Friday, February 24, 2012

chemical peel hag

earlier this week brooke was working on a story for a little school assignment. she decided to write about two hag queens. she had fun writing the story and decided to do a couple illustrations to go with it.

she pulled out a piece of paper to begin drawing, but then paused with a bewildered look on her face. "mommy, i've never drawn anything ugly before. i don't know how. will you sit across from me so i can look at you?"

me, "are you saying i'm an ugly hag?"

brooke, "no. but i only usually draw cute things."

sigh.

here are the story and drawings if you want to see them. she decided they were good enough that they should make it onto her blog.

this happened the day before my chemical peel. now would be a better time, i think, for looking at my face while drawing an ugly hag.

i had no idea what to expect with this chemical peel business. i've seen the sex and the city episode where samantha gets a peel and her face looks all burned and disgusting, but the dermatologist assured me that what i was getting was a different type. i got the vitalize peel.

i got it tuesday morning. it didn't hurt to have it done. but the chemicals that were rubbed all over my face were so strong they took my breath away. three different things were rubbed into my face and the first was just like nail polish remover. it was used to remove any oil so that toxic liquids that were rubbed on next would absorb better. i don't know what the next two things were, but each time, as the substance got close to my nose, i literally could not take a breath for a few seconds and i thought i would choke, but she quickly put a fan up and made that crap dry quickly and as it dried, the choking sensation went away. it was a bit distressing though to be trying to gasp for air, but have my airways were blocked by the fumes.

my face turned a little yellowish when i left the doctor's office, like i had jaundice again, but then it looked mostly normal for the rest of that day and the next.

yesterday though, the third day, i woke up looking like a lizard in a full shed. i put on moisturizer like my paperwork said i could, but that burned like heck for a couple minutes and then all the top layers of skin looked kind of grayish and the new skin underneath that was starting to peek through looked bright pink. twasn't a pretty look.


today it's getting better. more has peeled away so that a lot of my new pink skin is showing now. i feel like a bug that is cracking out of its old shell and shimmying out into the world with my tender new skin showing. i think i should sit tight for a couple days until i firm up again and am less susceptible to predators.


and then when i'm whole again, i'll change my pillow case. because i suspect that it's starting to look like this. but less snake shaped. more face shaped.


day before peel

when the peeling first started. this was right after i moisturized.

all red and tender, but not fully peeled around the outer edges.
three weeks later -
UPDATE/CONCLUSION: it took about two weeks for my face to stop peeling and then feeling rather scaly. it definitely looks better than it did before the peel, but i can still see some of the old acne scars and melasma that it's supposed to be removing. i guess that's why you're supposed to get at least 3 peels to see the full results.

20 comments:

  1. HOLY CRAP WOMAN! You had a chemical peel! Were you frightened beforehand? Wow! I hope the results are fabulous for you. I saw that episode of S in the C too, since I'm a fanatic, and wondered if that's what happens to everyone.

    Kids. They say the cruddiest things sometimes without even realising it. Well, I think you're beautiful, so you wouldn't be my inspiration for drawing ugly things.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i wasn't scared at all. for some reason, i barely even thought about what was actually going to happen before i got to my appointment. it's probably better that way.
      i've got two more to go & i'll probably be more worried about them than i was about this one.
      i've taken some before and during pictures of my face, but since it's still in transition and the pictures don't really show how cruddy it's been looking i decided to go with the silly reptiles instead. i'm hoping to get a good before and after picture at some point. we'll see.

      Delete
    2. well that's not so bad! You don't look reptilian hideous at all :) Doesn't even look too sore either, which is nice.

      Delete
  2. oh, and part of me was wondering if you'd post photos of your poor face!

