Cora Galenti
(August 6, 1898-August 27, 1993)
Cora Galenti is considered one of the pioneers of the modern day skin rejuvenating technique known as Deep Chemical Face Peeling. Born in a small Sicilian village, she was taken to America in her youth. Later, Galenti began offering a unique treatment for skin rejuvenation in the early 1940's in Hollywood. Her treatment employed a complex chemical formula which included phenol. Since the late sixties, this topically applied skin rejuvenating technique has been adopted and offered by many others in the medical community.
During the golden epoch of the American motion picture industry, countless film stars where drawn to Cora Galenti, seeking facial rejuvenation without surgery. In a short period of time the deep face peeling treatment that she personally applied at her large center in Southern California attracted the attention of the medical community and hundreds of articles about Cora and her treatment appeared in the international press, creating intense interest in her work.
Cora Galenti was described as a feminine Dorian Gray in a Los Angeles Herald Express report in March 1954. She was 56 years old at the time and the press photos showed a woman that appeared to be in her late thirties. In that article, Galenti revealed “that her rejuvenation secret had nothing to do with plastic surgery, common cosmetic face peeling or witchcraft, but was based on a tested and effective formula that rejuvenated faces up to 15 years, removing wrinkles, blemishes and sags, like no other process can do”. As the news spread, skeptical physicians sought to learn more of Cora Galenti and soon crowded into her center to observe her work and the positive results of the treatment.
Cora had experimented with a Sicilian formula originally developed by an uncle that was a chemist and later collaborated with others eventually refining the formula into an effective skin rejuvenating substance. In Hollywood, Cora Galenti met Antoinette LaGasse, an elderly woman who had lived in France prior to migrating to the US and had been an assistant to her father in his medical practice in Europe. La Gasse's father had been experimenting with solutions to reduce the scars on WWI veterans and his daughter used that formula to improve skin quality. Cora confided in LaGasse and the two women with the help of a French chemist combined the two formulas into one effective agent for facial rejuvenation.
Cora Galenti attracted the interest the medical establishment, and most particularly Plastic Surgeons anxious to learn of her formula and technique. Since the early sixties, much scientific investigation has occurred in the medical profession and chemical face peeling based on phenol and other similar substances is now a common and acceptable practice.
The success of the deep chemical peeling is realized through careful patient selection, knowing when and how to apply the peel formula, and adhering to strict medical procedures during all phases of the treatment. As such risks are reduced to a minimum and complications are avoided.
The positive results of a deep peel are related to its ability to penetrate the epidermis and reach the upper dermis in a controlled and uniform manner assuring a complete rejuvenation of the skin. This exfoliation type process stimulates the formation of new epidermal cells and the production and distribution of new elastic fibers and collagen in the dermis.
This treatment is the ideal procedure to eliminate fine and deep wrinkles, to eliminate pigmentation abnormalities, to reduce acne scars and to help reduce skin flaccidness. Results are long lasting. Even after 15 years the difference between treated and non treated skin can be striking.
At the time of the first consultation, a patient is informed of the different phases of the treatment, probable results, and advised of the minimal complications that may arise during and post peel. A complete evaluation is made of the patient's clinical history.
The application of the peel formula takes approximately one hour. It is performed in a hospital surgical facility. The patient is mildly sedated and receives local anesthesia in those area to be treated.
The peel solution is meticulously painted on the face in a manner to cover all areas including upper and lower eye lids, ear lobes, into the hair line and to an esthetically correct line on the upper neck. After the peel solution has been applied the skin is covered with adhesive tapes in a sculptured like fashion. The tapes aid in the even penetration of the peel solution by the skin and also form a protective antiseptic environment for an exfoliation process that follows.
The patient remains under medical supervision for the next 24 hours, receiving an IV solution complete with analgesics to minimize any discomfort. After 24 hours the patient is transferred to a recovery center where he or she will remain for the following eight days. There they are served a rich liquid diet essential in nutrients, and taken by straw.
After 48 hours post peel, the tape mask is removed At this point the attending physician applies an antiseptic iodide powder to the treated skin .That powder, periodically applied over the next five days forms into a mask like film over the face and serves as an ideal environment for the growth of new skin tissue.
On the eighth day post peel the physician then applies an emollient cream over the powder mask. Within 24 hours, that mask like substance softens and slips away easily from the new skin below.
On the ninth day post peel the patient observes the results of the treatment. On this day the physician cleanses the treated skin with oils and astringents rich in vitamins and retires the last elements of the powder mask. It is at this point a new, pink, youthful face can be appreciated, one without wrinkles, blemishes, and with considerably less flaccidness Results are always positive and often dramatic as Cora Galenti had discovered more than 60 years ago.