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If you have sensitive, yet texture ridden skin, you probably struggle a lot with one aspect of skincare: Finding a peel that doesn’t irritate your skin, but at the same time gets rid of the layer of dead skin cells that make you look tired and grey.
It is a struggle I didn’t understand for many, many years – my skin could literally take everything. Abrasive peel applied with a Clarisonic brush? No problem. Strong acid peels every day? Of course! Being outside in the cold and wind, then sauna, then a scrubby clay mask? Yes please!
That was until the day that I started using prescription retinoids, carried on as usual and woke up to eczema spreading all over face and chest.
It took me a long time to understand what had happened and repair my damaged skin barrier (read more about it here), but ever since I have made a point of being extra gentle with my skin.
Which is why I appreciate the pixi Hydrating Milky Peel so much.
What the pixi Hydrating Milky Peel claims
Gentle micro-peeling cream. Natural cellulose, rich in moisture, clears away dead skin cells for delicate brightening.
Facts
Price and size
One tube contains 80 ml and is available for 24 $ on the website here . You need quite a bit because of the watery texture, but as a peel is not a daily treatment (or at least it shouldn’t be), the tube will still last a few months.
Texture and scent
When applied to the skin, the Hydrating Milky Peel feels almost watery, but with a slightly grainy texture. Sounds strange and is incredibly hard to describe, but not uncomfortable. The scent is sweet and floral.
How to use the pixi Hydrating Milky Peel
First things first: No matter how gentle a peel is, you don’t need to use it every day. Once a week is enough, twice at max. So even if a brand calls it a “gentle daily exfoliating treatment”, make it a weekly thing instead.
Apply the watery texture to a freshly cleansed face, wait around five minutes for the cellulose and carbomer to form a film and then start massaging your face with your fingers. You will notice little balls forming that are, against what people claim, NOT the exfoliated skin cells (that would be a lot!), but instead the cellulose/Carbomer that pills up and gently, with no rough edges, physically exfoliates your skin.
Afterwards you rinse it with water and are left with soft and smooth skin.
The gentleness means of course that the exfoliating effect is very subtle, not comparable to that of a strong chemical peel.
Ingredients of the pixi Hydrating Milky Peel
Favorable ingredients
- Cellulose: Used as biodegradable replacement for plastic microspheres, gentle peeling with no sharp edges
- Propanediol: Humectant
- Arginine: Aminoacid, healing, increases cell turnover, stimulates growth factors
- Carbomer: Thickener, balls up in higher concentrations for a gentle physical peeling effect
- Allantoin: Aminoacid, soothing irritated skin
- Bifida Ferment Lysate: potential antioxidant effect, hydrating
- Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Extract: Hydrating
- Avena Strigosa Seed Extraxt: contains Avenanthramiede, which are soothing even in low concentrations
- Origanum Vulgare Leaf Extract: soothing
- Chamaecyparis Obtusa Leaf Extract: Antibacterial
- Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract: Natural source of salicins (related to salicylic acid) and tannins
- Lactobacillus/ Soybean ferment extract: Rich in nutrients and antioxidants
- Portulaca Oleracea Extract: Brightening, antioxidant
- Cinnamomum Cassia Bark Extract: Antixodiant, antibacterial
- Scutelleria Baicalensis Root Extract: Soothing, antixoidant
- Trehalose: Humectant, “Sugar of life”, forms gel protecting against dehydration, antioxidant
- Glycerin: Humectant, draws moisture to the skin
- Butylene Glycol: Humectant
Other ingredients
- Phenoxyethanol: Preservative
- Polysorbate 20: Surfactant
- Lecithin: Emulsifier
- Potassium Sorbate: Preservative
- Citric Acid: pH adjuster
- Ethylhexylglycerin: Preservative
- Disodium EDTA: Binding Agent
Possibly problematic ingredients
- Fragrance/Parfum
Quite frankly a pretty basic ingredient list: A humectant (Glycerin), Cellulose and Carbomer to create the peeling effect and Allantoin for soothing. The added plant extracts are all below 1% in concentration, so I am not sure if you would get any effect from them. Please don’t get me wrong here though, I don’t think a basic ingredient list is a bad thing in this case – I want a gentle peel, I get a gentle peel. For the treatment phase I will use my serum (read more about what a serum is and what it does in your routine here)
The added fragrance might be a red flag for some.
How does the pixi Hydrating Milky Peel compare to the
pixi Peel & Polish
If the Hydrating Milky Peel is the gentle version, the pixi Peel & Polish is exfoliation on speed. Not only is the physical exfoliation component way stronger, it also contains a chemical and an enzymatic peel. That means that you really see the difference when using it, but it also means that it is way too irritating for my skin.
So depending if you want a subtle and gentle peel or need a strong and immediate effect, there is a version here that suits your needs.
Read my full review of the pixi Peel & Polish here.
Does the pixi Hydrating Milky Peel live up to its claims?
Yes.
It is a gentle cream, it has some hydrating properties and it will brighten by removing dead skin.
Would I repurchase?
Maybe.
I don’t often have the need for any kind of exfoliation, so it will take me forever to go through this tube alone, and I am not able to completely skip my salicylic acid. Once a month I need that for hormonally triggered clogged pores, the woes of being a woman I guess.
Which skin types is the pixi Hydrating Milky Peel best suited for?
All skin types with exception of those allergic to fragrance, although the gentleness of the actual exfoliation will make it not worth the effort for quite a few people.
