19 Year Old, White Male, 25% TCA Peel for Sun Damage, Large Pores, and Scars on Face

Let me start with my unfortunate situation.
Throughout highschool I was a big golfer and NEVER wore sunscreen! I don't know why but I didn't. I would come home almost every day through out the fall, spring, and summer with sunburn but didn't think much of it. I had pretty good skin for what I was putting myself through and had a great social life (including a gf) and was very happy. During Junior year, when I was 16, after a long golf tournament I was very burnt because I didn't wear sunscreen or a hat because I liked to show off my hair. I came home and decided to do one of those biore nose strips to remove some black heads off of my nose. But as I was taking it off when it dried it kept a hold of my skin and ripped a small portion of my skin of my nose on top and right hand side near the tip. This later on scarred but I didn't let it get to me because it didn't scar too bad and didn't stick out to badly. It just looked like I had baby skin where the skin was pulled off instead of the rest of my freckled nose. Later on in life, I started to attend a State university and didn't mind or think of my skin much at all psychologically my freshmen year. I made plenty of friends and had an overall great time. But my sophomore or second year is when stuff started to take a dark turn. As I would walk around from class to class I would notice people walking towards me always rub their noses, and I didn't think of it much at first. But it just kept getting worse and worse I would notice some of my friends and people I knew as I was talking to them look down at my nose and do the same thing. It finally got to me and I thought I had to do something to help the scar on my nose. I talked to my family and they would tell me I looked fine and I just wouldn't let myself believe them, thinking there was something I could do. So finally, I decided to get some scar cream off amazon, some Mederma PM. I would use it at night on my nose, on some burn marks on my jaw line from a lighter, and some acne scars. It didn't do anything but caused me to break out so I went back on amazon and got Amaira Advanced Scar Vanishing Cream. It said that it contained Marine Botanicals and was safe to use on the face and wouldn't cause acne. So I started to apply it to my face every night. In the directions it said to use sunscreen but I didn't and didn't wear a hat either because I hated wearing hats. Well apparently the Amaira made my skin very photosensitive and cause my pores to permanently open to the largest pores I've ever seen and ruin the complexion of my skin. It also caused the skin on my nose to thicken and some hypo-pigmented bumps to form making my nose look unbearable. I instantly became very depressed and anxious because I knew I ruined my skin. I began seeing my local dermatologist who diagnosed me with actinic keratosis (which is basically sun damage). I began looking for treatments to help my appearance and improve my psychological distress and came upon chemical peels. I thought it would help my skin by taking off the rough outer layer of skin and help improve my pores and complexion. After planning on doing it, I started wearing a hat every single day and started wearing blue lizard Australian sunscreen as well to help limit my sun exposure and prepare my skin for the peel. I used Differin Retin-A to prep too which helped reduce the size of my pores at the time. I was so anxious about people looking and talking about me I would walk as fast as I could from class and lectures back to my place to avoid any contact. My relationships with friends slowly deteriorated as I would come up with excuses to escape any embarrassment of my skin. I felt like my head was playing tricks on me because I swear I would hear people around me talk about my nose and it made me insane. I talked to my family and they said I was crazy but I don't know if they were just trying to be nice or what.
Finally the day came for my peel. I showed up with my mom ready for some intense pain after researching TCA peels for the past two months. I laid down on the aestheticians bench and she cleansed my skin first. Then wiped down my face with an alcohol wipe to get rid of all of the oil. She then applied the TCA 25% and instantly started burning like crazy. It was the worst pain i've ever felt in my life on my face. It literally felt like glass was piercing my skin. Once the 4 minutes were over she neutralized the acid which hurt even worse then the actual acid because she was pressing down on my burnt skin. Once she finished neutralizing the acid she put on a moisturizer and then a sun screen so I could drive home. As soon as I left my skin was so sensitive that even the breeze outside would hurt as it blew across my face. I drove home and prayed that I would get the results that I wanted. Which included size reduction of my very large pores, reduce the scarring on my nose and jaw line, and reduce the photo causing bumps on my nose.
The fist day my skin looked kind off normal. I was very swollen so the scars and pores looked very small which gave me false hope because later after the skin peeled it showed the true skin that was left underneath. I didn't start to peel until the third or fourth day when my skin became very tight and cracked when I would talk or eat. Then from there on out I let it do its thing and peel making sure not to do it myself. I would wash and moisturize my face every night and morning to keep it clean and moistened.
When I was done peeling after a week my skin was still red for another week. It just looked like I had sunburn. I continued to apply sunscreen and wear a hat to limit sun exposure to allow my skin to heal. Once I was fully healed I would say that I got good results. I felt like my pores just weren't as deep which made me believe that if I got a couple more they would finally be gone. My burn scars did fade a little bit. I didn't see a difference in the bumps on my nose.
Any ways I hope this helps anyone looking into getting a TCA peel. I would recommend using a Retin-A to prep your skin because it enhances the results of the peel as it seems it goes a bit deeper and it speeds the recovery time. Will get more peels so stay posted. Enjoy my pictures. The last two are April 15th

