Ingredient Deepdive: Glycolic Acid Toners, Serums, And Peels That Balance, Soothe, And Rejuvenate Your Complexion

A game-changing ingredient that helps to exfoliate your skin, boost collagen production, and reduce the visible signs of ageing, glycolic acid, an ingredient derived from sugar cane, is rapidly becoming a staple in the world of skincare, its transformational properties delivering incredible results for a range of skin types. In this blog post, weâre sharing the benefits of glycolic acid for skin, highlighting some of the best glycolic acid skincare products and how they help with any skin concerns you may have.Â
Renowned for being the smallest AHA molecule, glycolic acid can penetrate your skin more effectively than other AHAs, making it effective for targeting skin concerns such as fine lines, wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, and uneven skin texture.
In addition to its amazing exfoliating properties, glycolic acid also helps stimulate collagen production, unclog pores, and reduce blackheads, leading to firmer, more youthful-looking skin thatâs clear, balanced, and radiant.Â
Benefits of Glycolic Acid
Suitable for most skin types, glycolic acid can be found in a variety of everyday skincare products such as glycolic acid serum, toners, moisturisers, and glycolic acid face wash. Here are a few of the ways glycolic acid can help your skin:
⢠  Exfoliation: Glycolic acid dissolves the bonds between dead skin cells, gently exfoliating the skin's surface to reveal smoother, more radiant skin.
⢠  Improves Skin Texture and Tone: By promoting cellular turnover, glycolic acid helps to reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and hyperpigmentation, revealing a more balanced and even complexion.
⢠  Enhances Collagen Production: With regular use, glycolic acid stimulates collagen production, resulting in firmer, younger-looking skin.
⢠  Unclogs Pores: The exfoliating action of glycolic acid helps remove dirt and debris from your pores, preventing blackheads and promoting a clearer complexion.
Advice For Using Glycolic Acid
It is important to note that you should always introduce glycolic acid into your everyday skincare routine gradually to minimise irritation, always follow product instructions, and apply sunscreen afterwards, as glycolic acid can increase your skin's sensitivity to the sun.
With proper use, glycolic acid can be a powerful tool in achieving smoother, healthier, and more radiant skin.

Five Of Our Favourite Glycolic Acid-Infused Skincare Essentials
Intrigued by glycolic acid and want to introduce it to your skincare routine? Weâve rounded up five of our favourite glycolic acid skincare essentials, sharing with you the features, benefits, and what skin types and concerns theyâre best for, helping you achieve the complexion of your dreams.Â
SkinCeuticals Glycolic 10 Renew Overnight
Harnessing the power of 10% glycolic acid, this SkinCeuticals Glycolic 10 Renew Overnight is a potent overnight corrective cream that helps promote cellular turnover to reveal a radiant, youthful complexion, with smoother, brighter skin. Â
Clinically proven to improve skin texture, tone, and overall appearance while providing gentle exfoliation this phytic acid, glycerin, and jojoba oil-infused cream eliminates dead skin cells while you sleep, moisturising and nourishing your skin overnight to reveal a soft, supple, and rejuvenated complexion when you wake.Â
âMiracle in tube brightens and refreshes from first use. Keep using and your skin will always look fresh and bright. I love this product and is now my staple routine.â â Helen, FTF Customer
Medik8 Balance Moisturiser with Glycolic Acid Activator
Visibly perfecting your complexion, this Medik8 Balance Moisturiser and Glycolic Acid Activator is a customisable duo designed to control excess oil, reduce shine, and promote a healthy skin microbiome, the prebiotic and postbiotic-infused formula balancing your complexion and boosting hydration to reveal mattified, smoother skin.
Featuring a complementary Glycolic Acid Activator, this transformative skincare duo allows you to tailor the intensity of exfoliation to the unique needs of your skin, gently resurfacing and refining skin texture to reveal a radiantly flawless complexion.
âI love this product. Very efficient at reducing blemishes over time. Skin looks clearer and pores are tighter. Perfect for combination skin. The texture is like a fluid, very easy to apply and gets absorbed instantly. The citrus smell is also very pleasant.â â Anonymous FTF Customer
Minimalist Glycolic Acid 8% Exfoliating Liquid
Revealing a smoother, more luminous complexion, this Minimalist Glycolic Acid 8% Exfoliating Liquid exfoliates, hydrates, and soothes your skin, the potent concentration of 8% glycolic acid delivering gentle yet effective exfoliator that targets uneven texture, clogged pores, and dullness for a rejuvenated, glowing complexion.
Infused with bamboo water, an ingredient renowned for its regenerative and calming properties, this multi-purpose liquid is perfect for your face, body, underarms, and scalp, the transformative formula accelerating cell turnover and delivering essential hydration to help you achieve a radiant, youthful complexion without irritation.
Avant Skincare Intensive Redensifying Glycolic Acid Day Moisturiser
Designed to address multiple signs of ageing, this potent formula combines glycolic acid, urea, and mica to target fine lines, wrinkles, dullness, and sagging skin, restoring firmness, luminosity, and volume to reveal a fresh and youthful complexion.Â
Suitable for all skin types, including dry skin, this Avant Skincare Intensive Redensifying Glycolic Acid Day Moisturiser is a rich and nourishing moisturiser that provides optimal comfort while delivering transformative, age-defying results to ageing complexions.Â

NeoStrata Foaming Glycolic Wash
Helping you achieve a smooth, clear complexion, this NeoStrata Foaming Glycolic Wash is a high-strength AHA cleanser that harnesses the power of glycolic acid to visibly even skin tone and exfoliate the surface of your skin.Â
Targeting clogged pores and congestion, this pH-balanced cleanser prepares your skin for optimal absorption of your skincare routine, the foaming formula resurfacing and renewing your complexion to reveal a radiant, youthful complexion.Â
âGreat for oily, congested skin. Tingles a little when applied. The foam works into a thick sumptuous lather. Leaves the skin refreshed and replenished. One of my favourite face washes to use.â â Lisa, FTF Customer
Shop Glycolic Acid Skincare
Loved learning about glycolic acid and want to more advice on caring for your skin? Why not stick around a while longer and delve into our latest blog post where we share the self-care products you need for your self-love revolution.