The skinny on the TCA Chemical Peel

84 thoughts on “The skinny on the TCA Chemical Peel”

1. You skin did look great before the peel! Guess I’ll be working from home for a few days after the procedure. I really don’t care to molt in front of my co-workers! Day 5 looks good too!!

2. Just a little red from the acne cream but really everyone was commenting how great it looked before the peel. The first two days are not as bad as day 3 through 5 I think – that is when you start getting splotchy brown and peeling. Day 6 is much better. It’s weird – it’s not as bad as I thought, and I’m so comfortable having this peely face in front of people. A cute guy came by and had tea with me on Sunday morning and I didn’t even flinch that my skin was half peeling off my face. Whatyagonnado?

3. I’m on day three of 35% TCA and I’m wondering if my complextion will be even? I have the brown splotches and still swollen.

4. I’m fair skinned so on Day 3 my skin was totally brown, my face still swollen, and it was just starting to be itchy and peeling. But I was putting on Vaseline several times a day as well as a white cream that I forget what it was called – it was prescribed by the doctor – it was to keep the redness and swelling at bay – and so day three is impossible to tell anything other than you don’t want to be seen in public and you want to peel all that off your face. BUT DONT PEEL – let it peel naturally or you will be blotchy.

5. Did you find a big difference after you’ve done the peel ? Do you recommend it ?

6. I don’t know if I would do it again – the prep before the peel had my skin glowing but almost a little too much (like there was always this sheen about me), then after I’d say for the first couple of months there was this real look of freshness about my skin but now I’d say for all that it was, I’m not sure if I would do it again. Although my friend who is darker than me really benefitted from losing the blotchiness she had gotten from sun exposure. I’d say if you have decently good skin, don’t do it. If you have a lot of fine lines and blotchiness from years of sun exposure it can really help smooth that out.

7. Hey I just got a glycolic peel on my skin my skin black people skin so the it turned my skin into a big scabby looking thing I was wondering if thats normal and about 3 days after it started responding to the white hydrating cream stuff and stated peeling so I took of whatever was peeling now it looks all red and so light compared to my skin Im afraid its going stay like this what u think?

8. I used Vaseline and the white cream everyday after the peel and went through the very bad sunburn, dryskin scabby part, and then the peeling which took about three full days. After the peeling I kept using the white cream and the vaseline for about another two weeks. My skin was almost rawish pink and I protected it from the sun very well. Then after a month it was more normal like.

9. Thanks I started using Aloe Vera gel that day with the hydrating creme to encourage more hydration and almost all my skin turned to its normal colour now. I think I m going to go back to the docter to pick up more white hydrating creme though it just finished. I was so scared about what was gonna happen because people who didnt know what they were talking about told my skin would stay that colour under the peel which was actually a very pink colour on black people skin. Even at work my coworkers were asking me if I had a skin disease becasue of how it looked (They were the ones saying the 35% glycolic peel effect of pink would stay like that). Now its my two days off and since all my skin is almost normal colored I can show them glycolic peels can be done on black people too and that I don’t have a skin disease. ..Thanks so much again!

10. From what I understand about the darkness of skin is that the pigment is deep deep deep down so there is no way your skin would stay light but what it does do is even out how the sun and other elements have darkened the color on the first couple of layers. My skin is very pale but after it was pink and almost a little raw looking and now it is totally back to normal. Let me know how it looks in a couple of weeks.

11. Hi Rachel,

    I’m 44 and like everyone the signs of aging showed up overnight!!! LOL Your website / story was awesome, love the pics!!! I wanted to ask you what was the strength of the TCA peel you used and was this done professionaly or at home? I am doing alot of research before I try it….most likely at home kit. Thanks for your input. Helene

12. Hi Helene – don’t know the strength but it was done by a dermatologist in her office. There were several weeks of pre-application prep to get me to the point to be ready for the peel. I think there was once a week increasing of the glycol application – leaving it on my face time – and then I used a strong acne cream (I don’t have acne) called Lumax five nights a week, and Vitamin C cream the other two nights. By the time I went in for the peel, my face had been well prepped. Good luck. It burns like hell so you might want to have someone there with you – there was a big fan blowing on me to help me deal with it.

13. Well at that time my skin was looking like it was turning back into its orignal colour but now about 6 weeks looks like an acne scar or something now Im very upset with the result and am getting microdermabrasion to remove the scar effect

14. not sure what caused that – sorry you had to go through this procedure almost twice to get it right.

