Chemical peel is a dermato-cosmetic procedure used to destroy and remove, in a controlled manner and under the supervision of the specialists, the degraded parts of the skin, in order to allow acceleration of the skin regeneration process. Based on their depth of skin penetration chemical peels are classified into superficial, medium and deep peels. The substances used in the chemical peels differ from each other depending on the effective action depth. Different peel agents with an appropriate peel depth should be selected based on the problem to be treated, considering also the nature of skin pathology. To achieve the best results other factors, such as skin type and characteristics, region to be treated, safety issues, healing time, and patient adherence, should also be considered. The present review focuses on the particularities of the substances used in various peel types, highlighting recent advances in chemical peel technology and explaining suggested application of certain substances in different peel types.