I agree with Quad, you will have to be more aggressive to achieve the results you want. However, I feel starting out slower like this will give you a feel for the peels and give you more practice before you start the more hardcore stuff!! I am so excited for you and I know you're going to get great results as long as you keep working at it!! Remember, each lil step you take is a step towards getting the skin you want!  

Thanks @Quadboy im definitely aware i need to go hard, i just wanted to experience a higher % before really going for it, just to make sure i know what im getting myself into. I think ive been told previously (possibly by BA) NOT to layer?

i was hoping i wouldn't have to be TOO aggressive and as i work my way up to say, 30%, instead of layering, i would just do more frequent 30% peels? Will this do nothing though you think?

thanks guys! 

Oh and btw i don't know if this makes a difference but i do believe i have thin skin and i feel like a weak peel on one person is a strong peel on another. I just want to find the best peel % for my skin type

8 hours ago, 91baby said:

Thanks @UpliftingCat i ended up getting bepantham which is what my doc uses on me after subcision.

just did the peel, id say from my ratio it was probably a 20%. Definitely stung a little more but nothing unbearable. Only did cheeks. None of the scarred skin frosted but a nom scarred section did slightly! Annoying.. i didn't expect any frosting at all but if there was going to be any i would have hoped for it to be on scarred skin. Oh well! Im slathered in bepantham and off to bed

Congrats on completing your first TCA peel.  In regards to your reaction about your scarred skin not producing a frost, this is to be expected with a low concentration of TCA.  Frosting with different wounding agents, TCA in this case, is dependent on the preexisting photo damaged status of the skin as well as dermal scarring, location, epidermal thickness, and skin sabaceousness. Since you were treating an area with dermal scarring, this slowed down the wounding agent and peel absorption and as a result, the peel depth may have not been equivalent to your non-scarred areas on your face.  More wounding agent is likely needed at this depth in order to cause an adequate frost.  

@UpliftingCat thankyou! And thank you for the info, makes sense!

in regards to layering.. i was just wondering, how come it is perfectly ok to layer yet if you do a peel you have to wait a certain amount of time before then doing another one? Say i did another peel tonight (i wont be lol) is that not basically the same as layering? Just in 2 days rather than 1?

It is definitely not the same because at 24 hours post your skin has started to already go through the wound healing process. Wound healing is somewhat of a complex process and once that begins, you don't want to do anything that interferes with it or it could lead to complications. After24 hours, your skin right now is in the reepithelialization phase. Applying another 20% TCA peelwould definitely interfere with the phases of wound healing.

Thankyou once again for the info! So many smart people on here!!

Im just freaking annoyed, i have no redness, no tightness, so soreness, no itchyness, no ANYTHING that usually comes with a peel. My 10% tca peel felt more uncomfortable than this!! Im hoping its because with the 10% peel i only used water afterwards and this time around im using bepantham. So now im itching to just put on another layer haha.. but i know better!

Using the bepantham will definitely affect the look and feel of your skin.  When I first started doing peels with my doctor, I started by doing just dry ice or "slush" peels to get my feet wet with the whole peeling process.  Dry-ice peels with moderate pressure, while stronger than a 30% TCA, are still considered a light peel so my doctor told me I didn't need to moisturize my skin at all.  When I look back at my photos from my dry-ice peels the crust that formed was so thick that it looked like I had an even stronger peel than the medium-depth peel I just completed two and a half months ago that combined dry ice and 35% TCA.  The extra care and moisture you are giving your skin right now is making it seem like the 10% was a stronger peel than the 20% but in reality, you are helping to ease the symptoms that are associated with the controlled burn you just gave your skin.  The 20% is still stronger but your aftercare has been more conducive to healing a burn.  Hope that makes sense  .

Thanks @UpliftingCatmakes sense for sure! I just dont feel like ive done a peel AT all haha! How long should i wait until going again do you think? If i knew the bepantham was going to work this well i would have gone the full 30% i reckon!

In an earlier post I talked about how my doctor will do 25% TCA peels at 2 week intervals in order to remodel the dermis.However, it shouldn'tbe disregarded that I see one of the most experienced peel doctors in the country who knows how to vary the strength of a 25% peel depending on the number of layers, the mode of application, and the pressure applied. For an inexperienced peeler, I would probably wait 3-4 weeks before doing another 20% peel probably airing on the side of caution and waiting 4.

