She Did 3 Layers of TCA 30%?! (Do NOT Try This At Home)

Everybody has the potential to have a bad outcome. Yeah, she's got a good start, luckily. She has a safe start.

And obviously, since she's done this video, it's going to turn out all right.

Right.

So she got extremely, extremely lucky.

All right, we're doing something different today, Dora.

We are. We are going to talk about, and actually, we have a video screen here where we're going to review a couple of videos.

Right now, I'm noticing a trend on social media where people are diving into very strong TCEP peels without working up to that level. So we want to discuss that, kind of review a video here, and make some commentary as we go. And we also have our producer, Darren, who's over there.

He can pipe in.

Yeah, he can chime in now with his own microphone.

Darren, say hello to everybody.

Hey, I'm Darren.

You hear a gentleman's voice. That is the man behind the mic over there is Darren, and he is a big part of our podcast production here.

Yeah, so let's get to it.

Let's get to it.

“30% TCA is no joke. You've probably seen the pretty before-and-afters, but today, I'm showing you what most people never share: the frosting, the flaking, and the real recovery time on my own skin. This is not medical advice. The FDA and dermatologists caution that medium- to deep-peels like this one are severe and should be monitored. I'm just documenting my own journey so you can see the raw reality.”

So my problem with this right here, and why I wanted to do this, was that she's not giving advice. She's not telling you to do it.

But then the whole point is to lure you in with this TCA 30 peel, which we're obviously going to talk about.

They have a disclaimer, but it doesn't say anything about.

It doesn't stop you.

She doesn't say, I am an experienced peeler. I've been doing peels for a very long time. For all we know, this is her first go at it.

Obviously, we would never recommend that.

Well, I think the big thing just right off the bat is if you don't know anything about acids, and somebody goes, oh, “I'm going to do a 30% TCA peel.” It's strong, but you're like, what's not strong? 20%? You don't know.

They don't talk about the range. They don't talk about TCA's strength being determined by the number of layers applied or the volume of solution applied. You might go, well, “I did a 30% glycolic peel in the past, so this must be just a little bit stronger than that.”

But it's not. You're talking about one of the weakest peels versus one of the strongest peels. And I think that's where people get really lured into these tutorial videos out there, thinking like, “Oh, yeah, it's no big deal.”

But it is. It's a huge deal. It's a huge peel that we don't recommend.

Not a starter peel by any way, shape, or form. You would probably be doing peels for…

You'd be years in.

I was just going to say 18 months, plus maybe a bit more, to get to that point.

Right.

She does do some disclaimers throughout, but the premise, to me, is like…

She's not the only one. I mean, she's an example.

We're just picking on her because we know how dangerous it is.

Luckily, she has lighter skin, which is a thank goodness, but that's not even half of what she's going to do here. I mean, you could do that, and you could run into hypopigmentation, hyperpigmentation.

I don't care how long you've prepped. I don't care what you've done. Everybody has the potential to have a bad outcome.

Yeah, she's got a good start, luckily. She has a safe start. And obviously, since she's done this video, it's going to turn out all right.

Right.

So she got extremely, extremely lucky. Yeah.

I'm curious to see how many layers she applies to.

Yeah, let's see what she does.

“After using Melanotan 2 this summer, my skin, especially my face, picked up more sun, so it's time to remove it.

If you're new to TCA, it's crucial to start with 10% and proceed slowly. This is your face and body. Take care and build tolerance over time.

​This is not medical advice, but I'm sharing with you what I've observed over time as I've done these peels myself. 30% TCA peel is a medium-depth chemical peel. It penetrates deeper than lighter acids like glycolic or lactic, which means stronger…”

What are your guys' thoughts on that?

On the eyes.

Like, whoa.

It's a little... And if you think about it, like, obviously, in a medical facility, they may do like a 30, 35 is generally a percentage that they have in the medical facility. They could potentially do that, but you're talking about your eyes are going to swell.

Oh my God.

Terribly. And that's a doctor performing it, and I'm not saying she's not performing it safely.

You know, there are ways to do it, you know, without dripping and stuff. We talk about it and show you how to do a TCA eye peel. It's not that it can't be done, but I don't suggest it with this percentage.

No, we suggest a second.

