3rd Peel - Day 5

Things are going great. I had a very good peel this time, very deep. My whole face turned brown and crinkly. It looks gross, LOL. But that's what you want. The first day or two it was so tight, it was uncomfortable. Around my mouth peeled first, which was good because I was having trouble eating. Then some spots on my forehead and cheeks. One spot I pulled off, which is a no-no. The skin hadn't healed yet underneath so now it's red and sore.

Today more peeled off. My entire chin and the middle of my forehead. I can see the pores exposed and I can't wait to go back to the glycolic acid on these spots to help clean them out. Also, remember that spot under my eye? The one that became a lot lighter when I did the 2nd peel with the extra 20% acid on it? It's gone. Completely gone. The skin peeled off that spot today and there is no sign of the spot! There is actually a dark spot on the piece of skin that peeled. I saved it!!!!! Gone Gone Gone. 3 peels, 2 extra applications of 20% acid. The extra applications are really paying off. Two other spots are noticibley lighter. I think for my next peel, I'll just do spots.

I promise to post pictures soon. Just don't want a picture of me looking like a 3 day old corpse! I'm constantly applying emu-oil and copper to the new skin, staying out of the sun and will resume normal skin care this weekend.

PS, I also put some 20% acid on this spot on my forearm. It's kind of like a wart, but the skin peels off. The acid didn't burn nearly as much on my arm as my face. And that spot is almost gone. It's just slightly raised now as opposed to it being a bump before. I'm also considering applying it on some skin tags I have on my neck and chest to see what that does. More later....

3rd Peel

Sorry I haven't written in awhile. I waited 5 weeks between peels. Since my last peel, I can definitely see a lot of improvement in my skin texture and tone. The age spots have lessened about 50% and I've had a lot of extractions of pimples that were deep in my skin.

For this peel, I wanted to bring it up a notch. I never really had any significant peeling on my T-Zone (forehead, nose and chin). These areas are very oily and have large pores and embedded pimples. I also have other areas with dark spots that I missed last time. So I decided to mix 1/2 12.5% solution and 1/2 20% solution which would make the combined solution about 16%. I took the little eye dropper and put 12 drops of each in the little plastic cup and soaked the gauze in it.

It immediately felt strong than the 12.5%. I began to get that burning sensation on my face as I did the first time. I had to fight to continue to apply the solution, my skin already felt sore. Then I had to wait it out for 5 minute. I stood with my face in front of a fan to help with the burning.

I then applied a second layer, same concentration. It burned a bit more, but wasn't unbearable. Then waited another 5 minutes (in front of the fan again). I also noticed that this time I had a lot of frosting, especially on my T-Zone. This was great. I applied the third layer, same concentration. Then after 5 minutes I applied straight 20% to the dark spots on my skin with the cotton covered toothpicks. I could feel more intense burning in these spots and see more frosting. After 5 minutes I splashed cold water on my face and applied emu oil. I also applied the chilled blue aloe lotion.

That night my skin felt tight and sore. But by the next morning, it was gone. Now it's day 2 and my skin is very tight and looks brown and shriveled. If I smile, it feels like my face will crack. But I am going to have a lot of nice peeling. Especially on the dark spots and my chin and forehead. I hope it starts to peel before I have to go back to work on Monday.

3rd Day - Out Damned Spot!

It's been 3 full days since I did the 2nd peel. My faces has been dry and tight, with dark brown spots in the areas that I used the 20% TCA acid during the 2nd layer of the peel. These were the spots that had extra pigmentation that I'm trying to get rid of. The rest of my face just feels tight and is flaking a bit, but these spots are going to have deep peeling.

I was out in the yard today, and so had my face slathered in sunscreen (SPF 85!). When I came in my face looked white in spots and I thought it was the sunscreen, but looking closer, it was skin starting to peel off. The dark brown spots are all starting to peel. One spot, under my left eye was almost all peeled off. I rinsed my face with water and the dead skin came off.

I had a brown spot under my left eye caused by sun damage. Although I've been careful the past couple of years to use sunscreen when going out, I went out this January, in the winter, to vacuum and shred leaves. It was a nice day but cold. I never thought about getting sun. But I must of because a few days later this brown spot just appeared from out of nowhere. I think it was this new spot that pushed me to start doing peels.

