QuoteReplyTopic: Glycolic Skin Peels Posted: February 15 2003 at 2:30am
Hi everyone. I have recently been seeing glycolic acid for sale on the internet for at home skin peels. I was just wondering if anyone has tried these and what the results were. I have mild acne and have had problems with it since i was in junior high. The only thing that seemed to clear it up was antibiotics, but as soon as i quit taking them, my face breaks out again. I don't want to permanently stay on antibiotics, so I was looking for other options. Thanks!
jessm1014
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Hello again. For those of you that might be wondering, I ordered a sample of a 30% Glycolic acid peel. I used it last night for the first time, and my skin really did feel smoother, and it looked a little better. You are supposed to use it twice a week for 6-8 weeks for best results, so I will let you know if I see any more improvement. It did sting a little at first, but it wasn't too bad, and my face only stayed reddish for about 30 minutes afterwards.
Hi Jess; Wow 30%.?? That sounds like a high percentage. I don't do skin but I read about it. I hope you get some in put from someone here with experience.
Anyway, be careful, if you start feeling at all tender skip a treatment until you skin has rejuvenated its self. And, I can't Stress This Enough.....USE SUNSCREEN EVERYDAY while you are doing this!!! Your skin is really vulnerable to sun damage during this time.
I do know that you most likely WILL see an improvement in the Acne...and maybe even improvement with any roughness, discoloration or scarring, you may have from past breakouts. Do let us know
What kind of Aftercare are you using in the mean time?? Everyday skincare is important right now too....
Well I have to tell you about Obagi blue peel I had a few years back. It is a pretty hilarious story that is appropriate for the topic.
I used to have regular facials at a spa in Dallas and the facialist worked in conjunction with a plastic surgeon. I have various skin problems related to stress and so the plastic surgeon and the facialist convinced me that a blue peel would solve all my breakouts and other stuff.
They told me that it did not hurt and that it was a lunch time procedure and that no one would know.
First of all. It hurt like hell. I can not even describe it except to tell you that I literally was screaming. They finally figured out that if they let me suck on ice cubes it would numb my mouth and I wouldn't scream so loudly. :-) So I had a mouth full of ice cubes and a friend on either side with hands that I was digging into.
They peeled off 3 layers. Each one hurt worse than the one before but they kept telling me it would be over "soon". UGH.
After the 3 peels they have you gently wash your fash with cool water and they apply a cream. When I turned on the light in the restroom I was bright blue. I mean Smurf Blue. Electric blue.
It turned out that the blue did not go away until the skin peeled. Also, I was warned NOT to pull any of the skin or it could scar. So I spent 4 days out of work with bright blue skin that peeled off in sheets. It was horrid. I couldn't go anywhere because my face looked like Tom Cruise's face in Vanilla Sky after his car accident. The one time I went out people stared at me with their mouths open. :-)
Yes my skin looked fabulous and the acne and rosacea improved dramatically BUT you could not pay me to do it again.
So if anyone is thinking of buying any type of chemical peel from glycolic to more intense to do at home...please please please read everything you can about it to make sure you don't harm yourself, your eyes or your skin.
Thanks for the topic. It is awesome.
Best wishes, Karen aka former Blue Smurf.
That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger or drives you totally insane. :-)
Gosh Karen; I was cringing at your story, OMG. So you healed up well and do you feel that your skin is better to this day because of this peel? Get it blue face.......OK that wasn't funny.
Do you know what this Blue peel was? Was it Glycolic or Lactic or some other kind of Acid peel?
And if it was Glycolic what % was it?
That reminds me I have a wonderful mask for oily problem skin...I'll post it later....But I digress..
Jess; Karen made a really good point, keep the peel away from your eyes & as much as possible your lips (they will feel chapped). But you must have read up...anyway keep in touch.
LOL. Thanks for the blue faces. So funny. And yes...that is exactly what I looked like.
Everything healed nicely but I really don't think they could ever talk me into it again. However I know they still do them in Dallas because I saw an ad for a "lunchtime Obagi Blue Peel". I laughed thinking that if anything seriously believed they could go back to lunch after that...they would be seriously mistaken.
I was told that it was a very high concentration of glycolic acid. In fact, they required me to have a series of 6 "light" peels before they did the Blue Peel to make sure the skin was well prepared. I did the 6 treatments over a 6 weeks period at the spa and they stung somewhat but did not invoke any loud screaming from me or anyone else. The Blue Peel is definitely a very high concentration of acid. A plastic surgeon told me the Blue Peels are halfway between the lite glycolic and the old super chemical peels that they used to do about 15 years ago. Remember those horrid things? If you don't you may have read about them. I did not have the pleasure of one of those.
I did do Botox injections and that is an interesting story if anyone wants to hear it...or not.
Yes...I am willing to try all kinds of things hair or skin related but don't try to get me to eat any kind of bizarre food groups. :-)
Best wishes, Karen
That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger or drives you totally insane. :-)
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Wow, that must have been awful to have a blue face and to go through the pain. I'll remember to not ever try that. Thank you all for the info and the support. You have all been very helpful. I just wanted to let you all know that I did a second treatment tonight, and it hardly stung at all, and by the time I washed it off (about 12 minutes later) my face wasn't even red anymore. My skin is definitely starting to look better. My acne is clearing up, and the reddish/purple marks that I had from past breakouts look a little lighter. Afterwards, I have been going over my skin with the P.H. prep solution that they gave me with the peel, and then I apply a moisturizer. It all seems to be working out fine so far. I had been using Arbonne's Thermal Fusion Enzyme Mask for about a year before trying this though, and it has the same kind of effect on the skin (the burning and redness) except not nearly as much. I still have been using it too on the nights that I haven't done the glycolic mask. My skin doesn't seem to have much of a reaction to the enzyme mask now as far as the redness goes, so maybe it has helped somewhat prepare me for the glycolic acid. Anyway, I'll continue to keep you updated. Thanks so much everyone! By the way, don't worry about my skin burning in the sun. I always have put good sunscreen on if I plan on going outside at all. Thanks for the tips!
Yes...the blue peel was definitely one of those moments in my life that I will always remember. :-)
Glad things are working out for you and that you are watching your sun exposure. Please keep us informed of how things go for you as you move forward with your skin treatments.
Best wishes, Karen
That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger or drives you totally insane. :-)
Hi everyone. I just wanted to say thanks for all of the support. I am so glad that I found this forum. I am happy to keep you all updated, especially if I can help someone else make a decision about their skin care with my experimenting. If any of you decide to try it with me, I'll be happy to tell you where I got it from. They have a wide selection of different percentages of acid that is also buffered to different levels. I promise, it's not that bad! The first time I put it on, it stung a little, but no worse than if you put an astringent on your face that has alcohol in it. I don't have any discomfort during the time that I leave it on either. I really love it so far. Well, I'll continue to keep you updated. Thanks so much!
Jessica
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Hi again. I am still using my glycolic acid. My face has really cleared up! I still have a few blemishes, but I think it might be because I didn''''t use it for 2 weeks while my father and sister-in-law were staying with us, but it looks so much better than it did. I wish I would have taken before and after pictures to show everyone. I just ordered some more because I am about out. I ordered a little bit stronger strength this time because my skin seems to have become accustomed to it well.
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be careful, if you start feeling at all tender skip a treatment until you skin has rejuvenated its self. And, I can't Stress This Enough.....USE SUNSCREEN EVERYDAY while you are doing this!!! Your skin is really vulnerable to sun damage during this time.
Good Luck