Far too strong. Absolutely.

“But also longer downtime and greater risks. It can improve fine lines, uneven tone, texture, and sometimes acne scarring, but it carries risks of hyperpigmentation, scarring, and delayed healing. That's why I'm documenting this in real time.”

And more than that, in all honesty.

“So it allows you to grab TCA.”

Do what?

More than that, too, yeah.

It can cause hyperpigmentation, scarring, and hypopigmentation.

Yes.

Potentially, with a percentage like this, you could run into PIE.

Oh yeah. So, post-inflammatory erythema, which is like a prolonged redness.

Correct.

That's quite common when you're using an extremely strong peel like this.

Yeah, your skin can go into that shock. And when it goes into shock, to protect it, it's gonna purge melanin.

“Do not use fan brushes or droppers. If you've seen some estheticians attempt this, you'll understand why. It creates puddles, causes uneven penetration, and can lead to hyperpigmentation or scarring.”

That's some good advice right there. And that's solid advice that I appreciate at least her saying. We say clearly: never, never, never use a fan brush when you're applying a solution like TCA, which is volume-dependent.

Correct.

If you were to dip that, just like some of those pictures where it was just solid white, that's because it was too much. Because it's not just the percentage of TCA or how many layers of TCA you're applying; it's how wet the TCA is.

Because every little drop of liquid has to be processed by your skin, and if you've got a drippy wet layer, I mean, that could be equivalent to putting three, four, five layers on, not one layer. So never use that.

Mature peeling, you know, when the volume is too thick, could definitely create some issues.

Oh yeah, that skin is just dead in a huge area; it could come off. Again, nothing but troubles.

“Far more control. I'm applying three layers of 30% TCA with cotton gauze.”

Jeez, oh Pete, three layers, three layers.

I mean, like, we gotta talk about that. That's a no.

I had customers call.

Not even on your body?

Doing a body peel, okay. I had a customer who was doing her arms. I think she lived in like Hawaii, someplace where she was always in the sun.

She bought the sleeve things to put on when she was gardening and everything. She was gonna do 30, I talked her down to 20. She had called me back a month or so later and was like, “I am so glad I listened to you, because I could barely tolerate two layers of a 20.”

And she's like, it was just, you know, “my arms were on fire.” So like, I can't even imagine.

And your face.

That's just so not safe. I mean, when we talk about working up, like we talk about starting at either the, let's say, seven, and we want you to do, you know, one to two layers your first time. And then, every time you do a peel, you can add another layer.

So you could do three, four, or five layers, and you can do more than five. I don't wanna say five is the end. You may be more comfortable doing six, seven, or eight layers, and that's fine and safe, and go ahead.

You can do 10 layers if you want; it doesn't matter. Or at any point after five layers, you can go, you know, I'm gonna move to the next percentage. So, okay, you move to the 13 and now again, you start with one, maybe two layers, and add on.

So now we're talking, you know, now we're many months into this. You're doing, you know, maybe three, four, five layers, and you can go on, you know, maybe five, six, seven layers. You're not ready to move to the 20.

But you might be stuck at three or four layers for four or five peels. Because if you're frosting, that's a reason to stop. So some people will never make it past three, four layers of, you know, let's say a TCA 13.

If for some reason, you know, you work your way into TCA 20, we're talking years now, and you're five plus layers, five, six layers of 20, you are one of the very, very few people that could potentially do TCA 30. And here's where it differs. At one layer, you know what I mean? One layer.

We don't say go three, four, five layers once you hit TCA 30. You know, maybe if you've got a spot or a scar, that's different. I would never tell someone to apply more than one layer of TCA 30 to their face.

I don't care how long you have used, prepped, and worked up to this. If you're reaching that point and you want a stronger peel, it's time to see a doctor.

Right.

And then let them do a peel on you, or a phenyl peel, or a, you know, a laser, or something stronger.

I was just gonna say maybe a CO2 or something.

Do not do that by yourself.

“This video is documentation, not instruction. If you want the detailed step-by-step process, I've linked a video and blog where I explain more thoroughly.”

It's not an instruction, but if you want the detailed step-by-step.

It's not instruction, but here's a step-by-step on how to do it and where to buy it.

