I Got a Chemical Peel and Maybe Kate Did Too

I will let you see my face though

Hi folks!

It was a big week from head to toe. Last week I had the most excruciating, unexplainable pain in my left foot. It took about 5 days and multiple x-rays to determine the cause: an irritated accessory bone! An accessory bone is a bone that didn’t fully fuse at birth, so kind of like having an extra bone. It’s apparently very, very common, but you only find out if something irritates the surrounding tissue. In my case, good ol’ tendonitis in my lower leg caused the area to swell up enough to make me consider amputation. It’s feeling much better now and I started PT today. Take care of your body!

Moving upwards, what my face went through was fully voluntary. I got a VI peel! A VI peel is a medium-deep chemical peel – the type you think of when you think of a peel. Tons of flaking, 2-3 days of moderate to heavy shedding, and 7 days total downtime where your face is so tight it feels like it’s been saran-wrapped. I typically stick to gentler peels, but I do one like this about once a year. There’s a time and a place for them, such as for part of my wedding skincare prep to get rid of some stubborn cheek breakouts before a series of laser treatments. You do a peel before things like lasers or microneedling so that you’re doing those treatments on fresh new baby skin. With a medium-deep peel, your skin basically goes through an entire renewal process in a week, which is why I love them for persistent breakouts. Pimples start forming weeks to months before you see them on the surface, so a peel like this brings everything to the surface quickly. This is called purging. See how that pimple above my lip was not there when I got the peel, surfaced overnight and is basically gone now.

Immediately after the peel application, Day 2, Day 3, Day 6. Click the image to zoom

Quick note about all of the photos you’ll be seeing: I tried to remember to take progress photos at the same time of day/lighting/angle, but I’m just a girl with an iPhone trying her best! None of these images have been edited and any lighting differences aren’t meant to deceive.

There are so many different types of peels, some with very little downtime and minimal discomfort, which most can handle. A peel like the one I did is not for everyone. Pain wise it’s very low, but it is very, very uncomfortable. For the first few days, your skin will feel extremely itchy, dry, tight and begging for moisturizer. The worst of the peeling tends to be on days 3 and 4, after which the discomfort subsides considerably. You need to be patient, have restraint and trust the process.Your skin will look and feel so much worse before it looks better. Your dark spots will look darker. You absolutely, under no circumstances, can pick or peel your flaking skin. You will scar and undo everything you are trying to achieve. Remember, you are basically forcing your skin into a state of repair and it is going to look like that. Let it heal.

Day 1 vs. Day 7

 With any peel, your provider will give you instructions for aftercare. With medium-deep peels, you will usually be given products from the peel manufacturer to use exclusively for the week. Peel skin care is bad, just know that! But be sure to use it. Some of the products are necessary for the peel process and others are fairly basic (cleanser, hydrocortisone balm, sunscreen) but intended to remove the guess work, reduce the risk of irritation and protect your skin while it’s healing. Just use it. Think you look bad on day 3? Try applying sunscreen with zinc oxide! They tell you you can apply makeup, but again, if you think you look bad, try applying makeup over the sunscreen with zinc oxide. And then, try washing it all off? Cleansing with a peel is funny because the very nature of washing your face is everything you’re not supposed to do (touch it, rub) but you also want your face to be extremely clean. Gentle, gentle circles. Take your time with it. Pat dry with one of these. Not a washcloth. The only product I used outside of those provided was Sofie Pavitt’s Nice Ice frozen toner pods to help alleviate some extreme itching. 

Wash your hair before you get the peel, then go as long as you can before the next wash. Don’t break your back trying to wash your hair without getting your face wet. Or, you can borrow my approach and wear a silicone mask in the shower.

You want to stay out of the sun, wear sunscreen, a hat, sunglasses, the works. If you’re self conscious you could wear a mask, but the recycled hot air can kind of make your skin burn after a while. Truthfully, I think we overthink how much people pay attention. If you saw someone whose skin was flaking off, would you keep staring? Ask questions? It does hurt my soul a little bit knowing that the likely assumption would be that I got a bad sunburn, but whatever. No one cares. I went to my wedding tasting on day 4, fully molting. 

This morning I was officially done with the aftercare and could resume using normal products! My face looks so bright and smooth and feels incredibly soft. The breakouts I had are either gone or almost done healing. This video is just after cleansing this morning, no skincare. Look at that reflective new baby skin! 

Today I want to answer your questions about peels! Ask in the comments and I’ll answer as best I can over the next few days.

For the record, I don’t think the princess got a chemical peel or even a facial procedure, but wouldn’t it be kinda fun if she came back with a face lift?

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Three Other Things

1. I cannot talk or hear about benzene anymore, but the short answer is that you have nothing to worry about, the lab that did the testing is questionable and used questionable methods to come to their conclusions. Don’t store your benzoyl peroxide in extreme temperatures and you’ll be just fine.

2. The laser I’m getting is LaseMD. It’s a fractional (targeted areas) nonablative (less invasive, doesn’t remove outer layers of your skin, less downtime, more sessions) laser. I don’t know a ton about lasers because I don’t perform those treatments, but feel free to submit any questions and I’ll ask my provider when I see her in a few weeks.

3. I had a client the other day who had never (?!?!?) washed her makeup brushes so I want to remind everyone that you need to be doing that on a regular basis! I usually use this spray, but I’ll whip out the Cinema Secrets if I need a heavy duty clean. Dry your brushes flat or angled down. Water in your brush head will make the bristles fall out and ruin your brush. This is a handy tool.

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Have a great week!

xx,

Jolie