PCA: Sensi Chemical Peel Review

You'd think that I would have stayed away from chemical peels after the nightmare I went through, right? Well, I didn't! My old esthetician moved back to this side of town so I bought a microdermabrasion and chemical peel package from her.

PCA:Sensi Chemical Peel

About a year after, I went through my skin nightmare (and after my skin had finally cleared up), I decided to get a series of chemical peels- I bought 3 sessions of microdermabrasion treatments and 3 sessions of the Sensi chemical peels. We would be alternating so I would be going in for a microdermabrasion session then the following month I would go in the chemical peel.  I was nervous but I trusted my esthetician. I've never had a problem when I went to her in the past.

The Chemical Peel Process

My esthetician cleaned my face and gave me instructions. If my skin started to burn really badly, let her know so that she could neutralize it. I agreed. She gave me a nice facial then it was time to get the chemical peel. She did 3 layers and it burned so much. She fanned my skin to cool it down but that wasn't much help. I promised to let her know if it got too hot but I was desperate and wanted my skin to peel so I kept quiet. It burned like CRAZY!

I can't say for sure but it took about 10 minutes or so to get the peel done. Then she neutralized it  washed it off . She put sunblock and a moisturizer on my raw skin and gave me a little bag with PCA products (facial wash, moisturizer, sunblock) to put on my skin for the next two weeks.

Ah My Skin is Peeling!!

Day 1 after the peel wasn't so bad. My skin was really tight. By day 3, my skin started to crinkle and peel a little. I looked like an old lady! By days 4-5, my skin started to peel A LOT. My skin peeled for 2 weeks and it wasn't just little flakes here and there. I peeled in SHEETS! It was amazing. Yes, I went to work looking like a monster but who cares! I was making a sacrifice for the betterment of my skin!

Day 1: Tight Skin

Day 3 Crinkled skin and a little bit of Peeling Skin

Towards the end of my peeling

Don't Go Out Into Sun Unless You Want This to Happen to You

When they say don't go out into the sun after a chemical peel, listen! After I got my last peel, I went to a local farmers market the next day. I put sunscreen and wore a big hat but that apparently wasn't enough. The skin under my lower lip blistered. To this day, I'm not sure if it was a burn or a fever blister but I think I got it because I went out into the sun. I had never had this problem with the other peels! Luckily, it healed nicely but I was worried for awhile. I thought it was going to scar!

Blistering skin

RESULTS

I'll share the good news with you first. All my sun spots flaked off, my fine lines were diminished and my skintone was much better.  Red marks also faded away. My skin looked great and I was happy.

The bad news is the PCA Sensi Chemical Peel did not help my indented acne scars and deeper wrinkles stayed the same.

All in all, I thought this was a great peel. If you are getting a PCA Sensi Peel to get rid of indented scars then this is not the peel for you. No chemical peel will get rid of scars. A deep one might soften them up a bit but that's about it. Still, I was very happy with the results. BTW, this peel cost me $120 per session. It was a bit pricey for me since I bought a package for $600 so I haven't gotten them again. I do them at home now. More on that later!