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Catalyst Retinol Peel · O Cosmedics professional
Retinol Renew
Catalyst Retinol Peel · O Cosmedics professional
Retinol Renew
A course of professional retinol peels for ageing, sun damage, dullness and congestion. The best-evidenced active in skincare, applied by a trained therapist and planned by a pharmacist.
Corrective Peel first, Power Peel when your skin is ready. Results build over three to six months. Single peel $199 · programs from $549.
Gate one
You have tolerated a home retinol for two to four weeks. If not, we start you on one first.
Gate two
You are not pregnant, breastfeeding or trying to conceive.
Gate three
You can accept two to four days of flaking after each peel, and daily SPF 50+.
A course of professional retinol peels for ageing, sun damage, dullness and congestion. The best-evidenced active in skincare, applied by a trained therapist and planned by a pharmacist.
Corrective Peel first, Power Peel when your skin is ready. Results build over three to six months. Single peel $199 · programs from $549.
Is this the right peel for you?
Fine lines and early loss of firmness
Sun damage — uneven tone, spreading freckling, crepey texture
Dullness that sleep and skincare don't fix
Congestion and enlarged pores in otherwise robust skin
You want a course, and will do the home care between visits
Is this the right peel for you?
What it is and how it works
Most peels are acids that dissolve the surface. The Catalyst Retinol Peel is different: a professional-strength retinol with niacinamide, applied in clinic and left on to keep working after you go home. It signals the cells beneath to renew faster and make more collagen. The flaking a few days later is old, sun-damaged surface being replaced from below.
Retinol
Vitamin A, the most-studied topical for sun-aged skin. Decades of trials show the same pattern: finer lines, smoother texture, more even tone and a thicker dermis with continued use. It switches on the genes that govern renewal and collagen, and slows the enzymes that break collagen down.
Niacinamide
Vitamin B3. Its own randomised trials show it reduces the appearance of pigmentation, softens fine lines and strengthens the barrier. It calms, holds water in and slows pigment reaching the surface — the reason this peel is tolerable at a strength retinol alone would not be.
What the evidence says.
A 24-week controlled trial of 0.4% retinol improved fine wrinkling and increased collagen and skin thickness against the untreated side. A 12-week double-blind trial of 5% niacinamide improved fine lines and blotchiness against placebo. Those trials tested leave-on formulas, not this peel — which is why Retinol Renew is built as a course with retinol home care between visits.
Corrective Peel, then Power Peel
Everyone starts at the corrective level. Once your skin has shown it recovers comfortably, your therapist steps you up to the Power Peel, which delivers more active per visit. The step-up is decided from your skin's response, never the calendar.
What it is and how it works
Most peels are acids that dissolve the surface. The Catalyst Retinol Peel is different: a professional-strength retinol with niacinamide, applied in clinic and left on to keep working after you go home. It signals the cells beneath to renew faster and make more collagen. The flaking a few days later is old, sun-damaged surface being replaced from below.
What the evidence says.
A 24-week controlled trial of 0.4% retinol improved fine wrinkling and increased collagen and skin thickness against the untreated side. A 12-week double-blind trial of 5% niacinamide improved fine lines and blotchiness against placebo. Those trials tested leave-on formulas, not this peel — which is why Retinol Renew is built as a course with retinol home care between visits.
Corrective Peel, then Power Peel
Everyone starts at the corrective level. Once your skin has shown it recovers comfortably, your therapist steps you up to the Power Peel, which delivers more active per visit. The step-up is decided from your skin's response, never the calendar.
Why treat — and what happens if you don't
Nothing dramatic happens if you leave your skin alone. It simply continues on the path it is on.
Fine Lines
Left untreated:
Collagen production slows every year. Dynamic lines that once only appeared when smiling gradually set into static lines visible at rest.
With Retinol Renew:
Retinol is clinically proven to stimulate collagen synthesis and increase skin thickness, softening visible lines and restoring firm texture.
Sun Damage
Left untreated:
UV-activated pigment cells continuously overproduce melanin, causing freckling to spread and surface texture to roughen.With
Retinol Renew:
Accelerates cellular turnover to clear accumulated surface pigment, while paired niacinamide helps inhibit new pigment production to even out overall skin tone.
Dullness
Left untreated:
Natural cell turnover slows with age, allowing dead skin cells to accumulate on the surface and scatter light rather than reflecting it.
With Retinol Renew:
Restores optimal cellular renewal rates so skin reflects light evenly within days of application, building toward sustained, long-term radiance over a full treatment course.
Congestion
Left untreated:
Pores become clogged when the follicular lining sheds irregularly. Over time, recurring impactions leave pore walls permanently stretched.
With Retinol Renew:
Regulates and normalises how the pore lining desquamates, clearing existing congestion and allowing pore appearance to visibly refine.
If you choose not to treat,
daily SPF 50+ and a home retinol will still protect and slowly improve your skin. What you give up is pace and ceiling: a course of professional peels does in three to six months what home care does in a year or two.
What this peel does not do.
It does not treat or rule out skin cancer. Any spot that is new, changing or not healing needs your GP, not a peel.
Why treat — and what happens if you don't
Nothing dramatic happens if you leave your skin alone. It simply continues on the path it is on.
If you choose not to treat,
daily SPF 50+ and a home retinol will still protect and slowly improve your skin. What you give up is pace and ceiling: a course of professional peels does in three to six months what home care does in a year or two.
What this peel does not do.
It does not treat or rule out skin cancer. Any spot that is new, changing or not healing needs your GP, not a peel.
