By Michael Russell
 The current zeal for face and skin moisturizers containing AHA is not without an occasional price tag. The active ingredient can come from sour milk (lactic acid), sugarcane (glycolic acid), or apples (malic acid), and while safe and effective for the majority of users, it can touch off reactions in sensitive persons. Swollen, tender, or itchy skin may indicate an allergy to the acid or a response to some other ingredient in the cream. John Bailey, Ph.D., director of the FDA's Office of Cosmetics and Colors, warns that stronger concentrations of AHAs may make the skin's protective barrier permanently thinner, leaving you more susceptible to allergic reactions caused by substances such as makeup and moisturizer.
At the first sign of a problem, stop using the product.Change brands, buy a weaker strength AHA or look for new products containing BHA, beta-hydroxy acid. Recent studies suggest that BHA (actually, salicylic acid) goes deeper into the skin than AHAs, is less irritating to sensitive skin, and since it's related to aspirin, has a similar anti-inflammatory effect.
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