9 replies to this topic

[carolina rain]

Okay guys well I did something very stupid yesterday although in the end I think its going to be okay or at least I hope.I had previously done lactic 55 percent 30 glycolic and tca up to about 12 percent so I decided to bump up to 15 percent. Last week I mixed up about a 15 percent from a 100 percent solution and test spotted in about three places on my face...nothing happened totally safe if not a little weak looking. So I saved what I had mixed up last week in a sealed jar( this may have been first BIG mistake).Yesterday I decided to do full face but realized I would need more than what I had saved so mixed up another 15 percent ( from 100 percent).. diluted it about two and half times.. 100 to 50 to 25 to another 3/4 making about 15. THEN heres where I get stupid, I combined the two.....

Well I quickly realized in about 10 seconds after putting it on something wasnt right because I was ablaze in no time flat almost didnt have time to finish the whole face. It was on about two minutes max and I had to rinse and throw baking soda on.Then I realized that I was a total dumb A and the 15 percent added to the other 15 percent at least made me a good 30 percent, I had needed another capful to dilute it to 15 percent and failed to think it through properly!

Not only that we had power outages last week and much of what I had pre-mixed was in this hot house and very well could have evaporated from what I have read, not sure. Anyways, my face went through some pretty intense redness, pain, a bit of swellling which was helped with cold compresses and today it looks red not as bad as last night at all but now starting to look crepy and a bit tan.. all of which I have read are pretty normal but this was a pretty scary experience for me as Im not usually someone who is a risktaker. Lesson learned, TCA is nothing to play around with just goes to show no matter how careful you think you are a dumb mistake can be made in no time if you dont really pay attention to what the H your doing and this was really dumb on my part.

So anyways... my question is does my mix sound to be about 30 percent after what I did mixing two batches together at 15 and does anyone save thier pre-mixes? Is it possible for the water to have evaporated because this stuff was strong, dont know what a 30 normally feels like but I wouldnt be surprided if this mix could have been even a bit higher which totally FREAKS me OUT. Thanks, any help would be appreciated as I do not plan on making any more mistakes like that ever again if I can help it!

[Nope.avi]

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Edited by Nope.avi, 08 August 2012 - 07:47 PM.

[*Inspired*]

I agree with Nope.avi. Don't see how that could equal 30% or higher.

[carolina rain]

Only thing I thought is that I was increasing the acid amount without adding more water. Seems like I would have needed an extra capful to bring it to 15 after combining the two 15's but yea I could be wrong for sure cause I totally suck at math. I wouldnt have even thought otherwise had it not burned the everlovin dickens outta me( and I had done a test spot with 15 before and it had done nothing).Who knows maybe some of the water evaporated off of my mix from before. All I know is if that was a 15 Id hate to feel a 30! Guess I need to stick with the premixed kinds huh, thanks guys..

[*Inspired*]

It's hard to say what happened. I've done a few TCA peels and have never found TCA as painful as glycolic. Glycolic peels always had me in tears while I could tolerate TCA and I've done a 25% TCA peel.

Where did you buy 100% TCA? I hope you didn't buy it off eBay. You do run the risk of buying industrial grade TCA when buying off auction sites and small retailers. If so, that would explain the burning.

As for the possible percentage of TCA, look at it like mixing hot water. If you have a bucket of 100 degree water and you pour it into a tub of 100 degree water, you'll still have 100 degree water. It's not additive, and won't spike the water to 200 degrees.

[carolina rain]

Thanks for the reply.I bought it off a place called chemicals peels.biz ( dont know if I cant post that) but they do also sell on ebay but all the reviews were good.That might not meam anything though. I usually get my peels from MUAC but they actually seemed a bit weak.So you didnt burn with 25 TCA? Thats amazing, yea this peel was definately a burner. Holy crap I hope I didnt buy the wrong stuff!

I just got a reply from the seller ( I emailed her earlier and asked what she thought.) Heres what she said:

I'm sorry but I had to laugh a little at this. It sounds to me, if i'm reading this correct that your combo should have been a 15% peel. Sounds like you did it correct to me. Possibly the area you tested it on the first time was less sensitive to the other areas on your face. Burning using a peel is a good sign, so is redness or even frothing.

I dont really know how to take the " laugh at this" part however.... like you said, at least it seemed to be a 15 percent I used which man that really makes me wonder now. I wont be using that again . I suspect that was nothing like MUAC or what a normal 15 percent is like, maybe Im wrong not saying I coudlnt be but to almost not be able to get it on fast enough for sake of the burning I havnt heard at that percent. My skins super tight ,kinda red and kinda tannish. Ive been keeping cera ve and vaseline on it while also doing sporadic dilute white vinegar rinses. Also taking vit C and zinc. From now on Im sticking to what I know!

forgot to add that the strange part about it is that I wouldve expected my skin to be red on my three test spots though if it was the same percentage... maybe shes right that my skin wasnt as sensitive in those areas though but I dont know that just weird cause it didnt do anything the first time. Im following your advice though just in case no more small retailers.

