I received this product free for review purposes.  Benton PHA Peeling Gel:  I do love a good peeling gel as it allows me to exfoliate my skin more often, as I find them to be gentle & effective. Not all peeling gels are alike, however.  What is a peeling gel & what to look for in one...Peeling gels are not peels ~ they are actually exfoliators that use fruit enzymes to dissolve dead skin cells & unclog pores, which you can see as you massage it onto your skin. They revitalize & refresh the skin & only remove a small amount of superficial skin.  Peeling gels must be applied to clean, dry skin, otherwise, they do not work as well.  Peeling gels should also have an AHA(glycolic, citric, lactic) as this acid helps in removing dead skin cells. Another common ingredient is hyaluronic acid, as that will increase moisture & hydration & improve your skin’s texture & tone.  Your peeling gel should have clumps of white or greyish balls of material when you massage it into your skin.

There are some peeling gels out there on the market that I consider bogus & the way you can test if a peeling gel is actually working to remove dead skin cells is really simple. Just put some of your peeling gel on a counter top or dish & rub it in.  If you see clumps of white/greyish balls of material, then it is bogus.  Sorry, but counter tops & dishes do not slough off dead skin cells.   You should only see the clumps when it is applied to skin, as the oils from your skin is what should activate the fibers & enzymes in a peeling gel. Those clumps are part product (listed as acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, carbomer or cellulose), part skin cells, held together with the oils from your skin.  If the clumps are greyish-white in color as well, don’t worry ~ that just means that your skin was dirty!

Does Benton PHA Peeling Gel meet the definition of a peeling gel?

Alpha Hydroxy Acid ~  Benton replaced AHA with 1000 ppm of lactobionic acid, a 3rd generation acid called PHA (poly hydroxy acid), which is a much more gentle acid than an AHA, is not photosensitive & can be just effective as an AHA over an extended period of time

Clumping Materials ~ Check!  It contains cellulose as its clumping material

Increase Moisture & Hydration ~ Benton has humecants hyaluronic acid & glycerin, which helps seal in moisture as well as moisturizing ceramides. PHA's also increase hydration as well

With both the clumping materials & PHA, this is both a physical & chemical peeling product.  This is very mildly acidic with a pH level of around a 6 so it isn't going to be a hard core acid treatment, so this will be good for sensitive & dry skin types too.  Oily skin types, like myself, can use this more often if we are used to exfoliation.  This is a white product with lots of cellulose in it ~ but when I did the plate test, it didn't ball up, so it does pass the plate test ~ the amount of cellulose in it really helps with the physical exfoliation.  This is pretty much scentless product & its texture is soft & easy to apply.  To use, just apply to a clean DRY face and then massage the product for a few minutes  ~ paying special attention to areas where you have clogged pores, excess oil & dirt ~ I start noticing the cellulose start to roll up in balls with my oils and gunk.  Rinse off with warm water.  My skin does feel a lot softer, smoother & looks brighter around my pores.  My skin is not irritated nor is is dried out either, despite having a good chemical & physical exfoliation.  Two thumbs up for another winning Benton product!  Have you tried this yet?