews even the most sensitive of skins in five ways in just five minutes. Mandelic acid refines texture, as lactic acid smoothes rough spots and eases the look of fine lines and wrinkles. Phytic acid brightens and evens out skintone, while salicylic acid unclogs pores and hyaluronic acid deeply hydrates. These industrious pads also physically buff away imperfections to uncover younger, fresher-looking skin with a newfound radiance.

Benefits

• Proprietary blend of five naturally derived acids work overtime to refine and revive skin in just five minutes.
• Mandelic Acid lifts dead surface cells to profoundly perfect and polish skin.
• Lactic Acid softens and smoothes.
• Phytic Acid evens out tone creating a fresh, radiant and healthy-looking complexion.
• Salicylic Acid provides anti-bacterial benefits and decongests pores to make them look smaller and tighter, while helping to treat and prevent breakouts.
• Hyaluronic Acid intensively moisturizes while reducing redness and irritation for a supple dewy glow.
• Defends against free radical damage and deactivates the harmful effects of heavy metals in tap water.
• Helps spur collagen production to enhance elasticity and diminish the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.

Directions

Every other day, up to three times each week, sweep single-use pad in a gentle circular motion over clean, dry skin from the forehead to neck, avoiding eyes and lips. Relax for 3-5 minutes, and then rinse with cool water. Follow with sunscreen in the morning, moisturizer in the evening, and see yourself in a whole, new light.

Caution: For external use only. Keep out of reach of children. Avoid contact with eyes and mucous membranes. If irritation develops, discontinue use and consult your physician. Safe, soothing and effective for even the most sensitive skins.

DCL is short for Dermatologic Cosmetic Laboratories. DCL is a cosmeceutical skincare brand. It's a fairly new term used to describe a brand who combines cosmetic skincare (over the counter) and pharmaceutical (prescription). Technically it's not a legal term nor is it mandated or recognized by the FDA so this classification is used more by us and brands to describe skincare that is designed to have more biologically active compounds and more pharmaceutical effects on the skin. None of these claims are obviously regulated by the FDA as these products would have to be then classified as a drug and sold as a prescription. In my personal experience I have found cosmeceutical brands to be more effective than a basic cosmetic skincare line I find at a counter. So I feel there is basis to the claims. They tend to be well rounded formulas with more actives versus fillers.

You can see these pads are textured so you get a bit of a physical exfoliation as well as chemical from the acids. What I completely adore about these pads is that they are completely soaked. I hate it when peel pads are more pad than liquid and you feel like you have to use more than one because they're dried out. These ones are juicy which is so nice. There will probably be leftover liquid in the jar that I can use with my own cotton pads. So big bonus for DCL there. This is a peel pad, it's an acid toner meant to refine the texture of the skin and exfoliate for a more even and radiant complexion.

The Multi Action Penta Peel uses five acids to help achieve this skin resurfacing and renewal. Mandelic acid is a lovely alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) derived from bitter almonds. It's molecular size is the largest of the AHA so it's less irritating but it does penetrate less deeply. Phytic acid is a plant based antioxidant that works best with AHA to help brighten the skin. Lactic acid is my favorite AHA and it's extracted from milk. Lactic acid is hydrating in addition to smoothing the skins texture. Salicylic acid is a beta hydroxy acid (BHA) that helps really unclog the pores and it's great for breakouts as well as preventing them. BHA is also anti-inflammatory.

Multi Action Penta Peel contains multiple natural sources of AHA for gentle exfoliation: Vaccinium myrtillus fruit or bilberry fruit extract, lemon fruit, saccharum officinarum or sugarcane, acer saccharum or sugar maple. Add in a little hyaluronic acid for a well rounded acid peel. There is denatured alcohol which I normally hate in my skincare but it really depends on the alcohol and formulation. Sometimes it bothers me and turns me dry, red and blotchy, sometimes I have no issues with alcohol. In this case it was the latter. The alcohol didn't affect me in any negative way so I was fine using it. I found these were strong enough to exfoliate well yet it's gentle enough to be tolerable and pleasant to use. I enjoyed using these and this post makes me want to pull them out tonight. If you want a well rounded acid peel pad that's actually saturated with liquid try these.

Ingredients

Aqua, Alcohol Denat., Mandelic Acid, Phytic Acid, Ethoxydiglycol, Lactic Acid, Salicylic Acid, Ammonium Hydroxide, Vaccinium Myrtillus Fruit Extract, Saccharum Officinarum Extract, Citrus Limon Fruit Extract, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Fruit Extract, Acer Saccharum Extract, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Arginine, t-Butyl Alcohol, Denatonium Benzoate