Peel #2 Picture

My most recent TCA chemical peel was the night of Thanksgiving.  I did an 18% 1.7 pH TCA peel by diluting my 50% TCA solution with water.  See How to do an at-home TCA chemical peel for my steps on performing an at-home chemical peel.

The peeling wasn’t as bad this time because I switched to the oil cleansing method, but I took a picture of the peeling on day 4 before cleansing, just after I woke up, so you could see what to expect from a fairly mild "medium" chemical peel, about 4 days out.

While it is not noticeable in passing and at a distance of about 7-8 feet, you definitely don’t want to schedule a peel within 1-2 weeks of any outing.  I don’t mind going to work this way because I really don’t care what middle schoolers think of my face, and my co-workers know me and what I’m doing. 

Laser Hair Removal - day 3 pictures

Just a word of caution to those of you who are squeamish about underarm hair: I have a picture of my growth since the laser hair removal procedure on Tuesday, three days ago.

The technician told me that the hair follicles can die for several weeks; that’s why they schedule the sessions about 6-8 weeks apart.  My next one is Jan 18^th.

So today, before I showered, I decided to see if there was any difference yet.  I can see some patches that have no growth, or rogue hairs in hairless patches.  I’m hoping that means those follicles are dead.  The picture is from my right armpit; my left doesn’t look as good: more of a regular growth pattern…not sure why.

Okay, so here comes the picture for those of you who need to leave now...

Laser Hair Removal

If I could remove the hair above my lip and under my arms with chemical peels, it would already be done.  I’m embarrassed to say that my vision has gotten so bad that I can’t see the hair under my arms to shave properly—it’s disgusting to have a rogue hair poking out. 

So I’ve finally caved and begun laser hair removal.  I got a groupon for $130 to get six treatments, and my first procedure was yesterday!  I was so NOT prepared.  Here are some tips if you decide to do this:

1. Take an NSAID before you go; while the pain is tolerable, it would be better with a little something;
2. Wear a tank top under your regular shirt because the PS office I visited didn’t offer any cover-up at all;
3. Take a baby wipe to wipe the conducting gel off afterward since they just use a wooden spatula.

So I found out that I couldn’t have my upper lip done anyway because the laser targets melanin, the color pigment in hair, and my “mustache” is blonde (I guess I can be thankful for that).  She said they also can NOT do red or gray hair, so get out there girls before the grays show up!

Oil Cleansing Method

I’ve been peeling so much from this series of chemical peels and retin-a that it’s been driving me crazy, and this cold, dry weather isn’t helping.  I’ve had to resort to cleansing with oil twice a day instead of my normal cleanser, and it is helping a lot.  This is called the oil cleansing method, or OCM. 

You can buy oils specifically for cleansing, but if you read the labels, many of them contain chemicals that you don't want to add on top of skin going through chemical peels.  Simpler is better.

Yes, I have oily, acne-prone skin, so using oil isn’t something I’ve been dying to do, but after experimenting with too many different oils, I found one that really agrees with my skin.  I’ve been using apricot kernel oil on and off for several months, so I know it doesn’t exacerbate acne for me.

If you have oily or acne-prone skin, this oil may work for you too, but you’ll need to experiment.  I first tried a combination of olive and castor oil, but the olive oil was too rich, and the castor oil dried out my skin…hard to believe about oil, right?  I also tried jojoba oil, and while it wasn’t as rich as the olive oil, it did cause some clogged pores for me.  The apricot kernel oil is really doing the trick though, and I thank a fellow blogger for turning me on to it.  The brand I like is Aura Cacia, and I've linked it here.

If you’ve wanted to move to the oil cleansing method, you probably know that not every oil works for every person, but don’t give up.  And if you’re doing chemical peels or using retin-a, especially in dry weather, you may need to move to oil cleansing instead of putting more chemicals on your face.

Here’s how I use it to cleanse:

1. moisten my face with warm water
2. pour about a quarter-size amount in my hand and apply to face
3. rub around and massage for 1-2 minutes
4. if you have a lot of flakes, you can use a wet cloth to exfoliate here; if not, skip this
5. thoroughly rinse two baby wipes to get the chemicals out
6. use one baby wipe to remove oil
7. use the other baby wipe to remove any remaining oil
8. moisturize – don’t skip this step

 I probably won’t need to use the oil after the winter is over, but it is certainly saving my skin for now. 

Trick to Conceal Redness

No, it's not a yellow or green concealer...

If you have sensitive skin, acne, or suffer from rosacea, or if you’re using any type of chemical peel, such as glycolic acid, TCA acid, or Retin-A, you’ve probably experienced redness or blotchy skin. 

If you’re like me, you’ve spent countless hours (cumulative time) covering red spots from chemical peels, acne, or rosacea with yellow concealer.  Sometimes I feel like I have more concealer than skin showing on my face.

Yesterday after doing a chemical peel, it seemed most of my face was red, except the skin above my lip and my lower cheek areas, which aren’t nearly as sensitive as the rest of my face.  I realized that if I could put a little blush above my lip, the red areas would probably just look more normal, and sure enough, it worked!

I was amazed that my whole face didn't just look red, but I think the areas that looked red were accentuated by the areas that weren't red, so putting a little blush on those areas made my whole face just look nice and rosy.

Imagine blotting a little blush on the areas that aren’t red to “normalize” the rest of the face to save tons of time!  I really can’t believe it took me this long to find this little trick. 

So next time your face is mostly red, except for a few areas, try blotting just a bit of blush on those non-red areas to make the red areas less noticeable.  Let me know if it works for you--or if you have any other tricks to share.