Pricing
Priced as a program because that is how the result is delivered. A single peel is credited toward a program booked within 30 days.
Single
One Peel
$199
one Catalyst Retinol Peel, face
Corrective level
Home-care card and recovery balm
Credited toward a program within 30 days
Foundation
Renew Foundation
$549
$183 a peel · three peels over 6–12 weeks
Corrective to Power Peel where tolerated
OBSERV imaging before and after
Pharmacist review of your history
Full program
Full Renew
$999
$167 a peel · six peels over 3–6 months
Corrective to Power Peel progression
OBSERV imaging at peels 1, 3 and 6
Mid-program review with your therapist and Alex
Pricing
Priced as a program because that is how the result is delivered. A single peel is credited toward a program booked within 30 days.
Neck extension
+$40 per peel
Neck & décolletage extension
+$80 per peel
We commit to the plan, not a promised outcome
At your mid-program review, if your skin isn't progressing, we adjust the protocol at no cost. If retinol peels won't get you there, we stop and credit or refund unused peels toward the treatment that will. Programs don't expire. Home-care products are priced separately through Stellar Pharmacy.
Neck extension
+$40 per peel
Neck & décolletage extension
+$80 per peel
We commit to the plan, not a promised outcome
At your mid-program review, if your skin isn't progressing, we adjust the protocol at no cost. If retinol peels won't get you there, we stop and credit or refund unused peels toward the treatment that will. Programs don't expire. Home-care products are priced separately through Stellar Pharmacy.
Around 45 minutes.
Your visit
01
Review
Anything changed since last visit — medication, illness, sun, missed home retinol? If so, we adjust or reschedule at no cost.
02
Cleanse and prep
Double cleanse, then a prep solution so the peel penetrates evenly.
03
The peel
Applied in even layers to the face, or face with neck and décolletage. Warmth and a mild tingle, not the sting of an acid peel. No neutraliser — it stays on.
04
Seal and protect
A protective layer and SPF 50+ go over the top. The peel keeps working for the rest of the day.
05
Home card and next booking
Written instructions: when to wash it off tonight, what to use for four days, and the number to call. Your next peel is booked before you leave.
Around 45 minutes.
Your visit
How your results build
Peels are two to four weeks apart, set by how your skin recovers.
Before you start
Home retinol, 2–4 weeks
Potent Retinol Serum at home proves your skin tolerates retinol before we apply it at professional strength.
Peels 1–2
Corrective Peel
Brighter, smoother skin within the week. Congestion begins to clear. Flaking is heaviest here and settles as skin adapts.
Peels 3–4
Review, then Power Peel
OBSERV re-scan. If tolerance is good, we step up. Tone visibly more even; fine lines softening.
Peels 5–6 and beyond
Collagen change
Firmness and line depth change now, three to six months in. Maintain with a peel every six to eight weeks plus home retinol.
How your results build
Peels are two to four weeks apart, set by how your skin recovers.
What to expect after each peel
Real but short downtime. Plan for it rather than be surprised by it.
Peel day
Flushed and warm, like mild sun. Wash the peel off at the time on your card. Recovery balm only tonight.
Day 1
Tight, dry, faintly pink. Mineral makeup over SPF is fine.
Days 2–3
Flaking, starting around the nose and mouth. Don't pick or exfoliate. Keep it moisturised.
Day 4
Flaking finishing. Smoother, brighter skin underneath. Most people are clear by tonight.
Day 5
Fresh skin. Restart home retinol when your card says. SPF 50+ every morning — new skin burns.
Call us if
Redness worsening after 48 hours · swelling · blistering, weeping or crusting · pain rather than tightness · a cold sore. All uncommon, all easier managed early. Phone 03 5048 5333; after hours, Healthdirect 1800 022 222.
What to expect after each peel
The peel is a third of the result; what you do between peels is the rest. Products are prescribed at your Skin Discovery and sold through the pharmacy, separately from the peel.
Before each peel
Flushed and warm, like mild sun. Wash the peel off at the time on your card. Recovery balm only tonight.
SPF 50+ every morning from the day you start retinol
Stop five days before: other exfoliants, waxing, laser, tanning
Tell us about any new medication — Alex checks every list
After each peel
Days 1–4: cleanse, recovery balm, SPF 50+. Nothing else, no picking
No heat for 48 hours — hot showers on the face, saunas, heavy sweating
No direct sun for a week, then restart retinol when your card says
Results
Measured on OBSERV and matched photographs — not one calm day in good light.
Rosacea fluctuates with heat, exercise, skincare and stress, so one before-and-after proves little. We compare like-for-like images and symptom records over a course, and publish client imaging only with separate written consent — never borrowed or stock images.
Results
Measured on OBSERV and matched photographs — not one calm day in good light.
Rosacea fluctuates with heat, exercise, skincare and stress, so one before-and-after proves little. We compare like-for-like images and symptom records over a course, and publish client imaging only with separate written consent — never borrowed or stock images.
Questions clients ask
Questions clients ask
Begin
Begin with a Skin Discovery
A complimentary OBSERV imaging consultation. We decide whether Retinol Renew is right for your skin and start your home retinol so your first peel can be booked two to four weeks later. No peel is applied at this visit; no obligation to continue.
Begin
Begin with a Skin Discovery
A complimentary OBSERV imaging consultation. We decide whether Retinol Renew is right for your skin and start your home retinol so your first peel can be booked two to four weeks later. No peel is applied at this visit; no obligation to continue.