Lactic acid is very effective for dry skin; it gently exfoliates dead skin cells and it's also a great humectant. In this video, dermatologist Doris Day, MD, explains how lactic acid is used to treat skin and how to find it in skincare products.
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Lactic acid is in the alpha hydroxy acids family of products and it's really great for dry skin because what it does is it gently helps exfoliate and loosen off that outer dead layer of skin cells that really needs to come off. And then it's also something called a humectants which helps pull and hold water into the skin.
The best time to apply this acid in particular, a new moisturizer is right after the bath or shower when your skin is already damp, this way it will gently exfoliate, it will pull water in and it will lock it into the skin and leave it soft and smooth and this is really important because dry skin can be itchy.
When you itch and when you scratch, you can create breaks in the skin and that leaves you more prone to infection and even scarring. So it's really, really important to moisturize every day, all year round for the face and the body. When you are looking for lactic acid, look for exactly that, Lactic Acid and look for a 12% concentration.
That's the ideal concentration for gentle exfoliation of the dry, dead layer of skin cells without irritating and also for it to be a great hydrator of the skin.
