VI Peel Types: Original, Precision Plus, Advanced, Purify and Body

VI Peel Original is the line's first-timer formula: VI's own card calls it "a great first-time peel for all age groups and skin types."

Read that as positioning rather than screening — that phrase is the maker describing who the formula is aimed at, and the same company's FAQ then lists people who should not get any VI Peel, from anyone pregnant to anyone with a phenol allergy (the full list is in the last section below).

What VI says all six formulas share, Original included, is depth: the company describes the whole line as medium-depth peels that penetrate through the dermal-epidermal junction to the papillary dermis, a layer of the dermis.

By the maker's own description, then, even Original is not a light "lunchtime" peel.

Precision Plus is the formula the company calls its most popular treatment: VI describes it as a medium-depth "powerhouse peel" that "works to suppress melanogenesis — the production of melanin — at the source."

Melanogenesis is simply the production of melanin — so VI's positioning puts this formula at pigmentation, and the company's 2025 site lists it as ideal for melasma, UV damage and hyperpigmentation.

One caution on comparisons: the ingredient lists that circulate online for Precision Plus — commonly TCA (trichloroacetic acid), retinoic acid, salicylic acid, phenol and vitamin C, plus hydroquinone and kojic acid — come from retailer and clinic pages, not from VI, and we could not verify them.

VI does not publish per-formula ingredient lists on its consumer site, so we will not restate the online lists as fact.

VI describes Advanced as its deepest-penetrating formula, a "potent, powerful treatment" aimed at more mature clients — the company says age 40 and up — who want to intensify results against deep-set wrinkles and loss of elasticity.

"Deepest-penetrating" is a claim within the line: the same company describes all six formulas as medium-depth peels reaching the papillary dermis, so this is VI ranking its own products, not an independent depth measurement.

"Age 40 and up" is likewise VI's description of who the formula is aimed at, not an age rule — whether a deeper peel suits your skin is a decision for the provider who examines it.

Purify is the line's acne formula: VI describes it as "a multi-faceted treatment for the many triggers and symptoms of acne, from dead skin cells and excessive oiliness to clogged pores and all types of blemishes."

Purify with Precision Plus combines the two ideas — VI describes it as a two-in-one for breakouts plus the pigmentation and scarring acne can leave.

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) counts chemical peels among the in-office procedures dermatologists use for acne, saying a peel helps remove dead skin cells and excess oil that clog pores.

The same academy's 2024 acne guideline, though, does not list chemical peels among its graded recommendations — the treatments it strongly recommends are benzoyl peroxide, topical retinoids, topical antibiotics and oral doxycycline, plus isotretinoin for severe or scarring acne.

So the honest framing is an add-on: an acne peel is something providers may offer alongside medical acne care, not a replacement for it.

Body is the line's one formula for skin below the collarbone: VI describes it as formulated for concerns below the clavicle and names discoloration, keratosis pilaris and body acne as examples — the company gives those as examples rather than a complete list.

That makes Body the outlier of the six: VI counts five face formulas and one body formula in the line, and every other formula on this page is one of the five.

Here is the chooser, formula by formula, in VI's own positioning:

• No single concern, first professional peel — Original, which VI calls a great first-time peel for all age groups and skin types
• Melasma, UV damage or hyperpigmentation — Precision Plus, the pigment formula VI calls its most popular
• Breakouts — Purify; breakouts plus the pigmentation and scarring acne leaves — Purify with Precision Plus
• Mature skin with deep-set wrinkles and lost elasticity — Advanced, which VI aims at age 40 and up
• Concerns below the collarbone — Body, the line's only body formula

Every line of that list is the maker's positioning of its own product — our research found no independent comparison of the formulas — so the choice runs through a licensed provider who examines your skin, screens your history and knows what they see with each formula in practice.

What no chooser can settle from the outside is the chemistry: VI publishes no per-formula ingredient lists on its consumer site, and the lists repeated on retailer and clinic pages are unverified.

Availability is narrower than the menu suggests: VI says its products may only be purchased and applied through a licensed healthcare professional, are not sold to consumers, and that peels sold by consumer retailers or online should be considered unsafe.

To become a VI Peel provider, VI says a practice must have a licensed medical director — the company lists MDs, DOs, PAs, RNs and NPs.

What a formula costs is a question for the practice you visit — our VI Peel cost page covers what a quote should name.

Whoever you lean toward, VI publishes one list that applies to the whole line — people the company says should not get a VI Peel:

• Anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding
• Anyone with an aspirin, hydroquinone or phenol allergy
• Anyone who has taken oral isotretinoin within the last 6 months
• Anyone with active cold sores, warts or open wounds, or a history of herpes simplex
• Anyone who had chemotherapy or radiation within the last 6 months
• Anyone with autoimmune disease, liver disease or weakened immunity

VI says that list is not exhaustive and that its peels are typically not recommended for patients with eczema — treat it as the maker's contraindication list, with the actual screening done by the provider you consult.

For the treatment itself — how the peel is applied, what the peeling week looks like and VI's aftercare rules — read our VI Peel guide.

And for what each formula is described to deliver, plus what independent sources add, see our VI Peel before and after.