Here are the pictures

So, I got my first peel during spring break of my last of school. After getting the peel as I've said in later comments that my pores did seem to be less deep, but they did seem to still be very large. The scars on my nose did seem to change in the smallest way. My acne/burn scars on my jawline did seem to improve about 50% I would say. I wasn't complaining any way and was glad that I got the peel at first. But my mistake was probably getting the second one and with the Esthetician that I went to to get this done. I should've gone to either a board certified dermatologist or plastic surgeon to get this done because this lady treated it as just another sale. She had no intent to actually make me happy in the process. I made the stupid decision to get another peel hoping it would make my pores smaller and dampen the appearance of my scars as well some more.
Showing up to my appointment at the beginning of the summer (50 days post 1st peel) I was ready for more results considering My esthetician decided to pair Mandelic acid with TCA. Now leading up to this I was trying to do more research but I couldn't find anywhere on the internet about the pairing of these two peels together. I should've called it off there. The only thing I found online was that some Dermatalogists would pair peels together for better results which had no specification about Mandelic and TCA together. I would ask My esthetician but she just said it enhances the results.
I laid down on the bed and we started the process again. Before she started I asked her how she was going to do it, then before she could answer I said "are you just going to do the mandelic acid for the set amount of time then TCA after?" she immediately answered and said yes. Remember this. So we started with the Mandelic 40% for ten minutes since its not a strong chemical. Then she wiped it off and put on the neutralizer for the acid which was a big mistake. Then after she wiped off the neutralizer and let it dry she set the timer for the TCA and put it on. But it didnt hurt at all (IT SHOULD HURT A LOT), a minute later and she asked me how it felt. I said it didn't hurt at all and she freaked out realizing that the neutralizer was still on my skin and was counteracting the TCA. She then took everything off and neutralized it again and again and again. I should've got up and left right there but I didnt. I let her cleanse my skin several times and redo the TCA peel. The second time she put it on me it hurt and hurt just as much as the first one so I assume it penetrated. Then she cleaned me up again and I went home.
Throughout the healing process I made sure to watch my diet making sure I ate a lot of vegetables and took my supplements to help with my skin to rebuild itself. I peeled just like the first peel, it took about 8 days. On one of the last days when I had little peeling left I was playing basketball and got a scratch under one of my eyes. When this happened I was pissed because I've heard that breaking the skin while alleviating it would scar. Luckily it did not.
Now growing up I always had freckles on my nose and under my eyes which I actually liked. But one thing that you need to keep in mind is that these chemicals that they use will take off the top layer of skin which is where that coloring of your pigment is. After my second peel, my nose has lost most of the freckles on it and it just seems off when you look at it compared to the skin around it. Paired with my large pores its not a pleasant site.
After doing all of this I kindoff wish I could go back. After meeting with more dermatologists I've discovered more options that would would've helped me a lot more in the first place without any complications.
Stuff to keep in mind when doing a peel or any type of cosmetic work
Make sure the provider you are choosing is a board certified dermatologist or plastic surgeon who has experience and really wants to help you.
NEVER USE AN ESTHETICIAN!! They are just certified to do these cosmetic operations, but they don't really know the science behind it and whats best for you.
Make sure you do your research. I've heard some great advice on getting a tattoo. If you want a tattoo decide exactly what you want then if you still want it after 6 months, go and get it.
Now its a little different with this kind off thing but I still believe you should meet with your dermatologist or plastic surgeon and discuss all of your options, and once you do your research and decide on something, WAIT. Consult with many people and keep searching for credible resources and reviews online until you feel like you've looked up every piece of information on the subject. You will come up with so many questions that you can relay to your provider, some that will encourage you to go through a procedure and some that will make you never wanna do it. But this is the only way to truly feel comfortable with something and will cause less regret in the future if something doesn't turn out the way you want it to.
After doing a peel or anything like it, Your skin takes more time then it seems to heal.
I made this mistake. Your skin really takes up to 6 months to improve and during this time you must watch your diet and supplement intake to truly rejuvenate your skin to a level better then before. I got some acne during this healing process and actually scarred easily since the collagen was still reforming.
Wear Sunscreen! Wash your face and moisturize your skin before going to bed.
I am including pictures of Before, During, and After.
My pores are still big, my scars are still there (on my nose and on my jaw line), and now theres just some pigment around my nose and on it that just seems off. Not worth the second peel.
I now plan to get Micro-needling with PRP (platelet rich plasma) to hopefully fix my problems this summer. I've read some information that micro-needling is the best option for treating ance scars, as well as all types of scars which will be good for me with my hypertrophic scars on my nose by breaking down the scar tissue. I will probably post about this. Stay tuned