Juice Beauty- Green Apple Peel Full Strength

Chemical peels are my favorite way to revive dull skin and fight just about any issue. Usually I choose the heavy-duty stuff: retinoids and high-concentration acids (not for beginners!), and they've been serving me well. So I was hesitant about the potential of Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel, thinking it might belong in the milder category of enzyme peels. However, a close look shows that Juice Beauty is actually serving us a pretty impressive dose of real acids, both AHA and BHA in the form of fruit-derived ingredients. So, yes, this is the real thing, for better and for worse. It's intriguing to see that real lemon juice is very high on the ingredient list. IFRA has severely restricted its use in perfume because it might cause allergies and other skin reactions, but here we're encouraged to slather this stuff on our faces. So do take note of the potential irritants and patch test (as you should with everything, really).

Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel Full Strength is a noticeably efficient peel. Even as a veteran acid-washer I felt the familiar tingling of my skin (especially during the first three or four uses), and I could tell in the following days that an effective peel has been applied. I've used the press samples I had twice a week for three weeks and saw good and consistent results: brighter and fresher skin. I also tried some Juice Beauty Green Apple Age Defy Serum and Moisturizer that seemed alright, but the small samples didn't last for long enough to form an impression I can stand behind.

Bottom Line: it works.

Ingredients: Organic juices of pyrus malus (organic apple juice)*, citrus medica limonum (organic lemon juice)*, aloe barbadensis (organic aloe juice)*, salix nigra (willow bark extract), vitis vinifera (grape seed extract), lactic acid, glycolic acid, vegetable glycerin, hydroxypropyl starch phosphate, sodium hydroxide, tocopherol (Vitamin E), ascorbyl palmitate (Vitamin C), retinyl palmitate (Vitamin A), tetrasodium glutamate diacetate, magnesium aspartate, zinc gluconate, copper gluconate, caprylyl glycol, phenethyl alcohol, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, xanthan gum.
* = Certified organic ingredient

Juice Beauty- Green Apple Peel Full Strength ($45) is available from juicebeauty.com as well as from many online beauty retailers. The press samples I used were provided by shopHQ.com.

Image via cullogo.com