Paloma Serum

The Paloma Serum. 7% Glycolic Acid, 7% White Willow Bark, 100% beauty.

AHAs and BHAs are so so amazing for acne prone skin, oily skin, textured skin, scarred skin, like every skin! I'll get into what it does and why they're so great in a second, but I just want to share a lil' backstory of how this product became.

My first chemical exfoliant was a 2% BHA liquid from Paula's Choice. This is still a fave, but I loveddd how it helped with my skin's texture. Then, I started getting chemical peels and hearing how amazing Glycolic Acid is for acne prone skin. So, I started playing around with our own serum formulation.

In an ideal world, I probably would have used Salicylic Acid as our BHA because everyone knows how beautifull that works with acne-prone skin. However, the FDA has put a huge stake in very specific ingredients (like Salicylic Acid) and we would have to do a lot more regulatory work in the acne world if we wanted to include that in our formula. Sooo, we went with our tried and true White Willow Bark.

Now let's dive into the ingredients.

INGREDIENT BREAKDOWN

GLYCOLIC ACID: This is an AHA, which means that it is a water-soluble acid that helps chemically exfoliate your skin (very different than physical exfoliation). It has a very small molecule size, which means it can penetrate your pores and absorb very well. Due to it's exfoliating properties, it helps break up clogged pores which is why it's so great for acne-prone skin. It helps to break up dead skin on the top layers of your face to reduce pore clogging and do an incredible job fading dark marks.

WHITE WILLOW BARK: This is the plant that Salicylic Acid is derived from! Basically, they extract naturally occurring salicin from the plant and put it through lots of chemical processes to turn it into Salicylic Acid. What this means is that White Willow Bark has lots of BHA properties. BHAs are oil-soluble acids which mean they can actually dive deeper into your pores to exfoliate dirt and grime build up. This is an amazing ingredient for texture and small bumps. It also makes it a great exfoliant for blackheads.