    ReplyDelete
  3. A few years ago, before I started selling Arbonne skin-care, I was enjoying a wonderful facial at a fancy salon when I asked an innocent Q about some skin coloration...next thing I know she is about to schedule me for a chemical peel! Yikes. I hope it was worth the choking and gagging and peeling! Let us know. How long is the healing process?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i'm not allowed to go out in the sun or sweat for a week. and once all the peeling stops (hopefully by sunday) i'll be able to wear makeup and resume normal face behavior and maintenance.

      Delete
  4. I have never had a chemical peel....but I have had microdermabrasia.
    The things we do to try and look beautiful eh.

    That was sooo funny when you said your daughter had to draw an ugly hag and asked you to sit in front of her.
    I'm glad she CLARIFIED that for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i've done microderm before. it feels good.
      that daughter of mine says the rottenest things sometimes.

      Delete
  5. I used to take my daughter to a dermatologist for acne and the drugs they gave her weren't working so they wanted to do a chemical peel. They called it something else, I guess to make it sound better. She was 12. We didn't go back again. I think that is a bit young for that.
    Kids don't have a lot of tact, do they?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. for a 12 year old? that sounds insane unless you're trying to get her in first place at a beauty pageant or something crazy like that.

      Delete
  6. You definitely don't look like a hag in those photos, it seems like chemical peels work good with you Sherilin!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks, matthew. i'm hoping the end result will be really good.

      Delete
  7. Great Googli-Moogli!
    NOTE: I think I got this expression from you. It has now become one of my favorites. Much less sacrilegious than "Holy Christ!!" Thank you.
    Anyway, when I first saw "chemical peel" and that picture, I thought you turned yourself into Kim Cattrall. But, when I read farther (or is that 'further'?), I learned that you became a snake woman. Then, I saw your REAL pictures and I breathed a sigh of relief.
    You're much better looking than Kim.
    Especially since, if 'Sex and the City' is to be believed, she's a ho.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. when i read that first statement i smiled because i love to say it. then when i read the note that followed, i grinned. i love it when something stupid i say rubs off on someone else!
      you're such a flatterer. nope, no snake woman or kim or ho's here. just lots of hyperbole and skin flakes.

      Delete
    2. These are pretty much direct quotes when my brother and I walked out of the hotel (wow, that sounds icky) last Saturday morning:
      Me: "Great Googli-Moogli, it's frikkin' cold!"
      He (laughing): "Great Googli-Moogli? Where'd you hear that?"
      Me: "On my blog."
      He: "I like it better than 'Holy Fuck, it's cold!' At least you can say 'Great Googli-Moogli' in church."
      Me: "Yep. So why the frik aren't we in the car?"
      BTW, I just checked the TMZ website. Looks like Kim is still a ho.

      Delete
    3. great googli moogli, al's language is improving! and even your family members are going to appreciate it. giving up swearing isn't nearly so bad when you can pepper your mouth with colorful phrases.

      Delete
  8. Not something I would even consider doing! Yikes.

    ReplyDelete
  9. LOL at the lizard! Chemical peels may hurt at first, but they are a great option to have that youthful and radiant glow. I must say, you can pull the look off once your skin color goes back to normal. Looking good!

    ReplyDelete
  10. There’s nothing to be scared about chemical peels, as long you don't overdo it. That way, you won’t end up looking like a “chemical peel hag”. Also, you’ve got to be mindful of your routine, like religiously moisturizing and putting on a sunscreen protection to achieve optimum results. Thank you for sharing your experience with us. At least people will now have an idea of what to expect if they'd like to consider chemical peels.

    Byron Brewer @ Knight and Sanders - Knight

    ReplyDelete
  11. You might ask, are tattoos art designs appropriate for a woman? You may see women with a lot of tattoos in their skin and you would immediately judge them. Some people may say which may include your own family members especially the older ones, and people from church, among other members of a conservative society that tattoo art designs for woman give you the impression that you are a bad woman or a woman with loose morals, which have no consideration at all for decency and cleanliness.chemical peel treatment alberta

    ReplyDelete

don't let me be the only one doing the talking around here. spill your guts!