POSTED UNDER Retin-A Reviews
Fraxel Laser
UPDATED FROM AnonUser25
Update: Orange Peel Texture HEALED
AnonUser25August 12, 2014
Hello everyone!! I just wanted to update.. it's been awhile. I've been getting a lot of messages. I want to reiterate that your skin WILL heal completely!! It has almost been a year (about ten months) since the damage and my skin if finally 100% back to normal. The last time I wrote my pores had closed but I still had little lines on my skin that had not been there before the damage. It looked like dehydrated skin. This was part of the healing process I learned. I also learned that it takes 12-14 months (possibly) longer to fully heal from retin a damage. Very interesting. (read this from a derm). About two months ago I decided to change up my skin routine because I had used the emu oil and raw honey exclusively for months and had not exfoliated in so long my skin was thick with dead skin. (eww). It still had a bit of that scaly/little lines thing going on but the pores were gone so I felt confident in trying something else. I had proactive from a year ago stil out on my counter so I used it. NOTE: Please be cautious using proactive if your skin is still damaged***
Anyway, I used my proactive and it was awesome!! I had not exfoliated my skin in so long.. my skin was very happy to lose all those dead skin cells. For the past two months I use my proactive in the morning followed by argon oil. I ran out of emu and started using Josie Maran's Argon oil. LOVE IT. In the night I use my raw honey- really thick amt and massage it in really well. Followed my Argon oil. Well, my skin is now 100% mine. The way it was before all this mess. I also had my broken caps lasered off one month ago and they are fading nicely. All in all my skin is doing so well. I will add a photo of my skin in the natural light to show you. Oh.. btw... the very worst light for me.. my reflection in the window outside my car with the sun shining on my face.. my skin now looks flawless in that light. That was my ultimate test that my skin was completely healed.
Please remember: the reason why my skin healed is because I gave it time. I allowed it to heal. I see people giving up on the emu/honey after ONE WEEK!! Your skin won't heal for months no matter what you do!!! Your only chance for a quicker healing is to LET it heal by being gentle. I think I used the raw honey and emu for 6 months straight- nothing else. It was so worth it. I am so relieved to be completely done with all this and have smooth, plump skin again. Best of luck to all of you.
ONe more thing. I think what some of had/ have is Rosacea triggered by peels/lasers and creams. Read about how people with Rosacea take care of their skin. Rosacea is basically inflammation. If you go read about people with Rosacea you will notice they almost all use gentle oils and gentle cleansers. They are very aware of how sensitive their skin is. So, one idea is to treat your skin as if you have rosacea. Hope this info helps!
Anyway, I used my proactive and it was awesome!! I had not exfoliated my skin in so long.. my skin was very happy to lose all those dead skin cells. For the past two months I use my proactive in the morning followed by argon oil. I ran out of emu and started using Josie Maran's Argon oil. LOVE IT. In the night I use my raw honey- really thick amt and massage it in really well. Followed my Argon oil. Well, my skin is now 100% mine. The way it was before all this mess. I also had my broken caps lasered off one month ago and they are fading nicely. All in all my skin is doing so well. I will add a photo of my skin in the natural light to show you. Oh.. btw... the very worst light for me.. my reflection in the window outside my car with the sun shining on my face.. my skin now looks flawless in that light. That was my ultimate test that my skin was completely healed.
Please remember: the reason why my skin healed is because I gave it time. I allowed it to heal. I see people giving up on the emu/honey after ONE WEEK!! Your skin won't heal for months no matter what you do!!! Your only chance for a quicker healing is to LET it heal by being gentle. I think I used the raw honey and emu for 6 months straight- nothing else. It was so worth it. I am so relieved to be completely done with all this and have smooth, plump skin again. Best of luck to all of you.