15. Hi Rachel, I’m not sure if you still check this but did the pink skin underneath the peel concern you at the time? I’m on my 5th day after my TCA peel and some of the skin underneath looks very pink although some of the other skin under the peel is only slightly pink or almost normal a normal color! Was your skin color slightly blotchy after the skin had peeled and did it take a while to even out? 🙁

16. Hi – yes my skin was sort of uneven, there were some spots that were pinker but all in all it evened out. I used a white cream that had a steroid in it plus a Vaseline coating every day which was to help with inflammation and unevenness. My skin was super pink to normal but by about a week and a half after there was an evenness to my skin tone except for nose and chin and cheeks that seemed uber rosy. Good luck!

17. I love the pictures! I’m prepping my skin now to do my peel on Sept. 4th. I’ll have 9 days off from work and I hope that it’s enough. I just had a lactic acid peel last week to take off a lot of the dead surface gunk and to thin the skin a little.

    *How bad did the peel burn?

18. I think I had more anticipatory anxiety about how bad it was going to burn. Yes it burned and the nurse held a fan on me but really it lasted only a few minutes and it was over. It burns just like when you get stung by a wasp that kind of deep burn feeling on your skin but it happens so quickly. The best thing to do is to just breathe and know that it will be over shortly – sort of like getting a shot – by the time you can really start feeling it, it is over.

    Good luck.

19. Hi,
    I would just like to thank you for your information and photos. I am thinking of having a
    tca peel and have been looking for hours for real photos and good advice. This site is fantastic!!
    My questions is this: My dermatologist said that once my face starts to peel, that I can scrub the dead skin off – but, others have said not to do this for it could cause scars. What was your experience with this and what did your dermatologist say.
    Again, THANKS FOR THE THIS SITE!!

20. A friend of mine with darker skin than me wanted to go to an event on about the third or fourth day after and she scrubbed her dead skin off. I wouldn’t do that. My skin is inordinately sensitive though. And it came in waves – there was one day when my skin had all turned a brown color, then the upper half peeled but not the lower. If you have some big pieces of dead skin hanging, it’s okay to gently tug them off but really your face should all peel naturally. And towards the end using a gentle scrub with a wash cloth – but you’ll find your skin is so sensitive at this point that you don’t want to irritate it further.

    Even now that I occasionally use the acne cream that the derm prescribed me as a pre treatment, I find around my nose and lips my skin peels and gets real sensitive.

    Good luck. I’m glad I did it and my skin definitely looked great afterwards. Make sure you put the two creams on – the white one which I think is a steroid and the vaseline – I mean coat your face. For a week you’ll hate your hair which will be oil from all this stuff and that white stuff gets on everything – so just sleep on a pillowcase you can wash, and careful with clothes and collars.

21. I have been thinking about doing this for a few years. I have age spots ( age 47 ex sun worshiper ) and I used glycolic peels at 50%, copper peptides etc with no luck ridding myself of them. I think this after my research could work. Thanks for posting the daily pics that was really helpful in knowing what to expect from day to day.

22. If you are an ex sunworshiper then you have the most to benefit from something like this and your age is right on cue. I’m noticing now how the fine lines that it erased have all come back with a vengeance and I’d love to do it again but have a little to much going on right now to have a down week. Good luck. Let me know how it goes for you.

23. I take it then the benefits of the peel is not long lasting? I am sure it will take at least monthy treatments. I am going to use the lesser strength of the solution a 12.5%. That’s when I can get the nerve!

24. The peel lasted in the sense that you do shed that upper layer of skin and it does erase the fine lines – now it’s been two years though so I have been noticing the fine lines but then again I also hit 50 this year so maybe I just notice a lot of lines! I think it is an excellent and permanent way to get rid of sun damage and to rejuvenate. My derm said she does it every year – I wouldn’t do it every year. A friend of mine does it ever couple of years. You aren’t going to get the sun damage skin back but that baby skin does because adult skin after six months. But that’s a good thing – you can’t go around with that tender skin.

25. If it takes off 5 years it will be worth it. At first I am going to just spot treat the age spots and decided from there if I will do an all over. I have crows feet now of course you can only really see them when I smile. I wanted to tell you your skin looked wonderful BEFORE the peel. I regret my sun worship now. But ah it is too late…….thanks again for the day to day photos really does look like I did a few times when I forgot my sunscreen on a fishing trip

26. Thanks – I had good skin all my life but must say from about 46 onward it has been wrinkle city because I never did have oily skin (which I think holds up better in old age). I think the peel is worth it particularly if you have the spots – my friend has darker pigment than me and had sun spots and really the even-ness of her skin prevails even today and she did her peel around the same time as me. Good luck and let me know.