I posted this in Quad's TCA thread but I will post here as well. Be careful with just using 30%. Please do a test spot in a small area, you can even do this now on a unpeeled location around your ear/ face. IT's a big jump between what you did as a peel and 30% with more risks. Many times people get bad peels at home not from the percentage, ... they did not use perfume free nail polish remover / acetone and have a bunch of Oil on their face preventing penetration. Some even do a Jessner or Salyi peel before the TCA so it goes deeper into the dermis, even lower percentages can give you a bigger resulting peel. The goal is not to have "white," the goal is to have a safe peel of what your skin can handle gradually and build up. One does not goto the gym and lift the heaviest weight the first time.

@beautifulambitionthankyou, thats all very helpful. I honestly have no intentions of layering, im no where near that point. I did with the 10% but like you said, only because it was a lower %. I felt much more 'burnt' with that than i do with this 20% peel ive just done. Im on day 3, face has constantly been left in bepantham.. and i feel like before i did the peel! I guess its a good sign though, it means i can attempt a 25% in a couple weeks time.

i read somewhere on here there was a guy doing 25% EVERY WEEK! And having success?! How is that even possible when as you said, it takes way longer than that to heal!

just adding on the acetone part.. for my 10% i used alcohol but for this 20% peel i used medi-swabs from the chemist to clean the skin.. do you think this made a difference?

Watch the videos above ;-P She even applies makeup after.

Yes go get acetone or nail polish remover. I do not find alcohol dissolves the greasy skin. Like I said you could even do a Salyi or Jessner or Glycolic pre TCA, this would break up the epidermis a bit and then do your TCA so it penetrates deeper even at 10% strength. See how it's not universal and one must do a small test spot and not throw it on. I would imagine whatever your did before to exfoliate and clean the skin was better. It's a PH thing as well, the acid layer protects our skin (not to be confused with a a peel). When we are peeling we are damaging our moisture barrier, acid layer, epidermis so it does a controlled burn into the dermis.

Regarding 25% Every week that is absolutely crazy. Use my analogy above. You scrape your knee, and you have a scab. What happens if you keep cutting it or taking off the scab or maybe you pick it off. You get the point. The body is extremely slow at healing, we want it to be this week and it can takes months. I put proper spacing between my procedures. So I can evaluate what's next. If you do a higher percentage peel you logically have more down time.

2 hours ago, beautifulambition said:

Watch the videos above ;-P She even applies makeup after.

Yes go get acetone or nail polish remover. I do not find alcohol dissolves the greasy skin. Like I said you could even do a Salyi or Jessner or Glycolic pre TCA, this would break up the epidermis a bit and then do your TCA so it penetrates deeper even at 10% strength. See how it's not universal and one must do a small test spot and not throw it on. I would imagine whatever your did before to exfoliate and clean the skin was better. It's a PH thing as well, the acid layer protects our skin (not to be confused with a a peel). When we are peeling we are damaging our moisture barrier, acid layer, epidermis so it does a controlled burn into the dermis.

Regarding 25% Every week that is absolutely crazy. Use my analogy above. You scrape your knee, and you have a scab. What happens if you keep cutting it or taking off the scab or maybe you pick it off. You get the point. The body is extremely slow at healing, we want it to be this week and it can takes months. I put proper spacing between my procedures. So I can evaluate what's next. If you do a higher percentage peel you logically have more down time.

i watched the videos, oh my looorrrddd i cant believe how much he applies! I could never go that crazy. Everyone talks about 25% like its not even a big deal but from what im seeing its definitely a big deal! I need to take the leap!!

i saw in the video he mentioned about how exfoliation wont occur as much if the face is kept moist, im worried that ive kept my face too moist now?!

Your skins gonna peel regardless,if you keep your face dry and no moisturiser without peel your face will exfoliate.ever look in a mirror after washing and what do you sometimes see?skin all dry and flaking?

keep your sking moisturised during peeling,look at my tca thread and thats exactly why we keep it moist or your  face cracks,it hurts and irritates and theres more chance of damage with dry peeling.

we want to aid healing and skin thats moist heals better.