ONe more thing. I think what some of had/ have is Rosacea triggered by peels/lasers and creams. Read about how people with Rosacea take care of their skin. Rosacea is basically inflammation. If you go read about people with Rosacea you will notice they almost all use gentle oils and gentle cleansers. They are very aware of how sensitive their skin is. So, one idea is to treat your skin as if you have rosacea. Hope this info helps!
UPDATED FROM AnonUser25
Another update *PLEASE READ*
AnonUser25March 14, 2014
I'm getting lots of questions. If you have sudden onset enlarged open pores that look like orange peel texture, this is what you should do:
Wash your face with warm water and RAW (MUST BE RAW!!!) honey. Lightly pat dry.
Apply emu oil that comes from a glass bottle ( NOT plastic) I buy my emu oil from montana ranch
THAT IS IT. That is all you should do . Check your skin every day in the natural light to see how your pores are doing. Your skin might get dry but if your pores are shrinking or at least not getting bigger, keep up this routine. It could take up to 6-9 months for your pores to completely go back to normal. Maybe even longer. Please be patient.
The more stuff you put on your skin the more you will irritate it. Any cream, make up and sunscreen has chemicals that will irritate your pores so avoid them when ever necessary. Now sunscreen is VERY important if you are going to be outside so you must apply it. If you are going to be indoors or at home all day- don't apply make up or sunscreen. Give your skin a break.
Do not use a chemical sunscreen. Use a mineral suncreen with zinc. I use skinceuticals zinc sunscreen. I love it. The sun will inflame your skin and damage it so do not tan, etc. Try and keep your skin out of the sun ( using hats, stand in shade) whenever possible.
Personally, I would not use any creams or any other face washes. I STILL only use raw honey and emu and zinc suncreen with I go out side. That is all I use and my pores are gone. I'm being safe. So just keep it simple. If your skin is really dry, you can add in some aloe directly from an aloe plant. If this makes your pores larger, stop. So, again. Keep it simple, be patient and only use RAW honey and emu oil. That's it. :-) Hope this helps.
emu oil- montana ranch
raw honey- honeyrun farm
suncreen-skinceuticals ultimate uv defense with invisible zinc
Wash your face with warm water and RAW (MUST BE RAW!!!) honey. Lightly pat dry.
Apply emu oil that comes from a glass bottle ( NOT plastic) I buy my emu oil from montana ranch
THAT IS IT. That is all you should do . Check your skin every day in the natural light to see how your pores are doing. Your skin might get dry but if your pores are shrinking or at least not getting bigger, keep up this routine. It could take up to 6-9 months for your pores to completely go back to normal. Maybe even longer. Please be patient.
The more stuff you put on your skin the more you will irritate it. Any cream, make up and sunscreen has chemicals that will irritate your pores so avoid them when ever necessary. Now sunscreen is VERY important if you are going to be outside so you must apply it. If you are going to be indoors or at home all day- don't apply make up or sunscreen. Give your skin a break.
Do not use a chemical sunscreen. Use a mineral suncreen with zinc. I use skinceuticals zinc sunscreen. I love it. The sun will inflame your skin and damage it so do not tan, etc. Try and keep your skin out of the sun ( using hats, stand in shade) whenever possible.
Personally, I would not use any creams or any other face washes. I STILL only use raw honey and emu and zinc suncreen with I go out side. That is all I use and my pores are gone. I'm being safe. So just keep it simple. If your skin is really dry, you can add in some aloe directly from an aloe plant. If this makes your pores larger, stop. So, again. Keep it simple, be patient and only use RAW honey and emu oil. That's it. :-) Hope this helps.
emu oil- montana ranch
raw honey- honeyrun farm
suncreen-skinceuticals ultimate uv defense with invisible zinc
Replies (5)
March 15, 2014
And DONT smoke or drink excessive alcohol, seriously my friends that smoke and are now getting close to 40 have terrible skin with huge pores and terrible skin texture
March 16, 2014
Happygirl- you said you used a dermaroller on your skin once when did you use the dermaroller like after how long of having the damaged skin? I'm curious because I want to get a dermapen treatment done by a dermatologist.
