Disclaimer: this post is about my experience only, I am not a professional dermatologist giving any advice here. I am not responsible for the risky choices you make in life.
TCA peels are scary, painful, and very serious- they can scar your skin!! You only get one face, so take care of it!! Proceed with caution...
TCA peels are scary, painful, and very serious- they can scar your skin!! You only get one face, so take care of it!! Proceed with caution...
TCA peels are controlled chemical burns applied to the top layer of skin.
The dead skin peels in a few days and this exfoliation reveals fresh, smooth new skin *yay*!
1 TCA peel can do the same work as 30 days of washing my face with an exfoliating face scrub- BUT because TCA peels are more powerful than face scrubs, they are also more painful! I would never do a peel higher than 25%! NEVER! It BURNS!
It is better to use a low % strength and apply more than 1 layer, than to jump into applying a high %.
I apply my tca peels with a fan brush, all over my clean face but trying to avoid my eye area & lips.
It's important to get nice, even distribution all over the face. I have to be very careful because the peel is like water and drips! LOL I also have to try not to cry because my tears will drip and make the peel burn more.
Apply 1 layer all over the face and as it dries, as I can handle the pain, I decide to apply a 2nd layer.
Apply 1 layer all over the face and as it dries, as I can handle the pain, I decide to apply a 2nd layer.
I leave it on for about 2 minutes, and I splash a lot of water on my face. Most times there's a "frost" left on my skin but that's nothing to worry about! It goes away after a while. I gently apply a very plain moisturizer all over. If I keep my face moisturized all week then the skin peels off more quietly (usually as I wash my face or even in my sleep rubbing against my pillow) instead of in big chunks and making me look like a scary burn victim.
(I'm not exaggerating, it can get scary!)
(I'm not exaggerating, it can get scary!)
Days 1 and 2: my face looks red and feels sore, just like a regular sunburn. Do not wear face makeup during this peel process, but eyeliner & mascara are ok.
Days 3 and 4: my skin is crepey & wrinkled, especially in delicate places like under my eyes. And an over-burned spot on my nose is scabbed over. All that dead skin is going to peel off soon.
Day 5: dry, tight skin is pulling my under eyelids down. This is uncomfortable & gives me bad dry eye. But my skin isn't red anymore, yay!
(I took all these photos before I applied moisturizer)
Finally on Day #6 my skin is peeling everywhere like a pro! It mostly rubs off when I wash my face (I use a gentle cream cleanser and the dead skin just rolls off) but there are some larger chunks near my eyes and nose. I try not to pick the pieces off and just let them fall on their own...but it's annoying! Eyes are the last to peel.
My skin is pretty much done peeling by Day 7. It is a little sensitive tho- I'm "glowing" haha.
Here's a picture of me all healed (I'm practicing applyng fake eyelashes because Halloween is coming up). This camera is nice-- so you can see the tca peel did not help the big pores on my cheek. And I do still have some fine lines under my eyes. The tca peel did nothing to help the red rosacea on my cheek. I'm wearing no face makeup in this pic, so
was the pain worth the peel? .........eh.
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