@91babyDon't go off that video haha, I deleted it. He is using advanced techniques. I put it in there to show you can do another type of peel pre- tca to get further results at low TCA percentages. 25% is a big deal because you state you have thin sensitive skin. So if we overpeel or your body does not like it we did not test that it's ok (spot test). You can do a spot test by your ear on a tiny spot to check on unpealed skin now. I was trying to show you percentage is arbitrary, it's application. Hence the need for acetone, pre-peels, and percentages can vary the peel without layers.

You may be fine at 25/30% or more, just trying to keep you safe, harder to go back than forward. But now you know how to get a stronger peel at a lower percentage and not think it does not work.

Quad is right, I would allays keep my face moist pre - peel. We heal better with a wet wound. I think it has more to do with your application than moist or not. This is why I deleted his video as it's a bit advanced (he does this for a living) for most people. Doing multi-coat. You can do damage this way. But again he is doing all this craziness at 10% not 20%, which is a big difference.

@beautifulambitionthanks again, believe me, i take in EVERYTHING everyone says! But then i just do what i feel comfortable doing! I dont know why i said i have thin skin, i actually wouldnt have a clue.. its weird, i actually have quite big cheeks but thin skin? I dont know how to explain it. I dont think my 20% peel worked. Its day 4 and nothing.. not even dry! Actually feeling more moisturised than ever before?? (More on that below) - so i think im going to have to give it another go. Maybe im diluting too much subconsciously because im scared haha.. you have to remember, what i bought from muac was a sample bottle and it still cost around $90 aud for 30%!! Hence why i didn't buy the 100%.. but i will next time so i can dilute to 25%.

Guys, i just wanted to point out something I've noticed over the last couple of days. Using bepantham to keep my face moist has been a bit of a game changer. Each day ive woken up, my face looks and feels clearer. This stuff is amazing. I dont know what it is about it but im going to use it as a daily moisturiser from now on! Its bizarre, i thought something so sticky would clog me up or break me out but its done the opposite, its like its healing all the crap thats been sitting on my skin.. i dunno how to explain it.. any other peelers notice this with the antibacterial cream they've applied after peels?!

24 minutes ago, 91baby said:

@beautifulambition thanks again, believe me, i take in EVERYTHING everyone says! But then i just do what i feel comfortable doing! I dont know why i said i have thin skin, i actually wouldnt have a clue.. its weird, i actually have quite big cheeks but thin skin? I dont know how to explain it. I dont think my 20% peel worked. Its day 4 and nothing.. not even dry! Actually feeling more moisturised than ever before?? (More on that below) - so i think im going to have to give it another go. Maybe im diluting too much subconsciously because im scared haha.. you have to remember, what i bought from muac was a sample bottle and it still cost around $90 aud for 30%!! Hence why i didn't buy the 100%.. but i will next time so i can dilute to 25%.

Guys, i just wanted to point out something I've noticed over the last couple of days. Using bepantham to keep my face moist has been a bit of a game changer. Each day ive woken up, my face looks and feels clearer. This stuff is amazing. I dont know what it is about it but im going to use it as a daily moisturiser from now on! Its bizarre, i thought something so sticky would clog me up or break me out but its done the opposite, its like its healing all the crap thats been sitting on my skin.. i dunno how to explain it.. any other peelers notice this with the antibacterial cream they've applied after peels?!

Hello- I think the reason your skin looks better with the bepantham is because it is an emollient  this means it will trap any moisture into your skin, keeping it "supple." You could also use something like aquaphor or vaseline for moisturizing if they're cheaper!! When I started putting aquaphor on my face recently, my worst breakout cleared up a lot and a lot of the flakiness disappeared (I'm on accutane so my skin is still kinda dry but it is MUCH better!!!) 

@beautifulambitioni was just after your thoughts on tca cross for my type of scarring? Is this method purely for ice pick that youre aware of? Have seen some great results on icepicks is all.

Thanks in advance !!!

@91babyDo me a favor, take a picture, with a flashlight, making shadows on your scars (directional lighting).

I don't recall any icepicks. TCA Cross is just for icepicks and ""tiny"" box cars that are well defined (border is around the whole thing. It does not work on rolling scars or bigger box cars. I recall you having the last 2 types. As such you don't want to be peeling at that high of treatment for spot peeling. I recall your cheeks being of main concern and spread out (textural) needing spot peels.

