Two exfoliants from Minimalist have glycolic acid in them. They are:
8% glycolic acid exfoliating liquid is much more effective in reducing pigmentation on the face than the 10% AHA BHA. It is more effective because it has more glycolic acid than the other.
However, if your skin is dehydrated or sensitive or you are worried about the side effects of glycolic acid, use the 10% AHA BHA. 10% AHA BHA will fade pigmentation but at a much lower rate than the other.
How does glycolic acid reduce pigmentation?
Old cells on the skin’s surface have to fall off regularly to make way for younger cells from the deeper layers. But some of the old cells don’t fall off. They are very stubborn. They all stick together and form a thin layer on the skin’s surface, giving it a dull complexion.
These stubborn old cells might also have an extra amount of a pigment called melanin. This pigment gives skin its colour and protects skin from harmful irritants. If there is an extra amount of this pigment in a cell, that portion of the skin will be darker than the rest. In simple terms, this is called pigmentation/dark spots.
Glycolic acid is a good chemical exfoliant. It gently breaks the bonds between the stubborn old cells that are supposed to fall off but don’t. Once the bonds break, these old cells fall off.
Once these old cells fall off, their extra melanin also disappears. Once melanin goes away, the dark colour it brings with it also goes away.
There are other chemical exfoliants like lactic acid, which also remove old cells from the skin’s surface. Lactic acid, too, can reduce pigmentation. However, glycolic acid is much more effective than other chemical exfoliants. Glycolic acid is tiny in size when compared to other chemical exfoliants. This small size allows it to penetrate and get to the deeper layers of skin. Since it can go deeper, it can affect and eliminate stubborn old cells more effectively than other chemical exfoliants.