Dispatch · January 14, 2026 · 6 min · By Theo Lindqvist
Chemical peels for pigment: what to expect
From a lunchtime glycolic peel to a deeper TCA, matching the peel to the spot.
Chemical peels remove pigment by controlled exfoliation: an acid dissolves the bonds between surface skin cells, taking embedded melanin with them as the skin renews.
Light peels, glycolic or mandelic acid, brighten and even tone with essentially no downtime, but fade lentigines slowly across a series. Medium-depth peels, usually trichloroacetic acid (TCA), reach deeper and can clear stubborn spots in fewer sessions, at the cost of several days of visible peeling. Deeper peels exist but are rarely the right tool for simple age spots.
Skin tone matters enormously. In medium-to-deep skin, an aggressive peel risks post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, the treatment causing the very problem it was meant to fix. A cautious clinician primes the skin first and chooses conservative depth.
Peels reward patience and sun discipline. Walking out of a peel and into midday sun undoes the work and invites new pigment.
Related reading: Sunscreen: the only non-negotiable in pigment care and What picosecond lasers changed about pigment removal.