March 17, 2014
I would be very careful with a dermaroller or pen. Only use this if you have been using raw honey wash and emu oil for six months and then orange peel txture is still there. You must be patient or your skin will never heal. Just use these two things day in and day out and hold on to any patience within you. If, after 4-6 months, the pores are still there and there has been no improvement and you are at your wits end, then I would very cautiously and gently use a 0.5 dermaroller. Chec ck your skin in the natural light in the morning and see if you have bigger pores. Just tread lightly. I would only use the dermaroller once a week. If there is improvement, maybe twice but be extremely gentle. If you are rough and agressive it's possible that you redo all the damage you resolved in the six months of raw honey/emu oil treatment. Also, if you do dermaroll, only use the raw honey wash and finish up with emu oil. Dermarolling brings things deeper into your skin and you do not want naything with chemicals to disturb your dermis or get into your blood stream.
March 16, 2014
Happygirl, do you still recommend the cellceutical barrier repair cream or do you feel this didn't help with the pores.
March 17, 2014
Hey Jen! The barrier repair cream was actually very important in the beginning because my barrier was completely destroyed. If your skin is very red, extremely dehydrated ( not just dry) flaky, etc. yes, you can use the barrier cream. It's an awesome cream. However, after my barrier was repaired, i still had these holes (orange peel texture) all over my skin and it would NOT improve. When I began to use the raw honey wash instead of a regular wash i saw a dramatic improvement overnight. However, again the orange peel texture would not fully go away-even after amonth and I thought there must be something else irritating my skin. I decided to remove the barrier cream and when I looked in the mirrow after removing that the difference was noticeable. My pores then disappeared in just a few short days when I used only the raw honey and emu oil. And that is how I know that these two things alone help pores close up. Hope that helps!
March 17, 2014
It does help! I have damaged my barrier so will use for a few weeks longer. I am using the raw honey and emu oil. No improvement yet but early days I guess. My skin is extremely dehydrated from the retina A, so will hang in there. The crazy thing with the damage is, it changes every day... Some days my orange peel texture is frightful, then the next day it might be looking alot better. I wish i knew the triggers.
Loving the raw honey and emu oil though!!! Thanks for all your helpful advice.
March 17, 2014
Stick with it jenjen! I have finally seen some healing and its been 2.5 months since my TCA disaster, long way to go though, but much better. My triggers are alcohol and caffeine, and not drinking enough water. Decaf makes it fluctuate instantly too.
March 17, 2014
Cristeena. Oh no!! What happened with TCA peels? I've had two to correct Fraxel damage. I'm afraid to go with the 3rd now.
March 30, 2014
Hi FSRB, I did an 18% TCA peel at home, followed instructions, but healed badly for some reason, and it created massive huge pores, orange peel texture, lines, indents, dry wrinkled lined skin, breakouts, shiny skin, etc, its been a nightmare.
March 22, 2014
Happygirl33, there are a few types of honey on the link you provided. Which one did you use? Did you use it only as face wash or a mask too? I'm noticing the honey is drying out my face, not sure if I'm leaving it on too long as a mask.
March 26, 2014
Hey optimst! Yes, I like the spring or summer one, I think, the best. I ordered a bunch of them but the lightest colored one- the spring honey, was the most gentle on my skin. The raw honey also dried my skin out at first, but I think after a month- maybe 3 weeks, the dryness went away and my skin got used to it. I've noticed that when your skin is really senstive due to damage, it's difficult because almost everything irritates it. That's why the more gentle and natural the product, the better. I wouldn't use the raw honey as a mask just yet. Just splash water on your face, squeeze a dime size amount of raw honey into your hands, rub together and lather onto face. Rinse after about 30 seconds of rubbing in. :-)
March 26, 2014
Thank you for your response! The honey doesn't seem to remove makeup. What do you use for that?
