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Clinical Skincare Science

Chemical Peels (Superficial)

Superficial peeling taught as controlled biology rather than recipes: the acids, depth and the one rule, client selection and priming, complications, and programme design. Practitioner Tier, built around Fitzpatrick IV–VI safety.

  • ₵4,200
  • Intermediate
  • In person
  • 3 weeks
  • Instalment plans available

About this course

A focused masterclass on superficial-to-medium chemical peels with protocols tailored to darker skin tones. This programme blends expert-led theory with supervised, hands-on clinical practice at our East Legon campus, and is designed around the realities of practising aesthetics on richly melanated West African skin.

Curriculum

7 modules · supervised practical hours throughout

  • The Core Idea: A Peel Manipulates an Enzyme System
  • The Most Controllable Injury in Aesthetics
  • pH, Depth as a Spectrum, and What Actually Determines Depth
  • Superficial, Medium and Deep: Different Risk Categories
  • Endpoints Are Signals, Not Goals
  • Four Consequences of Taking Mechanism Seriously
  • The Strategic Position of This School
  • The Honest Scope, and the Melasma Over-Claim
  • Clinical Judgement, Recovery and the Decision Framework
  • Module 1 Handout: Dials, Depth and the Fitzpatrick Contrast
  • Module 1 Knowledge Check: What a Peel Actually Is

  • Reading an Acid Beyond the Front Label
  • pH Bands and the Three Ways Acids Improve Skin
  • Darker Skin: The Safety Lens, and the Molecule-Size Principle
  • Glycolic, Lactic and Mandelic in Practice
  • Salicylic Acid and the PHAs
  • TCA, and Reading Frost
  • Jessner's, and the Boundary: Phenol and Croton Oil
  • Neutralisation: Chemistry, Not Ritual
  • Choosing the Acid, Screening, and Interrogating Your Supplier
  • Endpoints, Danger Signs and Aftercare Principles
  • Module 2 Handout: pH Bands, Frost Reading and the Neutralisation Truth Table
  • Module 2 Knowledge Check: The Acids

  • Depth Is the Safety Language
  • The Acid Name Does Not Equal the Depth
  • The Appendage Rule: Why Shallow Heals and Deep Scars
  • Fractions of a Millimetre
  • Medium Depth in Pigmented Skin: The Honest Position and the Three Risks
  • Patient Selection, the Default Strategy and the School Position
  • Module 3 Handout: The Depth Table and the Appendage Rule
  • Module 3 Knowledge Check: Depth, and the One Rule

  • The Safety Logic: Preparation Is Risk Control
  • The Consultation Map and the Most Important Prediction Question
  • Contraindications: Absolute, Defer Today, Medical Review
  • Herpes Prophylaxis: The One People Skip
  • Skin-Lightening History: Steroid-Thinned Skin Peels Deeper Than You Intend
  • Timing: Recent Procedures, Actives and Sun
  • Priming Is Part of the Peel
  • The Test Patch, and How to Interpret It
  • Preparing Expectations, and the Consent Conversation
  • Peel Readiness Checklist (Printable)
  • Module 4 Knowledge Check: Selecting and Preparing the Client

  • 5.1 Setup: Before She Arrives
  • 5.2 and 5.3: Preparing the Skin, and Applying It
  • 5.4 Endpoints: The Most Important Section in This Manual
  • 5.4 The Slide That Prevents Burns: The Problem With Erythema
  • 5.5 and 5.6: Neutralisation, and If It Goes Too Far
  • Module 5 Handout: The Endpoint Card and the Rescue Sequence
  • Module 5 Knowledge Check: Performing the Peel

  • When Healing Stops Being Normal
  • The PIH Cascade
  • Preventing PIH: The Plan Starts Before the Peel
  • Managing PIH: Calm, Protect, Control Pigment, Time
  • The Consent Script, and What to Document
  • Hypopigmentation: The Outcome to Fear, and the Endpoint as a Safety Tool
  • Prolonged Erythema, Infection and HSV in a Peeled Field
  • Scarring, Milia, Demarcation and Texture Change
  • The Post-Peel Triage Pathway, and the Documentation Standard
  • Module 6 Handout: Expected vs Complication, PIH Management and Triage
  • Module 6 Knowledge Check: Complications

  • A Series, Not an Event
  • Building the Six-Peel Arc
  • What Must Happen Between Peels
  • Change One Thing: Escalating One Variable at a Time
  • Assessment Points Prevent Blind Treatment
  • The Stacking Rule, and Asking Specific Questions
  • Aftercare: The First 72 Hours, and by Phase
  • Harmattan Changes the Skin's Risk Profile
  • When Not to Peel, and When Aftercare Goes Wrong
  • Programme Templates and the Seven Ideas
  • Module 7 Handout: Programme Design, Intervals and Aftercare Phases
  • Written Client Aftercare Sheet (Printable)
  • Module 7 Knowledge Check: Programmes and Aftercare
  • Final Examination

Entry requirements

Existing skincare or clinical qualification recommended.

Upcoming intakes

Your instructors

Dr Kwame Boateng

Consultant Dermatologist

Consultant dermatologist specialising in pigmentary disorders and laser medicine for richly melanated skin.

Efua Mensah

Clinical Skincare Tutor

Cosmetic chemist and clinical facialist teaching ingredient science and safe chemical peeling.

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