Personally, I’ve never had shedding after a peel, and that’s the way I want it – using super-strength mega-multiple acid peels at home isn’t a good idea for so many reasons. Firstly, you can actually burn your skin with some products sold online, risking infection, pigmentation and scarring . Secondly, even if you get off lucky without immediate burns, the damage that you do with cumulative years might take months or years to even show up. But I’m talking lots of pigmentation , excessive thinning of the skin and discolouration. It’s not worth the risk, especially if you’re using retinol of any strength as well as your peel. Forget it. “You can do a superficial peel about once a month, but deeper peels really should be once a year, maybe twice, depending on your skin type and skin concerns,” said Dr Ukeleghe.So, an example of a superficial peel is something like SkinCeuticals Glycolic 10 Overnight Renew Overnight for at home, or a peel done in a clinic at a lower strength. An example of a medium to deep peel: definitely done in-clinic, by a doctor, and will cause visible shedding for around a week afterwards.