March 26, 2014
And how many months did it take for your skin to completely heal and become pore less? Thanks!
Replies (5)
February 25, 2014
I had great success with V-beam for veins and facial reddness even though i didnt have much luck with fraxel
February 25, 2014
Thank you Sandra. :) I am using vit. C serum and might try a Vit. K cream. I am so scared of lasers anymore, but do want to get rid of the spider veins.
March 3, 2014
I have fair skin not oily, as a matter fact more on the dry side. I had a doctor do my face now after three years no improvement, increased brown areas where there was none. Also terrible texture and loss of fullness. IPL is not suppose to be as harsh as fraxel but it all damages. Stay away from lasers they can cause long term damage that no doctor can repair. Sorry it is a gamble wish I could go back, be honestly warned and say NO THANKS
February 25, 2014
Thanks for the link to the raw honey and THANK YOU for your post and update! I bought 100% Raw Manuka Honey b/c its supposed to help with allergies. This stuff is expensive but I will try washing my face with it.
February 28, 2014
Kiko i am also ordering manuka soon, ive been breaking out lately, arg!, excited to try it!
February 26, 2014
Are all of these pictures yours? Or just examples?
February 28, 2014
FSRB, the 1st, 3rd, and 4th pic are her own skin. Others are borrowed for examples to reflect what her skin looked like in different stages.
February 27, 2014
Hi everyone, I wanted to update that my skin took a turn for the better a week after I started using Neocell Super Collagen with Vit C supplements. Today its been one week now of use, but 2 days ago i thought i was noticing slight positive changes. Today is the first day I have worked in my office with the lights on since this all happened. I am still a long ways away from how I used to look, but I honestly think its this supplement that has shrank my pores and smoothed out my texture a bit, face seems plump, inflated and tighter and less orange peel. Even all the ice picks from the damage seem smoother.
I am also taking HA and fish oil but i was on those a month without a discernible difference in texture. I do think all three together is a great combo though. Currently, I am using raw honey to wash, emu to moisturize, no makeup, absolutely nothing else on my skin, source natural's skin eternal HA pills (saw this on EDS thread a while back), and Natures Made Omega 3 fish pearls, but im sure all fish oil is good. I am having no alcohol or caffeine, not even decaf. Anyway, just wanted to share bc I was having suicidal thoughts just days ago, but today I have hope again, and I hope these pills can maybe help others, even if just a little. I will keep updating since I still have a long way to go. I wish you all more healing! xoxo
February 27, 2014
big hugs cristeena. i can understand how difficult its been as i've been there myself (many times). its frustrating as change comes so slowly but i tell myself that once this period has past that i'll know more and my skin will be better for it in the long run. love yourself and your skin. your skin is well on its way to healing. you are (we all are) beautiful people, inside and out! thank you for your post and let's keep encouraging each other:)
February 28, 2014
Aww Kiko thank you so much for your support and encouragement in all this, it helps so so much, and I know we will both find full joy in life again, I wish you more healing xoxo
March 4, 2014
Hi cristeena, are you still liking the neocell? My skin is badbadbad, and I've tried so many different things. I might give the honey neocelland emu a try.
March 4, 2014
Hi Pammy, yes, I am still taking it. Progress has maintained but not increased yet, the progress has pretty much stopped for now. I have fluctuations here and there where it looks much worse than day before which I think has to do with hydration. I was at a bachelorette party this weekend and after abstaining for almost a month, I had 1 beer and half glass of wine and my skin looked worse next day but then looked better in couple days again. My texture is still very messed up with uneven areas, large pores, scars, indents, ice picks, lines, wrinkles, etc, but the neocell seems to have closed my pores a little and flattened them a bit which was my biggest concern. They are still very much inflamed and open, but they definitely improved after I began the neocell. Remember, collagen works best in combo with HA, so you may want to add a HA supplement as well, and I am taking fish oil pills too. Good luck hunny!!
