There are people with naturally soft, smooth, and just beautiful skin, and there are people like me who have to put in the work just to look half as good. I don’t know, maybe it’s just a case of the grass being greener on the other side. In this post, I am going to talk about reasons why I love (maybe love might be strong) Lactic Acid Lotion. I feel like my skin has changed so much (in a good way) since I started using it.
Lactic acid is an alpha hydroxy acid – a group of naturally occurring acids commonly referred to as fruit acids. Lactic acid is naturally occurring in sour milk and other foods made through the process of fermentation.
There are various forms of AHAs such as glycolic acid, malic acid, tartaric acid, and citric acid. So why do I prefer lactic acid in my lotion?
Lactic acid is the gentlest yet most effective of the AHAs – anyone, regardless of skin type or color, can use lactic acid without severe reactions. Glycolic is also very effective but it’s not as forgiving, especially to people with darker skin colors. This is what makes lactic acid more appealing.
Lactic acid keeps my skin exfoliated so that dead skin cells literally fall off when I use a washcloth to scrub myself in the shower. I find that exfoliation is key to having great skin, in my case. It removes the roughness caused by loose dead skin cells, and the rest of the ingredients in the lactic acid lotion keeps me moisturized.
Because lactic acid is part of the skin’s natural moisturizing factor, when combined with other ingredients in lotion, the skin gets a double portion. I find that my skin feels just as good 10 hours later as it does when I first apply the lotion.
The back of my legs (not thighs) have always had lines and wrinkles as long as I can remember. There was so much piled-on skin that the back of my legs always looked old and I was very ashamed of them. Since I started using lactic acid lotion, they have improved tremendously. With each use, they keep improving.
Skin thrives at a lower pH than at a higher pH. Lower pH protects the skin’s acid mantle which is responsible for keeping the skin healthy.
The reasons above are why I use lactic acid lotion every day. It does take time for your skin to build up tolerance without reacting adversely. If you’re new to using lactic acid, read this post which talks about my experience when I first started using lactic acid lotion.
