This past week, I had the opportunity to try the Image’s TCA Orange Peel Lift, a peel only offered in medical spas, where a medical director is present. Sex and the City horror stories aside, chemical peels shouldn’t be such a scary treatment. Sure, your skin will peel off 2-3 days after the treatment, but you won’t walk out of the spa looking red and burnt like Samantha Jones herself. In fact, you’ll walk out looking a little bit orange, but positively glowy!
Don’t believe me? I thought so. That’s why I’m reporting my TCA Chemical Peel experience to you with before, during, and after pictures!
Before
You can tell from the picture that my main problem is with SKIN TEXTURE. My forehead and chin appear bumpy, instead of smooth. Also, although not visible in this picture, I did have some sun damage on my forehead. A TCA Peel is ideal for aging skin, sun damage, as well as to treat skin texture problems, such as acne scaring, large pores, and overall bumpy skin.
During
After thoroughly cleansing my face of all oils, my esthetician Anna applied the first layer of the peel to my skin. She ended up doing this three times, which is what we like to call a “three layer peel.” This particular type of peel self neutralizes on the skin, meaning that the burning sensation will go away within a few minutes, and your skin will be ready for another layer of the peel. Some people may be more sensitive to this process than others, especially a three layer TCA peel, but since I’ve gotten regular skin treatments for the past year, my skin was conditioned to handle this type of peel. The burning sensation went away fairly quickly and felt completely tolerable.
After
IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PEEL
After the last layer of the peel, Anna applied some calming, healing lotions and potions on my skin and sent me on my way. Other than being a little orange-y, my skin felt tight and looked glowy. In case you’re wondering, the orange tint is there as a method of discouraging people to be outside in the sun following a chemical peel. You won’t look like a real life Oompa-Loompa though,you’ll just be a little bit more orange-y than usual. In fact, all my close friends didn’t even notice my new skin tone until I brought it up to their attention.
DAY 1 AFTER THE PEEL
My skin is still a little bit orange-y but it’s not falling off yet. At night time, I wash my face with Image’s Ormedic Cleanser (a gentle cleanser) and lather up with Image’s Max Creme, as well as leaving a good layer of Image’s Vital C Hydrating Masque overnight on my skin.
DAY 2 AFTER THE PEEL
I wake up and see some skin peeling off, but nothing too major- just some little flakes around my nose and chin area. I rinse my skin with some lukewarm water and repeat the moisturizing procedure from the night before (except I switch the hydrating masque for Image’s Prevention Plus SPF30 Tinted Moisturizer). After moisturizing my skin, there is no sign of flaking skin, and I go on my way to a full day of work.
DAY 3 AFTER THE PEEL
My skin is no longer reminiscent to an oompa-loompa in color, but it is starting to fall off in different places on my face, but mainly in between my eyebrows and on my jawline and chin. As you can tell from the photo, however, the peeling is subtle enough that I don’t have to worry about scaring kids out on the street. When a client comes in at work and I apologize for my peeling skin, she tells me that what she noticed was actually how great my skin looked. But, somehow, I am still waiting for my skin to start falling off in chunks.
DAY 4 & 5 AFTER THE PEEL
My skin is still peeling off like on day 3, though a bit more on my neck. The flakes are still small, and I’m able to apply makeup and go about my day as I normally do.
DAY 6
My skin is no longer peeling. It is glowy, even, and smooth and I’m ecstatic with the results!
*NOTE: The intensity of the peeling off process varies by person based on the current condition of their skin.
