I Tried It: The Liquid Exfoliant Everyone Is Talking About

One of the biggest perks of being a skin-care editor is testing a lot of products. Like, a lot. And even better than that is when I come across something I haven't tried before and immediately add it to my skin-care routine. Which is exactly what happened with Alpha-H Liquid Gold.

I should probably back up a bit. Last month, Alpha-H Liquid Gold, a liquid chemical exfoliator, landed on my desk — all the way from Australia, I might add — for testing. After a quick Google search and some Instagram sleuthing, I discovered that what was now in my hands was the skin-care brand's best-seller — to the tune of two 100-milliliter bottles sold every minute of every day, all over the world. Knowing this, I couldn't wait to try it.

But before I did, I had to investigate the ingredient list. The aptly named Liquid Gold is chock-full of glycolic acid — 5 percent glycolic acid, to be exact. For the unfamiliar, glycolic acid is an alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) that can "effectively exfoliate skin to promote cell turnover, leading to smooth skin," says cosmetic chemist Ginger King.

When applied to the skin, glycolic acid chemically exfoliates dead skin cells on the skin's top layer to smooth and brighten skin over time. What makes it so powerful, though, is its size. Of all the AHAs, it has the smallest molecules, meaning it penetrates skin easier and faster, leading to the most dramatic results.

"There's a reason glycolic is the acid used the most in products and doctor's-office peels," Ranella Hirsch, a Cambridge, Massachusetts–based dermatologist, previously told Allure. "It does the job."

All of this is to say: Glycolic acid is serious business. I thought maybe it would be a little too serious for my sensitive skin — until I started using Liquid Gold, which (bear with me, I'm about to get skin-care nerdy over here) has a relatively low pH of 2.8. (Quick refresher on skin's pH balance: Your skin typically falls at 5.5 on the pH scale. "Anything below 7 is acidic; above 7 is alkaline, and 7 is neutral, like water," King previously told Allure.)

That being said, finding a product with a low pH would theoretically work more effectively, according to King. Which is probably why my sensitive skin was able to easily tolerate all of the glycolic acid in Liquid Gold. According to Alpha-H, their formula's low pH means your skin has to work harder to reset itself — your skin feels firmer in the morning because it's literally had a "workout."

But Alpha-H's Liquid Gold is more than just glycolic acid. In fact, the rest of the ingredient list is pretty short (that's a good thing!), with a few notable call-outs. For example, along with glycolic acid, Liquid Gold is also formulated with other powerhouse skin-care ingredients, such as licorice root, which is known as a "very effective skin-brightening ingredient," says King. "It can also calm skin." There are also moisture-binding silk proteins to lock in hydration.

Together, this cocktail of ingredients make Alpha-H Liquid Gold a pretty potent treatment. A treatment free of silicones and parabens that does more than just chemically exfoliate, I might add. Thanks to the mix of multitasking ingredients, Liquid Gold works quadruple duty as a toner, exfoliator, serum, and moisturizer.

A product that works in four different ways sounds like a lofty claim, but after testing — and loving — Alpha-H Liquid Gold for about a month now, I can say with certainty that this stuff actually works. For one, it's a great match for my overly sensitive skin, which often breaks out into hives when I add most alpha hydroxy acids to my routine.

Here's how I use it: After completing my typical double-cleansing regimen of an oil cleanser followed by a gentle gel-based face wash, I shake out the virtually scentless, lightweight liquid onto a cotton pad until it's saturated, and then gently swipe it across my face, moving down from my hairline to my décolletage.

When I applied the exfoliator for the first time, I was thrilled to discover that aside from some light flushing, my loves-to-be-coddled sensitive skin actually tolerated an acid. Yay! And come morning, I noticed my skin was brighter, smoother, and glowier.

And now, after using Liquid Gold for a full month, my skin's texture, which is slightly dimpled from post-acne scarring on the apples of my cheeks, appears to be smoother, my recent bout of melasma seems to have slightly diminished, and my glow is next-level. Seriously, multiple people in the office have told me they thought my skin was "glowing," even when I wasn't wearing makeup.

It's easy to see why the Aussies love Liquid Gold — it does what it claims to do and so much more. You heard it here first: Now that Alpha-H is sold at Sephora in the States, it's only a matter of time before Americans catch on to the treasure that is Liquid Gold.

Alpha-H Liquid Gold retails for $60 exclusively at sephora.com.