27. I just spot treated my 2 brown spots. I put on one layer on the spot waited 5 minutes and put on another layer and waited 5 more min. Today is day three and the spots are slightly pink and the skin there appears slightly crinkly. I have one of the lowest % solutions and I am thinking my tough old hide needed something stronger. I was wondering how yours was applied to your skin. Was a Q-tip used or a brush? It felt like there was not enough solution going on my skin. It seemed to evaporate very quickly. If I don’t notice any peeling by Sunday I will probably do it again. Perhaps even doing my entire face as this appears to be a very week solution for my skin but I can layer it and make it stronger.

28. First of all it was a process. Before I went into get the peel, I went about two months of prep which was every day using a glycol wash and then at night applying either a Vitamin C cream or a prescribed acne cream – both had the effect over time of making my skin look better, brighter. Then I went in every couple of weeks and they would apply a glycolic that was stronger and stronger – applying it with a q-tip type swab all over my face and leaving it on longer and longer – seconds to mins. Then on the day, they applied the peel with a swab, had a fan on my face, and did it very quickly, applying all over and then reapplying as they saw fit – this was all happening very very fast and the burn intensified in seconds. Afterwards I felt a severe tightness but no more burn and then it started to feel as if I had a sunburn over the next 24 to 48 hours.

29. I just had a chemical peel and I used your photos as guidelines for what to expect.

    I’m 21 and I just did it for mild acne scars. It was a Vitalize Peel and it burned like a swarm of bees and I needed fanning. It peeled quite quickly and I did my best not to pick at it. Now it’s really smooth but it feels a bit… raw? Like a slight sun burn and a little dry.

    Will this go away? The redness definitely came down. Can you use any moisturizer?

30. I used a white cream the doctor prescribed for a while after that had a steroid in it to keep down the swelling and redness and once I finished with vaseline every day, I moved to a moisturizer. But make sure you have sunscreen on your face when you go outside – your skin is raw and like a baby’s skin for a while, you have to be very careful not to get sun. So moisturize, protect your skin from the sun, and the tenderness will go away with time. I think once I peeled completely my skin felt raw for a few weeks after but then that sensation dissipated. But I would say for months afterwards, i still felt the need to protect my face from the sun.

31. Is it supposed to sting when you use a moisturizer? Not sting, but feel a little ‘zing.’? I’m using a moisturizer with SPF 30.

32. maybe put a moisturizer under that? I don’t recall exactly but I use Olay with SPF but not the 30 one, the 15 one. Maybe try putting on a good moisturizer under and then your SPF one on top?

33. The first peel on my spots did lighten them but I am in the process now of doing it a second time this time with 3 layers. I did it last night. Hopefully soon I will be rid of them! However I may have to use a stronger solution if this does not do it.

34. Good luck.

35. Thank you for the great detail. It’s great to read first-hand experience. How did you initiate this? Did you ask your dermatologist or did she/he suggest it? I’ve only been to a dermatologist once and it wasn’t for cosmetic reasons (it was to remove a mole). How did you start the process? Just call your derm and request a TCA peel? Presumably this is not covered by insurance. Can you give us a rough cost estimate for the whole treatment (bi-monthly glycolic peels -> tca peel) costs? Also, was the Vitamin C cream a prescription or OTC? I might just start w/a OTC vitamin C cream and 12.5% AHA cream…

36. A friend of mine had had it so I contacted a derm here that I knew was good and she said she did one once a year – which I think is a lot but my friend had had two in three years. Insurance paid nothing for it. And it was a series of visits that began with her prepping the skin by putting glycolic acid on for a few second and then going back and building up a tolerance to it and also at the same time using TriLuma (acne prescription cream) twice a week and Vitamin C (from a friend who does skin care, but have seen over the counter at specialty hair/skin salons) the other nights. By the time I went in my face looked shiny because I had removed probably the first layer or two. The total cost was $500 but the TriLuma cream is about $100 a tube. Good luck.

37. do you have anything to do with Anais?

38. I had a TCA peel 6 weeks ago that cost $1,500. I am dark red on the forehead, chin and nose. I do not see any benefits of skin tightness at all. I don’t know how to approach the plastic surgeon about a refund. help?.

    you look fantastic!

