my first facial chemical peel

Saturday morning, after waking entirely too early for a non-workout, non-work day morning, I gave myself my very first at home chemical peel.  While I am almost (107 days, or 3 months 16 days, or 15-ish weeks) 25 years old, I am concerned with preserving my ‘youth.’  Mostly I concerned with having really healthy, good-looking skin, but healthy good-looking skin is skin that isn’t aging at an exasperated rate.  So I spend a lot of time research how to keep my skin young! and firm! and wrinkle free! 

I also worry about the damage I have already done to it, which is why I decided a chemical peel was warranted.  While I wasn’t a sun worshipper, I did do my fair share of tanning; be that both in a tanning salon and with the real sun.  It was a short stint, but I don’t want nasty sun spots to adorn my chest and face as I tack on the years.  I consider myself fortunate that I wised up and got my naturally pasty ass out of the rays, but…

On top of the possibility of sun damaged skin, I’ve got ‘blemish-prone’ skin.  Call it what you like, I got ZITS.  They are nasty, I hate them and they only started up once I turned 20.  I was lucky enough not to have them in middle school or high school, but I have them now. 

HEADS UP: Chemical peel should be done in a doctor or dermatologist’s office.  Under supervision.  By someone licensed.  That needed to be said.  So, you may ask, why were you doing one?  Well, I’m a hard-core CHEAP ASS and D.I.Y-er through and through.  In-office peels cost $100s of dollars, and require multiple peels for actual results.  I am absolutely NOT going to spend that money for a chemical peel, especially after I learned that tons of people do them themselves.  Also, I did my research, and felt comfortable enough to perform one on myself, knowing full and well that if I burned my face off, it was my own damn cheap ass fault. 

Back to Saturday morning.  I showered, washed my face and swiped it down with witch hazel toner.  I put on gloves, which in retrospect if kind of funny, protect my hands from acid I was about to smear on my FACE, used a cotton pad, doused it with salicylic acid and swiped away.  The chemical had a slight mentholated feeling at first, and, to me, wasn’t offensive to smell.  Salicylic acid is not a self-neutralizing peel, it needs to be timed and washed off with water.  They recommend leaving it on 2 to 7 minutes.  Not knowing what to expect, I left it on for 2 minutes.  At the end of the 2 minute period, there was a slight warming/burning/stinging feeling.  It wasn’t terrible; my eyes weren’t watering, I wasn’t clenching my teeth in agony.  I have a high pain tolerance, so I’m sure a lot of people would be face first under the faucet within half a minute.  I rinsed, gently dried and looked expectantly into the mirror.  They say to expect the skin to feel tight, perhaps warm, could be slightly numb and red.  No, a little warm, no and no.  Nothing.  

Well, today is Monday.  I was hoping for a peeling face.  Actually, I was hoping to wake up Sunday to a peeling face, but that didn’t happen.  Peeling and tightness is to be expected within 2-3 days and last 3-4 days, which is why I expected it.  Also, if your face peels, that means the chemical peel had the ability to penetrate beneath the top layer of cells.  Hence the name chemical ‘peel.’  My skin is slightly smoother and the acne has reduced ( think, wishful thinking?), but I wanted some peeling, dammit!  Shucks.

I’ve determined I did not leave the peel on long enough.  My skin is young and still thick (the skin thins as you age), so the peel didn’t have adequate time to penetrate deep into my skin.  I’m going to repeat the peel on Thursday with double the time.  If I do it Thursday, I’ll probably peel a wee-bit on Friday, manageable, and get the bulk done Saturday and Sunday so the only person who has to see my gross peel-y face is the Man and the Rabid Beast. 

I’ll update again after the next peel to let everyone know if I burned my friggen head off.

A little salicylic acid, also known as BHA, information: Salicylic acid is lipid soluble.  It has the ability to penetrate oil glands, clear out pores and it is an exfoliant, sloughing old skin cells and stimulating new growth.  That process slows as you age, so it’s considered important in keeping skin young and wrinkle free.  I like salicylic acid because it helps with excess oil production (a factor in acne) and exfoliates (another factor in acne) and it has anti-inflammatory properties.  A lot of dermatologists believe salicylic acid (BHA) is more effective than AHA for anti-aging and exfoliation, and BHA is less harsh than AHAs, like glycolic acid.