It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, I’m not talking about the holidays, I’m talking about Peel Season! Peel season begins in the fall and ends early spring, and the reason for that is because you can’t be out in the heat or the sun when you do chemical peels. Chemical peels are chemical solutions that are applied to the skin to help exfoliate the top layers of the skin. They work from the inside out. Chemical peels come in all different strengths/depths. There are “chemical peels” that are just enzyme peels and fruit extracts that are extremely gentle to the skin with no downtime, there are a little deeper superficial peels that have glycolic acid, lactic acid, salicylic acid, or retinol, etc. that have little to no downtime, and then there are medium depth peels that require at least a week of shedding/peeling skin. The peels that are deeper than medium depth are usually performed by a doctor in a medical setting, depending on where you live, because each state has different requirements for their esthetician’s allowance.
I recently decided to bite the bullet and perform a medium depth peel on myself. The chosen peel is a popular one I do at work, called the Vi Peel. Before doing this peel on myself, I should add that I have never done a peel of this depth before. I knew what I was doing, and expecting because I educate all my patients on the treatments we do in the office and since peel season began, tons of patients are requesting deeper, resurfacing treatments for the simple fact that they’re not going anywhere due to Covid-19 and even if they do majority of their face is covered due to their mask. I started thinking, that this would the perfect time for me to also do the peel for those reasons. I always shied away from doing anything with downtime, in case I had new patients and they saw my face peeling off that may deter them from seeing me. It’s like meeting with a completely out of shape, obese personal trainer. I always want to practice what I preach! Okay, now for the peel…
Day 1 was Halloween night, (S P O O K Y!) I decided on this date because I didn’t want to work out when I had the peel done and I knew I wouldn’t be going to kickboxing for at least a week because I had work the following Saturday. So I cleansed my skin, prepped it, and applied the peel. It was stingy at first and my face turned beat red (my face turns beat red at literally anything so I expected this reaction!) Then after the peel was applied, I waited the four hours until I had to remove it. The Vi Peel is self-neutralizing, meaning that you don’t need water or cleanser to remove it, and the stinginess only lasts several minutes. The peel instructions state to leave it on for 4 hours and then remove it. After removing the peel you apply the first towelette. After removing the peel and applying the first towelette, it was not pleasant. It was as if my face was lit on fire. I have very reactive skin. The burning didn’t last too long but it wasn’t comfortable.
On day 2 I started to become very dry and there was the starting of some tiny little flakes around my mouth and nose area. Completely expected and was as gentle as I could possibly be with my skin. The towelettes were still very uncomfortable but I managed.
“Beautiful glowing skin is the basis to any look.”
By Day 3 my entire face was on fire. Have you ever gotten really excited to do something, and then maybe got a bit overzealous and then low key instantly regretted whatever it was that you were doing? Yeah, that’s how Day 3 was for me. I applied the Post Peel Anti Itch Cream which instantly burned and turned my face beat red, then afterward applied their SPF, and even that burned. My face was hot, peeling, red, and sore. I looked at my peeling, shedding mess of a face in the mirror and legit asked myself, what have I done? LOL
Day 4-6 was much of the same. Consistently hydrating and moisturizing the skin and having my life flash before my eyes because it irritated my skin SO MUCH. I had a lot of irritation around my mouth area, so that was good since I had my mask covering it the whole time no one knew. I only patted my skin dry and tried to soothe it as best as I can.
Day 7 majority of the peeling was coming to an end, thank goodness! I still had tons of flaking around my mouth and chin area—that spot peeled twice. But I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel!
Day 8 started out with still irritation and flaking in the morning, but later on, in the day my husband and I were planning on going out to celebrate his birthday and although I didn’t want to wear makeup, I definitely didn’t want to look like a snake shedding its skin. I cleansed my skin and applied a soothing serum, a gentle moisturizer, and an SPF (it was later in the day but I just didn’t want any sun on my face and risk any damage!) and can I just say O M G! My face was like brand new. I had to snap a bunch of selfies because I couldn’t believe how smooth, clear, bright, and glowy it was! I was laughing all night at how I felt like my skin was never going to be normal- so dramatic LOL- and here it is fresh and glowing!
In conclusion, after a week of looking like a hot mess, IT WAS SO WORTH IT! My skin tone is more even, I’m brighter and clearer and the texture has become smoother, softer and more supple! I’m so happy I finally did the Vi Peel and can share my results and my experience with anyone interested.
Have you ever done a chemical peel? What was your reaction?
