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*Treatment results may vary
I am a 29 year old female with very fair skin. I...
I am a 29 year old female with very fair skin. I had horrible acne as a teen which has left me with very deep acne scarring. I have tried almost every at home or professional treatment for acne scarring that is available, with little to no improvement. In fact, some of the laser treatments I have had in the past made me break out even more, and cause my scarring to be even worse.
I decided I was done dropping large amounts of money on professional procedures, so I researched at home TCA peels for quite a few months, before I actually purchased one. I started off small with a 15% at home peel, and noticed very minor changes, but nothing extraordinary. I figured for the small price tag it wouldn't hurt to continue doing the peels. I slowly would increase the strength of the peel, and started noticing more and more changes the stronger the peel became over time.
It has been about two years since I tried my first peel, and have worked my way up to a 50% peel for about the last 7 months. (I do a peel every 6-8 weeks). The 50% peel is very strong, and has a pretty intense burning sensation for roughly 5 minutes or so after I rinse the peel off. (Please do not take these peels lightly. Research them, talk to a professional, do whatever you can to educate yourself about them because they are very intense.) My skin turns a very white color which is referred to as "frosting" and I leave the solution on for only a short amount of time due to its strength. I then mix baking soda and water to create a base to neutralize the acid. I don't wash my face for 24 hours, and then only use very gentle cleansers while the skin is healing. It usually takes anywhere between 9-13 days for my face to be peeled entirely. A light red/dark pink color remains for 7-10 days after the skin has peeled, but can easily be covered with makeup.
From my very first peel 2 years ago, I have noticed about a 60% improvement in the texture of my skin, and the appearance of my scars. That may not seem like a lot considering 2 years is quite a long time, but the process is very slow, and needs to spaced out with enough time in between procedures to heal. I notice the biggest difference in natural sunlight. Any of us with acne scarring know just how horrible our skin can look in the sun, and although my skin is nowhere near perfect, is has improved dramatically. I hope this review can help any of you who are on the fence about trying a TCA peel. It was a last effort chance for me, because nothing else had helped in the past. Just remember to always start with a small concentration. These peels are far more intense than any chemical peel I have ever tried.
*Two very important notes*
A) ALWAYS and I mean always wear sunscreen. Your skin is extremely sensitive after a TCA peel, and not only can exposure to sun potentially cause drastic problems, it can leave very bad red marks on the skin.
B) Do not pick or peel the skin. I know how tempting it can be when the skin is going through it's peeling process to just pull at the annoying skin that is flaking away. But please, please refrain from doing this. I made the mistake of doing this with my 2nd peel thinking it would be no big deal, because the skin was already peeling, and it left a very deep scar behind that I am working on filling in. I know it can be rough during this stage, but leave the skin alone, and let it peel and flake off naturally.
Good Luck!!
I decided I was done dropping large amounts of money on professional procedures, so I researched at home TCA peels for quite a few months, before I actually purchased one. I started off small with a 15% at home peel, and noticed very minor changes, but nothing extraordinary. I figured for the small price tag it wouldn't hurt to continue doing the peels. I slowly would increase the strength of the peel, and started noticing more and more changes the stronger the peel became over time.
It has been about two years since I tried my first peel, and have worked my way up to a 50% peel for about the last 7 months. (I do a peel every 6-8 weeks). The 50% peel is very strong, and has a pretty intense burning sensation for roughly 5 minutes or so after I rinse the peel off. (Please do not take these peels lightly. Research them, talk to a professional, do whatever you can to educate yourself about them because they are very intense.) My skin turns a very white color which is referred to as "frosting" and I leave the solution on for only a short amount of time due to its strength. I then mix baking soda and water to create a base to neutralize the acid. I don't wash my face for 24 hours, and then only use very gentle cleansers while the skin is healing. It usually takes anywhere between 9-13 days for my face to be peeled entirely. A light red/dark pink color remains for 7-10 days after the skin has peeled, but can easily be covered with makeup.
From my very first peel 2 years ago, I have noticed about a 60% improvement in the texture of my skin, and the appearance of my scars. That may not seem like a lot considering 2 years is quite a long time, but the process is very slow, and needs to spaced out with enough time in between procedures to heal. I notice the biggest difference in natural sunlight. Any of us with acne scarring know just how horrible our skin can look in the sun, and although my skin is nowhere near perfect, is has improved dramatically. I hope this review can help any of you who are on the fence about trying a TCA peel. It was a last effort chance for me, because nothing else had helped in the past. Just remember to always start with a small concentration. These peels are far more intense than any chemical peel I have ever tried.
*Two very important notes*
A) ALWAYS and I mean always wear sunscreen. Your skin is extremely sensitive after a TCA peel, and not only can exposure to sun potentially cause drastic problems, it can leave very bad red marks on the skin.
B) Do not pick or peel the skin. I know how tempting it can be when the skin is going through it's peeling process to just pull at the annoying skin that is flaking away. But please, please refrain from doing this. I made the mistake of doing this with my 2nd peel thinking it would be no big deal, because the skin was already peeling, and it left a very deep scar behind that I am working on filling in. I know it can be rough during this stage, but leave the skin alone, and let it peel and flake off naturally.
Good Luck!!