March 4, 2014
Hi christeena, I think I will buy those once I have a bit of extra cash. Thanks for the update:) I have been trying to find a solution for 7ish years..so many people talk about good results from retin a and peels or exfoliation but those things have caused me so much damage just like so many other people on here...if I had money I might have gone the laser route. Glad I didn't!
I got the emu and honey and tried that this morning and doesn't seem adverse yet, somewhat of a glow even(just a teeny bit).
I had used skin biology products in the past and didn't have worsening effect from those but no result either..in the past week I've added them back in with an exfoliant that the dr. recommends. I'm going to drop the exfoliant part and just use (lightly) the copper ,and the honey and emu. Next week I will derma roll with a 1.5. I derma rolled in 2009-10 and got some results but was confused about products. Hopefully new plan will work better!!
You are are STRONGSTRONG lady to be able to give up caffeine!!! I was able to do it for a couple weeks and felt pretty good but missed it too much...perhaps I should try again:)
March 5, 2014
Shall i take these three pills in a day twice early morning and night for positive results ?
Neocell Super Collagen with Vit C supplements
natural's skin eternal HA pills
Omega 3 fish oil capsules
Let me know kindly plz as soon as possible...
thanks
March 5, 2014
Shall i take these three pills in a day twice early morning and night for positive results ?
Neocell Super Collagen with Vit C supplements
natural's skin eternal HA pills
Omega 3 fish oil capsules
Let me know kindly plz as soon as possible...
thanks
March 5, 2014
Hi Kiran, I take 3 neocell as soon as I wake up and then wait at least 30 min to take the HA bc I read somewhere the collagen absorbs better when not mixed when other things for at least 30 min. Then I take the HA and fish oil in the evening and later take the other 3 neocell right before bed once its been a while since I last ate. Good luck, hang in there xo
March 6, 2014
Hi Nicky. The day of my consult appointment, I was also going to get a cyst removed from my cheek that I have had for about 9 months, but last minute I cancelled because I was panicking about possibly getting more scarring. I decided to wait for several months to see if I have reduction in scarring and then I will go get the cyst cut out and ask about my face then if still necessary. I figured he probably wouldve just recommended retin-a or laser anyway :/
March 6, 2014
Christeena regarding the cyst have they tried injecting the cyst? I had a girlfriend that hers injected with a steroid type medication. Also is it possible to if still need be remove from the inside of your cheek? I would for sure have it done by a plastic surgeon they know how to remove and stitch without a scar or a very little scar. Yea your right about telling you need a different type of laser. Seems all the do currently is over-filling lips and using lasers. Good luck:}
March 6, 2014
Hi Imsorry, no I was afraid to inject it bc I read about a lot of people getting the injection and that leaving a scar and then the cyst growing back. I think i would rather just get it cut out. I would DEFINITELY only use a plastic surgeon like you said. Originally the derm said she would do it but i asked if I could have her husband the plastic surgeon do it instead lol, i read much better scars and healing when PS does it bc they are so precise. I have never ever heard about removing it from the inside, but I will look into that, thanks. I figured I have lived with this cyst for so long, what a few more months. ALso,, funny thing is, it used to stick out on my flawless face like a sore thumb but now that I have so much scarring, big pores, and rough texture and redness on my cheeks from the chemical peel, it kind of blends in and is way less noticeable. Oh, the irony.
February 27, 2014
I have dry dehydrated skin from Retin A use. My skin up close looks like orange peel. If i push upwards against my skin, it looks crinkled and dry and old.
I have tried hyaloronic acid serum and supplements, rosehip oil, vitamin e and so on. I am about to try the emu oil and hopefully this will help. I am 6 months on and haven't seen great results as yet. But I am optomistic! Let's face it, the skin regenerates and sheds every 28 days right? So there is hope! I will let you know my outcome in a few weeks! Thanks for your post happygirl33. You have given some of us hope!!
Replies (5)