Trichloroacetic Acid Solution TCA 20% Chemical Skin Peel (1 Ounce)

I have done exhaustive research on TCA peels and decided I was ready to try my first peel. I purchased this particular TCA peel to begin with. I have glycolic peels in the past. I am a 34 year old red head with extremely sensitive skin. I have been battling adult onset acne for the past few years. And because I was using makeup that helped to prevent acne, it actually dried my skin up to the point where it damaged the skin on my forehead and caused me to wrinkle a bit. So correcting this damage is my main goal. I should also mention that I cannot be out in the sun already, so sun damage is not a factor with my skin... I have never tanned. I've been on a medicine that causes me to burn badly if I am out in the sun for more than a couple of minutes... so I have just never done so. So staying out of the sun during the course of the peel isn't a big deal for me at all. I have heard from others who have done the peel to stay out of the sun at any cost... including indirect sunlight. So I am wearing sunscreen on my face just in case the some light from the window could cause a problem.I had my husband help me with my peel. I think it's a good idea to have someone with you just in case you don't react well to the peel and need some assistance. He even did his own glycolic peel at the same time, so it was like a party. :-) That party ended pretty quickly for me though! First I washed my face with a gentle cleanser, dried my face then used cotton balls soaked in alcohol to clean my face off until I saw nothing on the cotton ball at all. This took a couple of cotton balls because I wear make up daily. Then I allowed my face to dry completely. I did not dilute the TCA solution, I used it straight out of the bottle. First I used a cotton swab dipped in TCA and went over the wrinkles that were on my forehead. The burning started within seconds and became quite terrible. The intensity of the burning increased every second! I quickly realized I didn't really have the time to go over every little area. So I used a cotton ball soaked in the solution all over my face and tried to cover it quickly as possible. Once the solution was on... I was pretty much freaking out. My face turned so red, like I had been burned very badly by the sun is what it looked like. I ended up jumping up and down and stomping my feet to distract myself from the pain. My husband turned on the fan and put it in front of my face. I thought this would help... it really didn't. Now I know this helps for others but I think my pain was just too intense to have an effect. I only last about 30-45 seconds before I had to get it off. I also frosted within about 10-15 seconds... So I used the neutralizer quickly, there were tears running down my face... I was a mess! HOWEVER... I feel that this is just because of the fact that I have sensitive skin. Now don't let my experience frighten you because I recently gave my mother a TCA peel of the same strength and it wasn't as nearly dramatic of an experience for her. So this really just depends on your skin. My mother was able to do two layers with five minutes between each layer. And she didn't get red like I did. A layer is when you cover your face in the solution... wait some time usually three to five minutes then cover your face all over again. I should also mention that you really don't even need neutralizer. I didn't know that at first. TCA will only be active for about five minutes. Then it will stop working. It's nice to have a neutralizer handy but you don't need to make a paste with baking soda. Just put a few tablespoons of baking soda in a big bowl of water. And mix it till the baking soda disappears. Keep this handy for when you are ready to get the TCA off your face. From doing my peel and then my mothers peel... I see that experiences just can really vary. But it's best to prepared for the worst.Now after the peel was done my face was red like that bad sunburn look for at least a day. Then I had these brown marks whenever I had gotten really good with that cotton swab. Once the redness had faded I was a bit worried cause my skin looked pretty normal other than those brown marks. I thought I might not peel. But boy was I wrong! It takes a few days for the acid to actually really work well. The browner the area was the longer it took to peel but it peel deeper than the other areas! So it really worked in my case. Currently I am at the last stage of peeling and my skin looks so good. I had a bit of acne under my chin and it's completely gone. I have also fought whiteheads for years and any signs of them are gone as well. I can't believe I don't have any whiteheads anymore. The wrinkles on my forehead have really softened. Think I will wait a couple of weeks and try again. This time I should be able to go longer than 30 seconds.Things I've learned: Wear latex gloves. If anyone is helping you make sure they are wearing gloves too. Just in case.Wash your face with a gentle cleaner (do not exfoliate).Follow that with a good wipe down with alcohol and cotton balls.Let your face dry completely before you apply the peel.It is better to buy the concentration you intend on using than attempting to mix it yourself. That way the peel is exactly the right percentage you want to use and the results will be consistent.Shake the bottle of TCA a little before applying.If you turn red instantly that means you're likely sensitive to TCA like I am. This is not a deal breaker. You will just need to use it quickly and remove it very fast. (as long as it's not an allergy, you can do a patch test to make sure you're not allergic)Frosting is when your skin turns white. Kind of like when you pour hydrogen peroxide over a wound... looks kinda like that. You want to keep the peel on until you see this at least. The more frosting... the better the peel.The first TCA peel is the worst and it's typically recommended that you only do it till you frost, most first peels are recommended to be between 30-60 seconds.TCA can be removed with plain old water... but if you mix a few tablespoons of baking soda in the water it will neutralize the acid faster.TCA will stop working at around five minutes, the burning will subside... at this point you can do another layer or just rinse your face.Every time you cover your face in TCA that is referred to as a layer. You can do up to three layers safely. Up to five minutes in between.After the peel the best thing I have found to use is Neosporin plus pain reliever... that stuff is a God send. Use it for a few days then change to Eucerin.Don't pick at the peeling skin... at least try not too. Sometimes you do it without even thinking. As long as you don't feel any pain, you're probably not causing any damage.If you are peeling in sheets and it's driving you crazy... you can cut the dead skin off with scissors. Just be careful... don't be an idiot.Use common sense! I know people still have that.I am getting a lot of my info straight from my momma's plastic surgeon who has done ton of these things.

