First time 8% tca peel

I've posted on Andi's thread, but don't want to monopolize hers,so started a new one here. Thanks to her original post on her 15% tca experience, I was brave enough to start using peels myself. I had been using an otc peel system (Revlon?) which was nice, but didn't give the results I was looking for. 

I went to MUAC like Andi suggested, and started with a very low % lactic acid, worked up to 30% glycolic, and jumped to 8% tca last night. I also use Renova (prescription retin-a type product)a couple of times a week, in between my glycolic peels. 

As suggested, I did a test patch of the 8% tca before actually doing a full peel. First time I tested on a small patch of skin, near my ear, for 5 min, neutralized with the baking soda sol'n, then used bacitracin for 24 hrs.Turns out I'm allergic to bacitracin, so I broke out in a rash. Just to be sure, I did a second test patch, on the other side of my face, and used a prescription antibiotic ointment (mupirocin). This time, no reaction.  After  waiting a week, I did a full peel  using 8%  tca for 5 min, on my whole face.  I should mention that 5 days ago I did a 30% glycolic peel and left it on for 8 min.

Before the peel, I  prepped my face with a very gentle cleansing  using generic cetafil, dried, then covered nostrils, lips, and eye sockets with vaseline. Carefully put on the acid with a q-tip, left on for 5 min. Experienced no discomfort, or even tingling. Carefully neutralized with baking soda solution (2T to 1 1/2 cups tepid water), then gently washed  with MUAC's green tea face wash (which I got as a free sample with my order). Covered my whole face with the prescription mupirocin. My face itched. The more time passed, the tighter it felt, and the itchier it felt. I wondered if I was becoming allergic to the  mupirocin. After about a hour, I checked my face, and  I had 3 bright red patches; one under each eye, on my cheekbone, and one on the side of my face next to my eye, up higher on the cheekbone. I wondered if I had prepped a bit too vigorously with the recent glycolic peel 5 days before. Anyway, the redness was gone by the next day, but the itching was getting a little worse. Since MUAC suggests having anti itch cream on hand, I decided to improvise. I mixed the anti itch cream, the mupirocin antibiotic, and MUAC's rosehip scar cream sample (I love their scar  cream; it makes a great moisturizer and is very emollient). After re cleansing my face with generic cetafil, I dried and put on this mixture. I want to mention that after washing my face, it felt itchy again. After I put on the mixture, it felt itchy--at first. After about 5 minutes, the itching subsided. I really don't know what the itchiness is all about, and maybe Andi can chime in and make a suggestion. Anyway, it's the day after, the redness is gone, and my skin just feels a bit tight and looks slightly more wrinkly. Peeling for this low level of tca seem to vary quite a bit, so I'm not sure what to expect at this point. I do have to work tomorrow (and this was supposed to be a 'lunch time' peel) so I will most definitely wear a strong sunscreen for my drive to work, and at least eye make up and lipstick. Am considering wearing my Bare Minerals makeup, as it's supposed to be very gentle.   I did purchased a vinyl-cling sunshade for my driver's side window, to help protect my skin from the sun during the commute.

I welcome any helpful hints or insights. I'll update as possible.  Thanks

Edit update;  Just took a shower and washed my face, and it's already starting to peel and flake slightly. Maybe that's why it feels so itchy and tight. In places, my face has a slightly whitish cast to it, which is probably dead skin waiting to flake off. 

I'm experimenting now with mixing argon   oil and anti itch cream, and using that on my face. The argon oil is supposed to have antibiotic properties, so I thought it would be good to try.

sounds like everything is going great. People will have different experiences with peels as I´ve noticed after reading tons of forum posts (acne.org) and reviews on makeup alley.

I never got itching with any of my TCA peels, and I started out with 12.5% I believe. A lot of people do get itchiness though, which I believe is a result of the skin tightening, but I really have no clue lol. I just had the slightly uncomfortable dry, tight-skin feeling, and the dead skin layer was very shiny as well.

From what I remember, my first TCA peels (12.5% strength) didn´t tingle/burn any more than the 30 or 40% glycolic peels. The 15% TCA was a whole different story though as I mentioned in my thread, I did feel some heat and pain on my skin.

Keep us updated on how this is going, but it sounds like you did everything right. Next time, I would suggest you de-grease the skin with alcohol before you put the TCA solution on, as facial cleansers don´t always remove all the oils on the face, which can "dilute" the TCA solution. Professional peels are always applied after de-greasing the skin to get the most effect. But for a first time TCA peel, not de-greasing is a good way to make sure the peel won´t be too strong since you don´t know how your skin will handle it when you do it the first time.

And a glycolic peel 5 days before your TCA peel may have not been necessary since Renova is an ideal TCA prep regimen already. I did the same thing once before and I believe that caused the TCA do go a bit deeper so you may wanna be careful about using a glycolic peel too close before a TCA peel.

Thanks for chiming in, Andi

The argon oil mixed with anti itch cream worked great, and my skin was very soft the next morning. I continue to flake, bit it's very slight; more like a mild sunburn than anything else. No more  itching, either.  Going to work yesterday, I used Neutrogena's 110 spf face shield, eye make up and lip gloss. Today I wore full make up. The liquid make up did accentuate the flaking  skin, but no one ran screaming or even said anything about it. Guess it wasn't too horrible.

The skin under my eyes looks rough and wrinkley, like it may peel in a few days, but  it's never been tight and shiny. Maybe not using the alcohol has something to do with that?