39. by six weeks you should be through with most of this. There is the immediate tightness when the acid burns the skin and makes you feel like you have a sunburn and then there is the discoloration as the skin ages and then there is the pulling away and peeling. Afterwards depending on your skin – I stayed very rosy or pinkish for about a month – my chin, my nose – and the big thing is to stay out of the sun because you have raw skin that will easily burn. But dark red – I’d go back to him and see what is going on. One thing my doctor prescribed was a steroid cream that I used religiously with vaseline afterwards – it was supposed to control the redness. Maybe you could use that cream now.

40. Hi, I am considering a TCA peel as i’m 32 but have suffered for many years with very crepey skin under my eyes and have deep wrikes there now and crow feet.

    I just wanted to ask if you noticed much improvement in the eye are.

    Thanks, Lesley

41. I have fine lines around my eyes and mouth – and actually some deeper than fine and the peel definitely helped with them. But what I can tell you is that it is a one year fix, because I see all those lines back where they were now.

42. Rachel , im surprised the lines came back again, did you use sunscreen daily? what was your skincare regimen after the peel? Im thinking about doing at home tca of 15%, do you think is strong enough to give me a peel like yours?
    Thank you so much for posting the pics and for sharing your experience. Certainly this helped us a lot.

43. I totally used sunscreen and avoided the sun like the plague. My lines came back after a year – but I think by then I had just built all the stuff back up – hard to say. My derm said she does it to herself once a year. I have a friend who does it twice a year – for me, I think once was enough. Glad I did it, but not looking to do it again.

44. I totally used sunscreen and avoided the sun like the plague. My lines came back after a year – but I think by then I had just built all the stuff back up – hard to say. My derm said she does it to herself once a year. I have a friend who does it twice a year – for me, I think once was enough. Glad I did it, but not looking to do it again.

45. Rachel: Your pictures are worth a thousand words! I was going to do Fraxel Repair but due to the reported side effects and questionable safety issues, I’m now looking to TCA to address undereye crepe-paper wrinkles. Your experience of the wrinkling recurring after one year is normal since TCA is a temporary fix, not a permanent fix like w/lasers. Fact is, getting a year from a first time TCA peel is beyond average from what I’m reading.
    One question though–you say you probably wouldn’t do it again. Is that because it’s just not worth all the hassle? Tx

46. Now a few years away from the peel I wonder if I wouldn’t do it again but not right now. The derm I went to said she has it done every year, and a friend told me she does it every other year but I still feel like the American woman’s routine is so invasive – we’re told to use the glycol daily, if not twice daily, to use the acne cream for a deeper sloughing, and then to do these peels – European women just use water and moisturizer and they have beautiful skin. So my initial reasons for not doing it again maybe still apply and that’s it took a week that I couldn’t leave the house, afterwards it was about two to three months that I was super sensitive to the sun (I have very fair skin) and so I got a good six months to a year of less visible wrinkles but in the end was it worth it? Hard to say, I might reconsider but for now I’m just living with the wrinkles and trying new products all the time. Right now I’m using a serum and the night cream from Kiehl’s, which is remarkably in expensive even compared to the more expensive Olay products – usually I’m an Olay girl.

47. Hello. I am on day 1 after my 30% TCA PEEL. My doctor (whom I work for) started me with a 15% glycolic peel first. After that he did the 30% TCA. Wow wee…even with 6 nerve blocks in my face it was uncomfortable. The fan helped the most with the discomfort. No pain afterwards what so ever. I am washing several times a day with vinegar and distilled water and applying Aquaphor multiple times a day. I know it is day 1 but i noticed part of my skin turn whitish and start to flake…isn’t it to soon for this?

48. I don’t think it is too soon but I was applying vaseline by the jar full as well as that white cream that kept the swelling down. It’s been so long I can’t remember what the white cream was called but vinegar and water seems a little harsh since I use that as a cleanser.

49. Thank you so much for the pictures and insight. I had 5 Fraxel treatments and am happy with the results but it did not get rid of the big brown sun damage spot that I initially went in for. I am considering a TCA Peel but was not finding any “during” pictures on the internet. I’m thinking of an upper eyelid tuck at the same time. Thanks again for documenting your procedure. It has been a tremendous help.

50. Definitely think the TCA will get rid of the sun spot. Glad the sight helped.

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