Peel: True or False

So, I'm on day 3 after my Vi facial peel treatment and I know for sure why they call it a "peel." I thought it would fun to do a little "true or false" telling regarding my experience.

1. The sloughing of the skin will begin on day 3 following the application of the peel. FALSE. I woke up yesterday morning, about 36 hours after my peel and noticed that I had dead skin beginning to slough off of my chin. When I washed my face and applied the moisturizer, more skin rolled off as my fingers glided over my chin.

2. The peeling is similar to that of a sunburn peel. TRUE. It doesn't hurt, but the layers of dead skin coming off are similar to when the skin sheds after a sunburn.

3. You should moisturize the skin frequently during the sloughing process. TRUE. My face does feel pretty dry on the dead patches. Moisturizing helps this feel better, but also causes the dead stuff to roll off more quickly.

4. You should schedule your peel so that you can stay home and out of public view on the sloughing days. TRICK QUESTION. True, that would be ideal. But in my case, the reality has been FALSE. Yesterday, Mike had knee surgery so I was in the hospital waiting room all day, trying to keep my head down in my laptop, so as to minimize the number of people who actually could see that my face was shedding like snakeskin. I don't know why I tried to hide it because by the end of the day, I'd been at the hospital, at the drugstore, at Target and at Charlie's basketball practice. And as much as I'd hoped to be a hermit today, I've been back to basketball practice, to the post office and back to Target.

5. You should not pick at the skin falling off your face. TRUE. Although, I'm kind of failing at that. I'm trying really hard not to pick, but I'm the kid who loved to pick dried glue off the Elmer's bottle in grade school. Old habits die hard.

6. You should not commit murder or any other investigatable crime while your skin is shedding from your Vi Peel. TRUE. If you feel like you want to knock off someone, wait until after all the sloughing of the skin is finished. Because let me tell you, there is so much DNA falling off my face now, I'd be convicted faster than you can say "life without parole."

7. You should have a colorful explanation for people who stare and ask what happened to your face. TRUE. In my case, I had a tragic s'mores accident, when I got too close to the bonfire to check my marshmallow. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

8. No pain, no gain. TRUE. Actually, that's a little misleading. This is an UGLY process, but not a painful one. But the skin that's emerging from under all this ugliness is bright and soft as a baby's bottom. And it smells better than a baby's butt, too. Having said that, I do hope to have my "new" face front and center in time for work on Monday.

I promised you pics, so for those with strong stomachs, here they are:

Early peel:

In full peel:

Close up on the cheek:

Bet you can't wait to run right out and get a facial peel of your own, huh?

About face

I got a call last week from a doctor's office saying that they were participating in the American Heart Association Better U program and they wanted to schedule me for my consult. Ok. I was expecting the call. But what I wasn't expecting was a call from a plastic surgeon's office.

Whoa! Hold the phone people. I didn't agree to have anything cut off, nipped or tucked! As the person on the phone went on, I understood that this plastic surgeon also runs a skin and laser center. They are offering skin treatments to the five Better U women and will also be doing our makeup for the luncheon and fashion show in February.

So I made my appointment for the consultation and showed up at Phases last Wednesday night. I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive. I don't really like people touching my face. I remember when I was a kid, I saw a bumper sticker that said "If youa toucha my car, I'lla breaka your face." I'm more of the "If youa toucha my face, I'lla breaka your car" variety.

But, I decided to be adventurous. All this skin care service is free, so why not give it a shot? The people in the office could not have been nicer. Elissa, my aesthetician (that's fancy for "face gal") washed my face with some yummy smelling orange stuff and wrapped a warm towel under my chin and around my cheeks. I would have been happy for it all to end right there. It was so cozy, I could have fallen asleep!

However, Elissa had something else in mind. She trotted me out to her magic mirror -- aka the Visia camera -- that takes a picture of your skin and shows all the ugly truths. Sun damage lurking beneath the surface? Got it - plenty of it. Bacteria? Yep, that too. But I'm happy to say that I'm not too bad in the wrinkles department.

After facing the music of the Visia, Elissa took me to another room to photograph me, up close and personal like. Let's just say those pics will not end up in the family Christmas card. Hair pulled back, exposing all the white that is growing from my roots. No makeup and plenty of zoom on the the scars left over from the chicken pox when I was 13.

Back in the comfort of the room with the yummy orange face wash, Elissa explained to me all the stages of skin restoration. Her goal for me before the Go Red for Women luncheon in February is to remove some of that sun damage and give my face a renewed and more youthful glow. For a woman bumping up against 40, that doesn't sound like a bad thing.

So, I agreed to a series of three VI peels, one each month in November, December and January. Elissa swore to me that this will not hurt. I believe "tingling" is the word she used. But she did caution me that on day 3 after the peel, I won't want to go out in public much because that's the day that the "peel" part kicks into high gear.

As in my face will start shedding. "Molting," is what Elissa said. Like a snake. In fact, I got a pretty good visual when she said that if I have a big piece of skin hanging off my face, I shouldn't pull it, but should trim it with scissors.

And this is all supposed to help my heart, how? Ha ha! But I'm game. This Better U challenge is my time and if that time ends up helping me look a little prettier in the process, I won't argue with that.

My first peel is scheduled for this Wednesday. You know I'll be back here to dish about it -- and to share pictures of me as the amazing skin-losing lizard lady!