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3rd TCA Chemical Peel - Day 4

I applied my third TCA chemical peel (25%) on Friday evening.  It’s now Monday, and I’m peeling pretty aggressively now, but it started this morning with just a crack.

This is day 4, so I’m planning to hide out.  Wish this weren’t part of the process, but it is and the best way to deal with it is to avoid making plans.  Clean the house, do laundry, paint those scuffed walls…whatever you can do to keep busy and stay in the house.

This picture is just after I woke, before applying moisturizer; you can see that the skin is just starting to crack:


This is late afternoon.  I’ve been applying moisturizer all day, along with doing lots around the house, so it has been a productive day, even though I’ve been hiding.  It's been helpful to stay busy--it keeps me from pulling off the peeling skin, which can damage the new skin.  I tried to think of it was a natural barrier between me and those pesky UV rays.  Tomorrow I'll have to don sunscreen, so I'm enjoying this day without that step--and all those other steps.


This picture is just before bed.  Most of the frontal peeling is done.  Just the sides tomorrow, but I'll easily be able to go out with moisturizer and sunscreen.


I'll post pictures tomorrow of before and after, if I'm finished peeling on the sides; otherwise, I'll post progress photos.

4 comments:

  1. Thanks for much for posting these pictures. I've been wanting to do a home peel for a long time, and your pictures give me hope. I am ordering the 25 percent, and I will do my first when it arrives. Thanks again, Deb.

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  2. Good luck Deb! Let us know how it goes. Gabi

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  3. I was under the impression that the skin turns brown and red and the layer that is peeling, isnt thin. I am doing the exact same peel and on day 3, so I reapplied more TCA. Are you satisfied? Interested to see if this is all that happens, or if it gets worse.

    So glad I acame acrossed your blog

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    1. Hi Monika, I've experienced multiple-layer peeling with most of my peels, which are conservative. So I'll have a visible layer peel off within 3-5 days after application; then I usually experience a residual flaking the following week. Some people choose to be more aggressive, and those peels may result in bleeding, scabs, or even scars. I have to work, so I don't have that option, and I'm not sure that would be my approach even if I could. The conservative approach takes longer; it's more of an on-going process, but the same results can be achieved over time according to the studies I've read. The full effects of a peels can't really be seen immediately since it can take months for the underlying collagen to build as a result of the peels. I am definitely satisfied with my peels because I can integrate it with my life without a lot of downtime and without spending a lot of money :-)

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