[*Inspired*]

I don't what to say really, except I can't believe the seller's "laugh at this" comment. This is your skin, and it's not a laughing matter.

I used to buy TCA peels from MUAC, as well, but I had my stronger peels done at a Medispa. I've done a 15% MAUC TCA peel at home. Sure, it burned a little but it was nothing like the burning I experienced from a 30% Glycolic peel. I don't know if my experience is normal but I've found the stinging from a Glycolic to be much more painful. Perhaps, that's why I could tolerate a TCA peel with ease. Then again, I did not buy my Glycolic peels from MAUC, so it may have been the quality of the peel. I bought my Glycolic peels from another online retailer. I stopped doing home peels years ago after reading about "industrial" grade home peels being sold online and watching a Consumer Watch episode on home peels. They actually purchased a variety of peels from eBay and web shops. Then, sent them to a lab and had them tested. I was shocked by their findings.

In terms of your healing, it sounds normal. My skin was pink and eventually turned brown after about a week. From there, my skin started to crack and peel in sheets.

Based on what you're describing, I don't think I would chance the acid again. That's me.

Also, I did have TCA Cross down on my ice pick and boxcar scars once. I had slight tingling when the 90% TCA acid was dropped into each scar but it wasn't painful, at all. With that said, I don't think a spot treatment really reflects the intensity of the acid. I imagine 90% over my entire face would be extremely painful.

Edited by TokyoGirl, 15 July 2012 - 08:54 PM.

[carolina rain]

I suppose she was laughing at my calculations but yea when people are dealing with thier skin its hard for them to find humor till they know they are safe. My gosh I totally believe people are selling industrial TCA and still that may have been what I got although I do have to say in all fairness that my skin seems to be doing what its supposed to.I really should have known better to risk it though after all the stuff Ive seen about what people will do for money( Im a big documentary watcher). I think Id much rather have my peel be weak than too strong.

Im with you though Im not chancing it again. I got up this morning and couldnt go to sleep because I looked in the mirror and scared myself. Id rather know for sure. You know after I think about it when I did MUAC'S 30 percent glycolic peel and 55 lactic they both stung WAY more on me also than thier 8 percent tca at three layers although I know 8 percent is kinda mild. Ive heard thiers is buffered which I think makes it milder.

Did you keep moisturizer on the whole 7 days after TCA because I look like Im about to peel ( and about at day three) but not sure whats best to do as far as how long to keep thick moisturizer on and this is kind of off topic but were you happy with the TCA cross?

[*Inspired*]

I would be careful buying any kind of peel off the Internet. I just searched trying to find the show but I can no longer find the video. I did find this reference to a similar (possibly the same) episode:
http://www.acne.org/...e-buyer-beware/

When I saw the program, I was actually living in Japan. I can't remember how I came across the video. If I ever find a link again, I will definitely bookmark it and post it here.

I did keep my skin moisturized. I used vaseline until it started to peel. After that, I used a variety of MUAC's products to keep my skin moisturized. I no longer buy from MUAC, and saw no improvement to my scars from home or medispa peels.

If you look at the ingredients for MUAC's TCA peels, they don't hide the fact that it's diluted with more than just TCA and water. I've heard Skin Obsession has the best TCA peels. I never bought TCA from them though.

Sadly, I had a bad experience with TCA Cross. If you look at my gallery, you can see a little bit of what happened. I didn't take good before/after photos, but you can kind of see the damage I suffered on one of my cheeks. I wouldn't let my experience deter you from treatment though. I think my experience is quite unique and rare. Of course, there are risks, and I was fully aware of them prior to Cross.

[carolina rain]

Wow, I just read that post and I wish I had read that before that peel. This experience has just thrown me into one long massive panic attack that Id rather have done without seeing as how I already suffer from anxiety,lol.Ill be glad to quit obsessively checking the mirror hopefully soon.I honestly dont think I saw any improvements in my scars either from any of the peels Ive done thus far.

I looked at your pictures and although it didnt look like the cross worked the deep lasor totally smoothed them out! I also have atrophic scars and had a bad experience ( only difference however is I did it to myself!) when I tried needling. It worked but not in the way that I had expected. I had expected my scars to fill in from the bottom up but my scars were mostly icepick so all it did was make them yea shallower but much,much wider and more noticable.I should have been clearer in my research of what scars needling worked best on and imo icepick is not one of them.I dont hear that stressed enough but Ive got some posts floating around on here about that from a few years back.Ive really learned that the skin is an extremely delicate organ which is why even sometimes things dont go well even for the docs.

I know you had to have been very frustrated after the cross but that lasor worked great. Sometimes it just means finding the right remedy for us all and each might be different. I dont think I want to take anymore risks myself though and I do know that if I ever do another peel its not going to be from a relative unknown. Ill check into the place you mentioned and also check into a good doc.It seems Im not a very good 'at home- dermo', hhe.Thanks again for the advice, you may have saved my skin from any further 'spontaneous' fixes on my part!

Edited by carolina rain, 16 July 2012 - 05:30 PM.