The Real Deal on Laser Facial Peels

How do I know? Because I just got one yesterday. Quite hypocritical when I speak of health first, and that beauty is on the inside not the outside right? Absolutely.

I planned the timing of this. I wanted to do this after the summer, and before the holidays were upon us. Seemed like good timing, and right before I hit my (gasp) 43^rd birthday next week.

BUT! I’ll defend it by saying I had it done because it’s a non-invasive procedure to help me bring my skin back to it’s healthiest self after years and years of sun abuse as a teenager and through college. Why didn’t I wear sunscreen when I was lifeguarding all those summers through high school and college??…so stupid. I sincerely believe that we need to focus on inner beauty and good health, but I will try to look my best possible me as well. I know I sound a little defensive, I kind of am a little.

Also, why is it really any different than using your St Ives or whatever facial scrub? We are supposed to exfoliate our skin anyhow. This is basically a juiced up exfoliant, that burns off a layer of your flesh to reveal a younger more vibrant you.  

Sounds gruesome doesn’t it? Well it is.

The real deal is that it is unpleasant, painful, and tortuous, with soon to be determined results.

The procedure is called Renew laser peel. It’s a combination of 3 separate laser treatments that reduce the appearance of fine lines, sunspots, redness, rough patches, uneven skin tone, as well as stimulate collagen and improve overall skin texture. The procedure took almost 2 hours and cost $400, which by Atlanta and Chicago standards is quite good. The gal who did this has been doing this for 11 years, and came highly recommended.

By the way she was my age and her skin was enviably gorgeous and she looks 30.

I also cleared my calendar for the week., the time it takes for recovery, and I’m hiding inside.

I never will get injectables or go under the knife, I do want to age and embrace and accept my face and body as I age naturally. Women I see on TV who have clearly had work done scare me a bit. They all take on that kind of alien looking face. I will never get injectables, ever. I can make that emphatic statement partially because of my belief system, but also because my neurologist took that option away from me as a ‘never do it’. Basically a nerve freezing procedure is kind of a bad idea for a gal who has a nerve disease prone to paralysis. Temptation eliminated.

Anyhow, the procedure is this:

1.     scalpel to face to scrape off that first dead skin layer (loved that)

2.     eye protectors stuck on, a big jelly ultrasound like jelly onto face then a loud, bright light, zap like a small whip on your face over and over. Horrid and somewhat painful.  This takes 20 minutes.

3.     Topical numbing cream placed all over my face ,which terrified me as she tells me to let it settle in for 15 minutes. So if the first one didn’t require a numbing agent, then this second laser must hurt like a son of a bitch.

4.     Enter laser 2. It hurt like a son of a bitch, much like 1, but with no light, and you want it to end as soon as possible.

5.     Move to laser 3. This one goes deep into the skin columns, so the zap kind of sits there for a second before moving to the next area of flesh. Another 15 minutes that seemed like eternity, then done!

6.     Cooling gel, then I am given my at home care kit, then home!

I warned my boyfriend about 10 times weeks in advance that I was going to require downtime for about 5 days, and I was going to look a bit scary. He heard “blah, blah, blah, blah”.

When I walked into the house yesterday and I turned the corner, his eyes opened wide as saucers accompanied by a “oh my god”.

I warned ya.

Here’s what I looked liked yesterday. Swollen, red, bleeding a little out of some pores. It hurt like a bad sunburn. It sucked. I was up until 2 am and 4 Aleve’s in my system. I have to keep a thick balm on my skin so it won’t dry out, so the healthy skin underneath can emerge without stress and strain from the top layer.

She took a mole off my forehead that bugged me for years as a bonus. Thanks.

Today the pain is gone but my skin is starting to feel tight and I want to scratch it off my face.  I am less red and less swollen. The peeling starts tomorrow….going to be an interesting day. The shedding is supposed to take 3 days….

I was going to put my pictures of day 1 and 2 up, but my boyfriend said I might scare away any readers as well as discourage anyone from ever getting this done. (By the way, for the record he thought I was beautiful before this and didn’t need to do anything, but he supports me whatever I choose to do and feels bad that I’m feeling bad right now. I told him he’s going to get a lot a crap from people for having such a much younger looking girlfriend now.)

Anyhow, I wasn’t sure anyone would want to see that grossness? Maybe I’ll put a before and after series together at the end of the recovery? Maybe I’ll wait for any comments before I throw those pics up there. I’m not sure what my overall opinion is on this procedure just yet, if it’s worth it or not.

I’ll keep you posted, see you in a day or two.  Wear sunscreen, keep smiling, run well, xo pdub