Yesterday was a learning day for this chemical-peel newbie. Before I get into what I look like at the 84 hour mark, let me share with you, the lessons I learned in hours 60-72.
1. If you must rake your roof to remove some of the snow, be prepared for the combination of blistering cold and snow that blows back on your face to sting. In fact, be prepared for feeling like you instantly obtained the mother of all chapped faces.
2. Don't watch Season 4, episode 5 of Friday Night Lights. Unless you're a cyborg, you are going to cry. CRYING REALLY HURTS. It hurts worse than snow-blowback.
3. And finally, never, ever wear one of these.
Loxy felt bad for how much my face hurt in the snow and decided he didn't want me to be in pain when we had to go our for the second round of shoveling. So he thoughtfully dug out his face masks from when he did the Alaska AIDS Vaccine Ride in 2000. At first, it felt nice - all warm and soft on my extremely tender skin. Then I started to breathe outside. Which means the face mask gets moist (I hate that word, too). And it gets cold. So now there is damp, cold piece of fabric pressed against my face. Like a trooper, I dealt with it for about 20 minutes, and then I came inside and collapsed. I almost considered taking ibuprofen at that point, but since I need to report on what it is like to go through this quasi-medical procedure, wimping out seemed like a cheat.
(Me at the 72 hour point.)
4. Anything you put on your face is going to hurt. My skin is super dry on a good day and with this going on, it is screaming for something to make it not be so ungodly dry. So instead of the SkinMedica cleanser I am supposed to use, I opted for Cetaphil, the most gentle cleanser ever made on the face of the earth (CereVe is also tied for #1)*. Even that hurt.
But what did make my skin feel wonderful was getting in the shower and allowing the steam to do it's job. I assume that it would not be a good thing to steam my face often (I have a doohickey for that, which I am tempted to use) as it would irritate my skin. But wow, that shower felt great. Then I got to do the thing where I gently roll my fingers over my skin and remove the peeling skin again. It made tons of little skin balls.
(This is me happy, showing off my skin balls. They may be hard to see, but there are tons of little white skin balls on my face. Click on the photo, you will be able to see them then.)
I know, it's gross. But honestly, for the past 4 days all I have talked about is how my skin is falling off, so I think we are past that by now. Anyway, taking a hot shower felt so fantastic that I actually got out of the shower for the second time having forgotten to rinse out my conditioner. What can I say? Skin balls are mind blowing.
I ended my day by succumbing and putting on a little Jan Marini Peptide Extreme. Somehow, that didn't hurt at all. Probably because my skin was all loose and open from the steam. My face still feels like it might crack if I smile, but it feels SO MUCH BETTER than it did before. Of course, now that I found that JMPE is the one thing that doesn't hurt, I am also out of it. And snowed in, so I can't go buy more.
(Double click on this photo if you really want to see just how much my face is peeling.)
Oh yeah- here is me at the 84 hour point when I woke up this morning. My chin was the first to peel and now the second layer of my chin is starting to go. Yeah! I wonder if La Papillon has any Peptide Extreme in stock and is open tomorrow? Surely I can leave my house tomorrow...
*Ranked scientifically and solely by me.
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Makeup, beauty, skincare reviews & more! Copyright 2010,Gouldylox Reviews. All Rights Reserved.
1. If you must rake your roof to remove some of the snow, be prepared for the combination of blistering cold and snow that blows back on your face to sting. In fact, be prepared for feeling like you instantly obtained the mother of all chapped faces.
2. Don't watch Season 4, episode 5 of Friday Night Lights. Unless you're a cyborg, you are going to cry. CRYING REALLY HURTS. It hurts worse than snow-blowback.3. And finally, never, ever wear one of these.
Loxy felt bad for how much my face hurt in the snow and decided he didn't want me to be in pain when we had to go our for the second round of shoveling. So he thoughtfully dug out his face masks from when he did the Alaska AIDS Vaccine Ride in 2000. At first, it felt nice - all warm and soft on my extremely tender skin. Then I started to breathe outside. Which means the face mask gets moist (I hate that word, too). And it gets cold. So now there is damp, cold piece of fabric pressed against my face. Like a trooper, I dealt with it for about 20 minutes, and then I came inside and collapsed. I almost considered taking ibuprofen at that point, but since I need to report on what it is like to go through this quasi-medical procedure, wimping out seemed like a cheat.
(Me at the 72 hour point.)
(This is me happy, showing off my skin balls. They may be hard to see, but there are tons of little white skin balls on my face. Click on the photo, you will be able to see them then.)I know, it's gross. But honestly, for the past 4 days all I have talked about is how my skin is falling off, so I think we are past that by now. Anyway, taking a hot shower felt so fantastic that I actually got out of the shower for the second time having forgotten to rinse out my conditioner. What can I say? Skin balls are mind blowing.
I ended my day by succumbing and putting on a little Jan Marini Peptide Extreme. Somehow, that didn't hurt at all. Probably because my skin was all loose and open from the steam. My face still feels like it might crack if I smile, but it feels SO MUCH BETTER than it did before. Of course, now that I found that JMPE is the one thing that doesn't hurt, I am also out of it. And snowed in, so I can't go buy more.
(Double click on this photo if you really want to see just how much my face is peeling.)*Ranked scientifically and solely by me.
Subscribe and never miss a thing! Disclosure/Disclaimer Statement.