Beginner steps in chemical peels…

I have always been self conscientious of my skin–so much so that at age 23 I actually went to a plastic surgeon to discuss laser techniques to resurface my skin. The plastic surgeon was very gracious. He told me that he had just performed the procedure on another patient. It had considerable down time. She had to take off five days from work. She told the plastic surgeon that the results were not worth the combination of the down time and the expense. The procedure cost a several thousand dollars at that time. I opted not to do the laser treatment. However, in the back of my mind I did consider that I might want a similar procedure down the road.

Fast forward thirteen years. Thirteen more years of problem skin. Thirteen years until I discovered Proactiv. Specifically thirteen years until I discovered the glycolic toner in Proactiv. I have been consistently pleased with the results from this glycolic toner. My skin has never looked better and I have contemplated if my skin could actually look better even if I opted for a pricey laser treatment.

I started researching current laser treatment options online. I found that some chemical peels had comparable results to laser treatments. This led me to researching chemical peels. I found that chemical peels tend to be cheaper and more easily accessible than laser treatments. Many spas offer chemical peels but do not offer laser treatments. I started to peruse through the skin treatment section on Sephora to see if any of the products caught my attention.

I decided to do a bit of research into the at home peel area for skin treatments. I have used Philosophy products in the past and decided to start reading reviews. The Microdelivery Peel received five stars from almost 1,500 women. With a rating like that from that many women, I definitely wanted to investigate the product.

A couple of reviews struck me. All of these reviews are from the Sephora.com website. The first was titled “Miraculous Results – 2.11.12″. The reviewer (who is somewhere around 50 years old) said that this peel was comparable to a peel gotten at a spa. Another reviewer at Sephora titled her post “Worth every penny – 11.25.11″. In her review she said sayonara to expensive spa facials. A third reviewer claimed “Professional Results – 6.27.11″. She had professional peels done by a doctor and in her opinion, this product was just as good. There are naysayers in the reviews…you can’t please everyone. However, the glowing positive reviews far outweighed the negative reviews.

According to the reviews you can get 12 uses of the 2 oz size if you use the product sparingly. However the product is listed at $68 a kit. The majority of the reviewers use this product regularly. Most of the reviewers use it once a week. A few use it every day and some use it several times a week.  For $68, I was not tempted to purchase it.

Yet, I wondered if I went to Ebates if I could obtain this product cheaper by getting cash back or if there was some promo code out there in cyber space just waiting for me to reduce the cost and tempt me. I did some searching and when I was able to reduce the price to $47.15 instead of $68, I decided to order it. The reduced price was a combination of a 20% off promo code from Beauty.com and 13% cash back from Ebates.

When the peel arrived, I followed the directions. I elected to massage crystals in alone and to continue to massage the crystals when I applied the activator. It was a very quick process. It took about 5 minutes in all. Then the moment of truth arrived when I washed off the mixture with a wash cloth. I was impressed. My skin looked better than it normally did with just using the glycolic acid toner from Proactiv. My skin looked so good that if I had this peel done at a salon I would have priced it at $75. I am not stating that this peel cost $75…or that I am willing to pay $75…just that the service would have been worth $75 in my opinion. My skin was radiant.

I wondered if the peel was a one shot wonder. If I used it again, would my skin really look that good again. Yep. A week later I used the peel and was equally impressed with the results. My skin glowed and was so, so, so soft. The next day when I went to apply blush, I still noticed the glow from the night before.

I am no longer considering any sort of profession chemical peels for the future. The Microdelivery Peel has satisfied my curiosity and enhanced my skin the way I would expect from an expensive in office or salon chemical peel. If I consider any sort of profession skin treatment in the future, it will be from a laser.

What is the most that you have paid for skin care? Did you obtain the results you desired?