I'm back to using my regular moisturizer at night, along with the argon oil. For next time, especially if I leave the peel on longer and do a second layer, I'll get some cetafil moisturizer, as I hear it's very mild.

It will be Aug 1 before I can really tell how well the peel worked, and whether or not to do a second one. The directions said to wait at least 3 weeks between tca peels if the results are not 'enough', and to wait 10 days to determine how well it worked. Since this is such a low level peel, and I haven't been doing them for very long, I can see doing 3 peels 3 weeks apart, then waiting the requisite 3-4 months.

Incidentally, I've also purchased a 10% glycolic body lotion. It seems I'm hooked on the ahas.

Originally Posted by Kansaseq /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Thanks for chiming in, Andi

The argon oil mixed with anti itch cream worked great, and my skin was very soft the next morning. I continue to flake, bit it's very slight; more like a mild sunburn than anything else. No more  itching, either.  Going to work yesterday, I used Neutrogena's 110 spf face shield, eye make up and lip gloss. Today I wore full make up. The liquid make up did accentuate the flaking  skin, but no one ran screaming or even said anything about it. Guess it wasn't too horrible.

The skin under my eyes looks rough and wrinkley, like it may peel in a few days, but  it's never been tight and shiny. Maybe not using the alcohol has something to do with that?

I'm back to using my regular moisturizer at night, along with the argon oil. For next time, especially if I leave the peel on longer and do a second layer, I'll get some cetafil moisturizer, as I hear it's very mild.

It will be Aug 1 before I can really tell how well the peel worked, and whether or not to do a second one. The directions said to wait at least 3 weeks between tca peels if the results are not 'enough', and to wait 10 days to determine how well it worked. Since this is such a low level peel, and I haven't been doing them for very long, I can see doing 3 peels 3 weeks apart, then waiting the requisite 3-4 months.

Incidentally, I've also purchased a 10% glycolic body lotion. It seems I'm hooked on the ahas.

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yeah those are some good recommendations, you gotta wait to assess your final results before doing another peel.

Especially with higher % peels (I noticed this with my 15% TCA, even though professionals wouldn´t consider this a strong TCA peel) you can get some microswelling when the flaking is done. This makes your skin look plump, smooth and can initially make indented acne scars and other imperfections seem like they improved a whole lot. But after another week or two that effect wears off and you see the final result.

And I didn´t get the tight, shiny skin look in all areas of my face, I only got that in areas that move a lot with talking, eating etc. The skin on my temples (not that much movement there, and the skin there typically isn´t sensitive) for example looked completely normal throughout the entire peeling process.

I'm on day 8, and most of the flaking seems to be done. I don't see a huge improvement in my skin, but at the low level of the acids I'm using, it's supposed to be a process and not an event. Next time I'll do a second layer and see if I don't realize more noticeable results.

Just got done washing my face, and noticed that it looks pretty darn good. The rough, wrinkley skin under my eyes (that made me look about 100) is gone and my skin looks fairly smooth. We'll have to wait and see if it's microswelling, or if it will stay looking this way. Regardless, more peels are in my future.

By the way, the 10% glycolic acid body lotion is awesome!  My skin is SO soft after I use it.

Originally Posted by Kansaseq /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I'm on day 8, and most of the flaking seems to be done. I don't see a huge improvement in my skin, but at the low level of the acids I'm using, it's supposed to be a process and not an event. Next time I'll do a second layer and see if I don't realize more noticeable results.

Just got done washing my face, and noticed that it looks pretty darn good. The rough, wrinkley skin under my eyes (that made me look about 100) is gone and my skin looks fairly smooth. We'll have to wait and see if it's microswelling, or if it will stay looking this way. Regardless, more peels are in my future.

By the way, the 10% glycolic acid body lotion is awesome!  My skin is SO soft after I use it.

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sounds great! I have been wanting to try a glycolic acid lotion for the body myself. Did you get yours from makeupartistschoice.com as well? I think Alpha Hydrox carries one as well, maybe I can find that somewhere cause it´s cheap

I got my body lotion off of Ebay, not sure of the vendor's name. The label says "Sharon Marie Skin Care Glycolic Lotion, All Natural, Fragrance Free"

I got an 8oz bottle for about $20, so not cheap, but then I only use it twice a week.  You have a choice of 5%, 10%, or 15% glycolic acid.   I was a bit wary of buying an unknown product like this, but my skin feels really soft after.

 I did want to get some of the Alpha Hydroxy brand stuff, but they don't seem to make a body lotion. Some people are using their foot cream as a body lotion, with great results. I could only find the smaller bottle, though, and it was almost $12. The stuff I got was cheaper and I'm happy with it.

Ebay is nice pace for online shopping /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

Hi again. I did a second peel 3 days ago, using the 8% tca. Left it on 5 min, then did a second layer. I actually got some light frosting in a few places, and this time, the peel burned.  I  neutralized the frosted spots right away with baking soda solution, then neutralized my entire face after 8 min. Did my own concoction of the antibiotic ointment and anti-itch cream all over for the first 2 days, then switched to just moisturizer (generic Cetafil). I had to mow today, so waited until after 6 pm, used spf 110 sunscreen, big sunglasses, and a hat.  I'll let you know if I get any hideous sunspots. I felt a bit like a vampire, avoiding the sunny areas and hiding in the shade as much as possible.

I've got some light flaking already, and things seem to be going as they should.  I really like what the  tca is doing for the texture of my skin