It wasn't that effective for me. I did it myself 8%, not by a doctor, but they say you have to do more than one anyway.

I have been doing the egg/lemon mask with the baking soda and acv, that has worked really well. I just started meocopper also, have to see how that will go.

I've done weekly 50%-70% glycolic peels over the course of 3 months and I don't see a remarkable change in the color of my red marks. They're still as dark when I first got them. They faded somewhat but that would have occured anyhow without the peels. I don't want to wait a year since it usually takes that long for my red marks to clear up. I read that TCA Peel is the next step up and is good for diminishing dark spots left behind by acne.

For those who have done a TCA Peel, what effect did it have on your red marks? Did it fade/diminish them? I'm interested in reading about your experiences.

 

I'm doing one right now (peeling as I type) which is a 10% TCA peel. I'll let you know how it goes in a few weeks, if you haven't gotten your answer. If you got a medium peel (25% +) done by a doctor, the results will be far better of course.

Did you spot treat, or apply all over? And what color are your red marks?

For some reason, when I did my peels, I found it had the greatest effect on older red marks that were a year old. It peeled off like a bad sunburn, revealing unmarked skin underneath. But for newer marks (4 months old) I didn't see much of a difference.

I am olive skinned so my red marks are brownish, sunspots are red on my face. The peel was all over, but I don't have red marks all over, mostly on my checks. My best results were from mixing the obagi blender with retin-a, it's awesome, but expensive.

Some reviews.

http://www.makeupalley.com/product/showreview.asp/ItemID=53171/

How many tca peels before you start seeing those red and brown marks lighten?

Did you spot treat, or apply all over? And what color are your red marks?

For some reason, when I did my peels, I found it had the greatest effect on older red marks that were a year old. It peeled off like a bad sunburn, revealing unmarked skin underneath. But for newer marks (4 months old) I didn't see much of a difference.

 

I applied it all over my face. My marks show up as dark brown on my skin. Like I said though, I'll let you know as soon as I can. I see what you're saying about the peeling, this morning I awoke to a piece of pigmented skin peeling off. Not sure how it'll affect my 6 year old marks though. However, if you do a little research, you can find before and after pictures of real people and their results are usually impressive. Try checking out other forums.

i just had a 2 layer tca peel done and my red marks faded decently i was pleasantly surprised. i am going back in 2 weeks to get another one and will continue to get them every 3-4 weeks to clear out my acne and help with red marks and minor scarring. i will keep you updated on my progress. i am going to have the girl do more layers next time because i barely peeled which was surprising to me because i normally peel very well from a tca. i think she did a lower percentage on me though since it was my first one and she said she would do more layers in the future once she knows what my skin can handle.

on my 3rd day 20-25% tca. will share results when peeling is done.

Thanks everyone! Please do keep up with the updates. I've noticed that those who find their 'cure' stop posting and never report back, leaving the rest of us in the dark.

@ itsoveryes

I have retin-a already so I bought a substitute for the blender. It's called nadinola and it got rave reviews on skincaretalk. It contains 3% hydroquinone. It's probably not as good as the obagi blender but others reported good results with this one. I'll use it for a month, twice a day, and evaluate its effectiveness.

Yes Moonlite, please report back with your progress. Also keep in mind Europe banned hydroquinone due to possible leukemia cause, so you would want to use it as a short term, not long term solution.

I've done several, from 10% up to 25%...It didn't affect my scarring, but before the old skin peeled off and the new skin was revealed, any blemishes I had which were even *remotely* active, or slightly less than totally healed, turned brown. Once the exfoliated skin peeled off, all blemishes were reduced in diameter, depth and severity, and blemishes which had been closed continued to peel longer than the rest of my face or areas of active/raw/open blemishes. The active ones dried out over the top and in from the edges. I didn't notice a HUGE effect on my pre-existing scars, red marks or discoloration, but the blemishes treated with TCA seemed to leave lighter marks, or no marks at all. The longer I was able to not peel/scratch/pick at them, the better and faster they healed. It was difficult, tho, because every time I washed my face more and more little "peelies" would lift up, and in trying to remove the "loose" peelies that came up, I'd inevitably misjudge certain pieces which were ready to come off and which were not, sometimes resulting in taking off pieces which exposed skin which was far too immature - which *caused* dark marks and a longer recovery time. I used Dr. Loren Pickart's Super Cop copper serum prior to a thick but *mineral oil free* moisturizer everyday, which, while it caused the skin that was affected by the peel to turn sort of dingy looking and blemishes even more so, it also accelerated the healing process beneath the now protective layer of chemically burned skin, so that when I was gentle with it (washing with either Cetaphil and a cloth, or baby castille soap and a wash cloth, or both, depending on how oily or dry my skin was) and allowed the skin to come off when I washed and dried with a soft, damp towel - but didn't pull anything that didn't roll off on it's own- the skin that was eventually revealed was smoother, brighter, and showed FAR fewer latent blemishes than it had before. If I'd kept up with it, I'm sure my skin would have cleared entirely. For a time. But there was always some event or reason I needed to have a non-peeling face - a wedding or some such, and it was impossible to cover the peelies with makeup, and like I said, pulling them off before they were ready was even worse. Now that I think about it, tho, since I've recently started using airbrush makeup, I bet that would be the best solution to covering up peelies if I needed to. Using concealer, foundation or powder any other way only made my face peel more and left the makeup blotchy and highlighted, rather than hid, the fact of the peel itself.