Oh yes, before when I replied back about your saying "thin skin," many girls have this, they have thinner skin and more fat in the cheeks than males who's skin is thicker, tougher, and hardened a bit for outdoor labor historically. As such a male can get away with a stronger peel and a female may not be able to. Females want fuller cheeks and this can push outs scars as well (dispersing filler under the cheeks) to give that fuller look. But peels will help. Quad did a 40% TCA recently (after doing many peels) and it will take a long time for the redness to fade on the spot, take a look at his post. I would try 25-30% next (of course after you spot test by the cheek on a small area, you can do this now), for your test use the nail polish remover acetone and then you can try that percentage next.

For the next full peelI would use Gauze (wring it out - gloves), harder strokes (with the finger) in the middle and feather outward (less pressure lifting up as you go to the border of your peel). When you hit 35% you can think about doing more layers for the peel or doing a pre-peel first and then doing the 35%, after a fully successful 35%. One step at a time what are we at now 25-27% 😉

1 hour ago, beautifulambition said:

@91babyDo me a favor, take a picture, with a flashlight, making shadows on your scars (directional lighting).

I don't recall any icepicks. TCA Cross is just for icepicks and ""tiny"" box cars that are well defined (border is around the whole thing. It does not work on rolling scars or bigger box cars. I recall you having the last 2 types. As such you don't want to be peeling at that high of treatment for spot peeling. I recall your cheeks being of main concern and spread out (textural) needing spot peels.

Oh yes, before when I replied back about your saying "thin skin," many girls have this, they have thinner skin and more fat in the cheeks than males who's skin is thicker, tougher, and hardened a bit for outdoor labor historically. As such a male can get away with a stronger peel and a female may not be able to. Females want fuller cheeks and this can push outs scars as well (dispersing filler under the cheeks) to give that fuller look. But peels will help. Quad did a 40% TCA recently (after doing many peels) and it will take a long time for the redness to fade on the spot, take a look at his post. I would try 25-30% next (of course after you spot test by the cheek on a small area, you can do this now), for your test use the nail polish remover acetone and then you can try that percentage next.

For the next full peelI would use Gauze (wring it out - gloves), harder strokes (with the finger) in the middle and feather outward (less pressure lifting up as you go to the border of your peel). When you hit 35% you can think about doing more layers for the peel or doing a pre-peel first and then doing the 35%, after a fully successful 35%. One step at a time what are we at now 25-27% 😉

thanks for replying! I dont have icepicks i dont believe and if i do they are so minimal and i couldn't care less about them. What struck my attention was my doc saying she would use 70% on 'any residual scars' ? I thought she must mean she was going to tca cross my boxcar scarring or something? Its a pity its not a method for my type of scarring i could spot treat each scar slowly and still be able to leave the house!

i will grab some acetone this week and do a test patch at 30%. I have no idea how to dilute to 25% and i dont want to risk diluting too much (that may have been what happened with my 20% because my scarred skin had NO dryness or peeling or redness.. only the nom scarred skin flaked a bit!!)

I tried to book in for subcision but they said I'd need an assessment as they don't just agree to treatments on request. It's the same place I had CO2 which did nothing, hope they don't push it again and do agree to subcision...

@91babyDoctors can do higher percentages as peels. Does your doctors have lots of experience with peels? Maybe you can goto one treatment of 70% and see what she does 😉

@unbreakable1Goto one assessment, and don't agree if they won't do it. They sound like a CO2 Dr, goto a different one if need be, Chu is in the UK and does subcision.

@beautifulambition her email read: 'i can use 70% on any residual scars then use 30% for a full face peel' so i dont think she was gunna do a full 70%.. i dont think i would be ok with that anyway haha..! Her surgery doesnt advertise doing peels, thats why i cancelled my appointment!

@unbreakable1 be persistent!!! Just say straight away you have NO interest in lasers. I said that straight away to my doc and she hasnt mentioned them since!

Ok so this might sound a little strange but i actually feel as though the peel helped even though i didnt physically peel? Mostly the right side, everything is feeling a lot more shallow? I dunno! 

might just be my mind playing tricks on me.. will be attempting another peel soon

(ps the peel must have broke me out my left side is a mess at the moment! It may be taking away from me seeing any inprovement like i have with the right side hence why no pics lol)

It's looking really good!