Well when the dead skin peeled off, the skin underneath was nice and soft AND the spot is about 70% faded. It appears just slightly darker than the surrounding area. It was a dark brown spot, sort of like a mole, but it was flat. And it's almost gone! From one application of 20% TCA. I'm very excited. It's great to spend money on something and go throught the process of using it and then seeing it actually WORK. I've spent a lot of money and time on drug store solutions for age spots and none of them work. I had not seen one iota of difference with creams, exfoliants and other lotions. This is really just one application, since I didn't use the 20% last time.

I'll try to get pictures soon, so you can see the difference. But the rest of my face still looks pretty awful, so I'm going to wait a few more days to see if these spots peel and have the same result. I'm also going to be slathering that faded spot with Copper and Emu-oil and sunscreen as often as possible. I don't want that spot back.

For my next peel, I'm going to mix some of the 20% TCA with the 12.5% solution to get a higher overall percentage of peel. I think my skin is too resistant to the 12.5% solution now that I've done two peels, I feel comfortable taking it up a notch. I may also spot treat with full 20% TCA and do 3 layers. We shall see.

2nd Peel

I've spent the past 3 weeks preparing for the next peel. I resumed the daily regemin of Vitamin C and Retinol in the AM and Glycolic Acid and Copper in the PM. Along with Emu Oil for moisture. The spots on my face that had the most intense frosting and peeling had the most improved appearance which continued to improve in the weeks after the peel. I was also able to extract a few more impacted pores of white and black heads.

I thought I had used the incorrect gauze the first time and didn't get even coverage. I did order the gauze pads and special toothpicks with cotton from Platinum Skin Care. I also ordered a glycolic acid brush (to apply the glycolic acid for a peel) and a face brush (to help exfoliate when cleaning your face). Unfortunately I didn't not pay for expedited shipping and didn't get he package by Saturday in the mail so I decided to go ahead with it anyway. Then when I looked in the box with the original shipment I received (with the TCA acid), I found a little package with gauze, the toothpicks and a little plastic eye dropper. I completely missed that the first time. So two new rules. Always pay for the expedited shipping and always look at everything in the package.

Again I prepared by not using the Retinol the day of the peel. I cleaned my face with the clenser and toned with isopropol alcohol. This time I did it twice, especially over my T-zone, forehead, nose and chin. I barely got any peeling in that area and maybe it's because that skin is so oily.

I used the tiny eyedropper and measured out 25 drops of the 12.5% TCA into the small plastic cup. Then I put the gauze that was supplied with the TCA shipment. I applied the TCA in first a horizontal and then a vertical pattern to ensure complete coverage. I made sure to get around my nose and under my eyes, places I missed in the first peel. Because I had the eyedropper and was able to dole out the proper amount of acid and had the correct type of gauze, the TCA went on more evenly. I felt a tingling sensation, but nothing like the intense burning I felt the first time.

I then waited 5 full minutes and did the 2nd layer. This time felt more intense tingling going to a burning sensation, but again, not as bad as the first peel. I then waited a full 5 minutes again.

I wanted to do a stronger peel in spots, mainly the dark spots on my skin. So I took out the 20% TCA acid, and put a few drops into the plastic cup and wet the toothpicks that were covered in cotton. I swiped this over the spots that I wanted to have a more intense peel. I felt it burning right away in these spots, but since they were small, it wasn't that bad. I went over them all until I ran out of TCA.

These spots began frosting immediately. I waited a full 8 minutes, then gently rinsed my face with water. I applied Emu-Oil and later an aloe gel I have which contains lidocaine. I didn't have any pain on my face like the first peel, but it did itch quite a bit. Ironically, I used to use that aloe lotion when I had a sunburn.

One Week, Post Peel

It's been a week. Most of the peeling/flaking is over. I used the Enzyme Mask and it helped get rid of some of the last flakes. Over all my skin feels cleared and fresher. The spots that I suppose I covered more heavily with the TCA are the most improved. I do feel some pimples under the skin, ready to come out. I've expected that and it tells you in the literature with the products that all of these products will begin to draw out whatever is buried under your skin. I'm happy that I've resumed my skin care regimen: cleanser, toner, Retin A, Vitamin C (copper at night), Glycolic Acid and Emu-Oil. I'll do this for two weeks then do another peel on April 13th. I've got the rest of that week off from work, so I can peel in privacy :)

I plan on doing a two layer TCA peel, 12.5%. I hope to get more even coverage this time. I may also use the 20% TCA on the larger of my pigmentation spots, to get things going there. I'll resume the blog then. I didn't take any pictures at this point, because I don't think the subtle changes will show up well.