Why Is My Skin Peeling?

Peeling means the outer layer of skin is coming away in sheets rather than shedding invisibly, and the single most useful question is whether it was preceded by something. Peeling after sunburn, a reaction, a fever or a new product has an obvious cause and resolves on its own. Peeling that arrives without any such trigger, or that keeps happening, is a different conversation.

Skin sheds constantly. You lose roughly a gram of skin cells a day and never notice, because they leave one at a time. Peeling is what happens when the bonds between cells release all at once, or when the layer beneath was damaged and the whole sheet lifts.

Peeling with an obvious trigger

• Sunburn. The commonest cause by a distance. Damaged cells are cleared en masse, usually starting two to five days after the burn. It is the body removing cells it has decided are not worth repairing.
• A new product, particularly retinoids, acids or benzoyl peroxide. Mild peeling in the first weeks of a retinoid is expected. Peeling with burning, swelling or a rash is not, and means stop.
• Over-exfoliation. Increasingly common. Layering acids, scrubs and retinoids strips the barrier faster than it rebuilds, and the skin peels, stings and becomes reactive to things it previously tolerated.
• After a fever or viral illness, including hands and feet peeling days to weeks afterwards.
• Very dry air or wind exposure, especially on the face and lips.
• Contact with irritants, from solvents and detergents to frequent hand washing.

All of these resolve. The correct response is almost always to do less: stop the trigger, use something bland, and leave it alone while it repairs.

Peeling without an obvious trigger

This is where it is worth thinking more carefully.

• Fungal infection, classically between the toes or on the feet, where peeling comes with itch and sometimes a scaly border.
• Eczema, where peeling follows a phase of redness and itching rather than appearing on its own.
• Psoriasis, where the scale is thick and silvery and sits on well-defined raised plaques.
• An inherited shedding condition such as ichthyosis, where the skin has always been like this to some degree and the peeling is continuous rather than episodic.
• Peeling skin on the hands specifically, which has its own long list including contact dermatitis, pompholyx and simple friction.
• Drug reactions, which are uncommon but can be serious, particularly if peeling is widespread and comes with fever or affects the mouth, eyes or genitals.

What to do about ordinary peeling

1. Do not pull it off. Peeling skin is still partly attached and still doing a job. Pulling tears living tissue underneath and delays repair.
2. Stop the cause. If it followed a product, stop the product. If it followed a burn, protect the area properly.
3. Simplify everything. Bland cleanser, bland moisturiser, nothing active, for at least two weeks.
4. Moisturise while damp, frequently. Barrier repair is the whole job here.
5. Do not exfoliate. This is the instinct and it is the wrong one. Skin that is peeling is already shedding too fast, and helping it along damages the barrier further.

Hands and feet are a special case

Peeling confined to the hands or the feet behaves differently from peeling elsewhere, and it has its own short list of causes.

• Hands: frequent washing and sanitiser are far and away the commonest cause, particularly in healthcare, hospitality and childcare. Contact dermatitis from gloves, detergents or foods is next. Pompholyx produces small deep itchy blisters that peel as they dry.
• Feet: fungal infection is the leading cause, typically between the toes with itch, and it needs an antifungal rather than a moisturiser. Peeling on the soles alone, without itch, is more often friction or dryness.
• Both, after an illness: peeling of the palms and soles can follow a fever by one to three weeks and settles on its own.

The practical point is that hand peeling usually needs protection and less washing, while foot peeling usually needs the right antifungal. Treating either with an exfoliant makes both worse.

Where G16 fits, and where it does not

This is a page where the honest answer is mostly no. G16 is not for peeling skin. It is a keratolytic, meaning it loosens dead cells so they come away, and skin that is already shedding in sheets does not need help shedding. Using it on a sunburn, on over-exfoliated skin or on an active reaction will sting and will make things worse.

There is one situation where it becomes relevant, and it is nearly the opposite problem. Some people describe their skin as peeling when what they actually have is thick, adherent scale lifting at the edges: skin that is accumulating rather than shedding too fast, where flakes catch and lift but the layer underneath stays thickened. That is retention, and it is what G16 is built for, with glycolic and lactic acid loosening the build-up while aloe vera, glycerin, panthenol, vitamin E and shea butter hydrate underneath.

If that is the picture, expect the process to start in the first week, a flakier phase around day five to seven as loosened scale comes away, and a visible difference usually within the first two weeks, with a full course of 28 days and up to about six weeks for heavier build-up.

If your skin is peeling after a burn, a reaction or too many actives, the right answer is a bland moisturiser and time.

When to see a doctor

• Widespread peeling with fever, or peeling involving the lips, mouth, eyes or genitals. Seek help urgently.
• Skin coming away in large sheets leaving raw, weeping areas.
• Peeling that started after beginning a new prescribed medication.
• Signs of infection: spreading redness, warmth, swelling, pus, or a patch that becomes rapidly more painful.
• Peeling between the toes or on the feet with itch, which is usually fungal and needs the right treatment.
• Peeling that keeps recurring in the same place without explanation.
• Peeling in a baby or young child that you cannot account for.

Common questions