Broadly speaking, there are 3 different types of face peel:
Light (superficial) face peel – these are usually comprised of AlphaHydroxy Acids (AHAs), which include glycolic, lactic, salicylic, or fruit acids. The recovery time is usually fairly quick after these peels, and they are usually used for fine lines and wrinkles, pigmentation spots, and acne.
Medium face peel – these peels are usually trichloroacetic acid (TCA), and similar to light peels are useful for fine lines and wrinkles, and pigmentation.
Deep face peels – as their name says, these are the deepest and strongest peels, and use phenol (carbolic acid). They are generally used for coarser lines and wrinkles, and pigmentation blotches. The deep peels take longer to perform (1-2 hours) and take longer to heal, but usually have more dramatic results than lighter peels. As these peels are deeper they do carry higher risks such as skin lightening, and so tend to best be performed by an experienced specialist