Chemical Peel Experience

My experience with a VI Chemical Peel at Portland Plastic Surgery Group

CARE

Sam Livingston

Oct 21 2019 | min read

A VI facial peel at Portland Plastic Surgery group

Hello! Happy October to you. I hope you’re soaking up the crisp weather and admiring the changing colors wherever you are today. This month, I got a chemical peel for the first time in hopes of reducing redness and the appearance of acne scars around my mouth.

I’d always had a chemical peel on the backburner: I guess I didn’t jump at the chance to book one because the words “chemical” and “peel’ in sequence with each other don’t sound overly inviting or pleasant.

I kept hearing good things about them, though, so I did some research; clicked through some before and afters, saw the results that others were having… and bright, clear skin seemed to be the consistent outcome, so I decided to try it out!

I’m thankful to have partnered up with Portland Plastic Surgery Group to do their VI Facial Peel.

The first photo below is what my skin looks like amidst a breakout — difficult cysts that stick around for weeks. I had to get my skin to a place where it was clear enough to get a chemical peel done (you’re not a candidate with active acne.)

For me, this looked like eliminating alcohol and dairy for a few weeks and continuing my minimal intake of grains and upping my intake of fish and water.

The “Day 1” photo was taken after leaving my appointment with the treatment on my face. The peel itself only took about 15 minutes to apply: it was a series of different packaged cloths being wiped around my face, essentially.

The staff was super pleasant and accommodating and they sent me home with instructions for after-care, a couple of creams, wipes, cleansers, a sunscreen and an info sheet on when to apply each of them.

Day 1 — no makeup, leaving with the peel on: it has an orange tint

This was waking up the following morning. My skin felt sunburnt and stung throughout the night into the morning. One of the creams they sent me home with was an anti-itch cream, so that helped tons.

I was able to wear a light spf tinted cc cream on my face throughout the day, and my skin was just a little bit dry and started lightly peeling in the evening.

This is a good day to wrap up any errands you’ll need to do for the next 2 days or so. (Unless you don’t mind being in public with your face peeling off like a sheet big mask.)

I began peeling pretty heavily upon waking up — the peel began to take shape as a mask throughout the day, going up to my eyes and over my cheeks and nose.

It wasn’t fully peeling off until late in the evening (the lighting was no longer great), but I’d say it was about 5x the intensity of the above photo, covering my whole face.

Waking up the next day, I was still peeling. Moreso on the nose and around the sides of my face! Was able to continue on as usual with errands and getting together with friends.

Here, I’m wearing some tinted SPF for a day out at the apple orchard and was still peeling a little bit around the edges of my forehead and cheeks. It wasn’t overly noticeable at this point!

The immediate difference I’ve felt in my skin: it’s firmer, less oily, hasn’t broken out once, feels more glowy, scars are much lighter, makeup stays on all day, happier skin in general.

Everything has held up! My skin feels luminous for the first time in years and the lack of oiliness has really shocked me. I didn’t think that the peel would make that huge a difference for me as most facials and products never quite deliver what they say they will, but I’m incredibly happy with the results.

I did the peel about a month before my wedding and I’d highly recommend the same for those looking to clear up their skin before an important event. :) Be sure to book with Portland Plastic Surgery Group for all of your facial needs this Fall and Winter! And leave me a note if you have any questions about the peel.

This post is sponsored by Portland Plastic Surgery Group but all opinions are my own.