Hi guys! I’m going a little bit out of the box on this post, but I really wanted to share on something that I think you might enjoy – a skincare video! And be forewarned, I am NOT a vlogger nor do I want to be, so this is nothing fancy at all, I made zero effort to make the video look good, I just wanted to share the process of one of my fave new beauty treatments, the VI Peel.

I go regularly to the dermatologist, and I’ve had lots of things done, my goal is to not have to have a facelift but rather sort of keep things up as I go, mainly I don’t want to take painkillers if that makes sense at all, so anything I can do to avoid really heavy-duty surgical stuff, I try to do. I’d been having dermaplaning with mini-peels, and the aesthetician suggested the VI Peel. I had my first one last January, and it. was. intense. I didn’t video it that time, but I swore that the next one I had, I would share a video of it so you guys could see. As I mentioned, I’m not a beauty blogger or vlogger, so the quality isn’t great however, I really just wanted to walk you through day by day what you can expect from the peel.

What is the VI Peel? You can read about the VI Peel on their website here, and it must be applied by a dermatologist or licensed aesthetician, this is not a DIY thing. It contains:

• Trichloroacetic Acid (TCA) – smooth’s deep scars and stimulates Collagen growth
• Retin-A – softens fine lines and moderate wrinkles
• Salicylic Acid – exfoliates the tissue and acts as an anti-inflammatory agent
• Phenol – treats deep lines and creases
• Vitamin C – an antioxidant used to brighten the skin

I actually go into a little more detail on the ingredients in the video because my husband is a medicinal chemist (and he absolutely hates the peel and thinks that it is insane to put acetic acid strengthened by 3 atoms of chlorine on your face lol) but he also told me on my 45th birthday that I look 45 so ha ha joke’s on him right?! I’m really kidding, he did tell me that but he’s my best friend and the love of my life so I let it slide! But you can google VI Peel in your area and it should be super easy to find a practitioner who applies it. I paid $200 for the whole thing. I’ve actually had lasers done as well, which were super painful and also expensive, I mean, not unbearable but pretty intense, so when the aesthetician told me the chemical peels work really well, I decided to give it a go!

The main thing I wanted to share with you was the timeline you can expect, and how uncomfortable it is. This one was a lot more mild, maybe because it was the second one, but just so you know, on my first one, I had it applied on a Wednesday and on Friday night, I woke up in the middle of night with my face itching and burning so much I had to take aspirin and Benadryl (both of which are fine to take and help the burning and itching). And then Saturday was the worst day, you really cannot go out in public. I had brown, crusty patches and I was just really uncomfortable, not unbearable, but like, I just felt icky. Sunday was slightly better and by Sunday night, most of the big patches had come off (you can cut the patches off with nail scissors, you cannot pull or pick at the skin, and you have to wear sunscreen). So if you work in an office and you time it on a Wednesday (it takes all of 5 minutes to apply), your worst days should be over the weekend, which is convenient.

By early the next week I was just flaky but the discomfort was gone and I could wear a little makeup to cover it up. The optimal results however are in 6 weeks, and I really noticed the results about a month later, I sit on the board of a non-profit and we meet 4 times a year; we pack a lot into these weekends and it can get pretty intense, so after a really busy weekend with back to back meetings, I got up on Sunday at like 5 a.m. to fly home, and I looked in the mirror and I was like, my gosh my skin looks amazing! And this was after a total of probably 10 hours of sleep over 3 days or so and I’m telling, you I glowed which is why I’m such a fan of the peel.

Also I just wanted to mention my super-simple makeup routine, I get compliments on my skin all the time, and while yeah I do fillers and peels and stuff, but I’m telling you, my super secret weapon is Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation agh, I swear by that stuff and it lasts forever! And then I do the Bare Minerals loose foundation (matte because I get shiny) over that, and a touch of highlighter and eyebrow pencil and that, my friends, is it. Click and purchase below!

Anyway, I love to talk about myself and my beauty hacks lol I apologize if this is boring, I try to do it in a straightforward way with a sense of levity I mean, really, in the grand scheme of things is this all so important?! But if you like it, or hate it, or have comments about your fave beauty hacks, I would truly love to hear about them, leave me a comment below!