I just did my first peel with this brand and strength and I can say it definitely burned lol. I couldnt even leave it on long enough to frost (just in a couple areas) but I'm in the middle of the peeling process and so far so good. Ive used a different brand at 15% and it seemed like it wasnt strong enough so I thought this would just be a tiny jump but I think it was a little more than tiny. For me anyway. Shipped on time (actually faster) and everything was in excellent condition. I'll update when the process has completed.

The shipping was okay. I gave this a one because it did not Frost it did not sting it did not burn it did not do anything at all to my skin I don't know if I got a bad batch or what happened but I was very disappointed with this 20% TCA peel. I've done pills before in the past lactic acid glycolic acid and just nurse pills and they all stung the Frosted they did what it supposed to do this did absolutely nothing I put it on and it was like putting water on my face there was no stinging no frosting no nothing I really think possibly got a bad batch but I am asking for a refund don't waste your $20 on this.

I bought this a few months ago and it was shipped right away. After years of spending thousands in peels, laser etc I decided to try this on my own. First time I tried this I washed my face, used rubbing alcohol on my face then applied just a drop with two q tips under my eyes. I did not peel much at all. (I didn't really frost either) 2nd time I used it was today. Tonight I prepped my skin with washing it, alcohol and then acetone. I applied the tca with two q tips generously soaked but excess removed. I frosted within seconds. I can tell I will get a great peel as my skin is a little tender. After I quit burning I applied Neosporin and my own mixture of hyaluronic acid I made. (so easy you should make your own Hyaluronic acid if you don't already!) I would recommend having a bowl of ice water to apply after you frost. I did not use a baking soda mixture the 2nd time. The first time I did and it stung worse than the peel! Ice water worked great this time around. I'm 44 and my skin looks really young from using peels over the years. In my opinion peels are so much less painful and less expensive than lasers. I had a Co2 laser that I spent 1000 on and honestly I don't think it worked near as well as my peels. I would recommend not starting out with a 20% TCA peel unless you have used these treatments before. Maybe start with the 12.5% until you are familiar with how your skin will react. There are many great instructional videos on you tube. I did not apply a second layer once I frosted.

I have used twice on my leg for age spots and wrinkly skin- left on 5 minutes both times and nothing happened maybe too low a percentage of tca for the area I am doing> did not frost at all and only very mild sting- was hoping for more

This product did exactly what it was supposed to do. As the weeks after go on my face is looking clearer and clearer. I'm gonna do another one soon. I had an issue with my first bottle and literally from first email from the time the replacement arrived was within 4 daysa d that was including a weekend in there.there customer service is amazing!!!

I used this after a bad case of hives that left alot of marks, especially on my face. It burned like crazy, but it worked a miracle on my face. I would recommend to anyone, just be careful. The company I used was awesome too, they where really quick.

This product worked well. I do not recommend if you are not an experienced peeler. I've used this product twice in 6 months and it has significantly lightened sunspots on my face.