Yeah, that was one thing I noticed, like...

And here's my code so I can earn some affiliate commission on this.

Yeah, to push people into TCA 30.

And so she wanted to be responsible.

Yes.

She wanted to be responsible. She could demonstrate this with, you know, a 13 or a 10 or something like that. And explain and demonstrate how to apply it properly, using the layers, and get people on the right track.

I think it's very, very, I can't find the word, but like it's very uncaring at this point. Like you're just asking for troubles and people are going to have a whole bunch of trouble and problems with their skin because they're just going to go in and do this. They're going to look for TCA 30, and they'll find it.

We have a TCA 30. They're going to find it, put it on, and have a very bad experience.

The good thing is.

Hopefully, they get our email.

Any person who purchases TCA from Platinum Skincare will receive a public service announcement email that outlines the warnings and safety issues associated with applying it to their face.

Yeah, and it doesn't even matter if you bought a 30.

You could buy a TCA 7. You're going to get that same warning email that says, “If you bought 30, do not use it.” You know, under these circumstances, and here's why. And here's how to dilute it.

So if you do have a 30, you watched this young lady here, and you have a 30, you can dilute it into a much more manageable peel. We have videos and directions on how to do that that we can probably link in here. Very simple.

Turn it into a 15. Turn it into a 10. Do something that's much safer.

I think she does get into that, into the dilution.

That's good.

So she does have a lot of good advice in here.

She does. I'm not saying that there's no good advice.

I think the big risk is, don't think that this is not where you start. She's been peeling for a long time.

Probably many years. Clearly, 2016.

Yeah, if she handles it good.

But for a demonstration, why this extremity here?

Because technically, if you were, let's say, you were doing a five or six-layer TCA 20. If you're still getting sufficient peeling, your skin isn't ready for the 30.

Like if you're doing five, six, seven layers and you're not getting peeling with a TCA 20, then your skin is acclimated. You are ready to go. One layer of 30, off you go.

Yeah, that's an important thing to think about, like me, I did TCA 13 for some point. Now I do TCA seven. I'm like, I'm going the opposite way.

I don't like strong. I don't like the 20. I would rather do a milder one.

But as long as you're getting good flaking, good turnover, and your skin is looking good. Why the need to go through A, this extreme pain? Because that's painful.

Putting yourself at risk.

And the risk of unintended color changes in the skin, there's no need. Continue on with the lower percentage. I just, oh, no.

So obviously, if you've done a peel and it was too strong for you, tell us about it. Tell us about it in the comments below. Let us know what you did, what percent, and how many layers.

Give us a little bit of information about what you did. Or have you done peels before? Did you work up to this? Did you prep? Let us know a little bit about what you did. And then, like, if you had…

Your advice may help somebody else.

Yeah, good experience, bad experience. What did you learn from that? What are you doing now that's different? Like if it was a bad experience. But yeah, let us know.

“I'm not taking ibuprofen prior to. Instead, I'm going to let the swelling take its course because that's where that collagen synthesis activates. And that's what we want. Instead of smothering Aquaphor, I emulsify a little in my hands and pat it lightly on my face.”

I understand what she's talking about. Start at the very beginning, where she was talking about the inflammatory process.

Sure.

Like, that's the same thing if you're doing needling or getting injections. That is very true.

You don't want to reduce the inflammation. The inflammation does help if that's your goal. And especially with a strong peel like this, that's that.

But so, I mean, that's okay. I'm glad she's taking some appropriate precautions and using... Like, normally I'd be like, "you don't need any antibacterial spray," but maybe in her case you might.

Well, it has lidocaine in there.

And lidocaine's going to help with the pain.

I've had customers say, their face, if they mess up and do something similar to this accidentally. Their skin will burn for like, they might be emailing me two, three days later and saying, “my face is still on fire.”

You know? So it's like, maybe that lidocaine is needed at this point.

It may be needed at this point. And you can generally, I mean, we have lidocaine.

Ours is the 5%, which would be helpful. But you know, you're not supposed to slather lidocaine all over you all the time. You know, it's meant to be a short-term burst, like emergency burn care.

It's not something you can keep putting on every single day, you know? Cold water compresses.

“After applying three layers, it always takes my breath away. 30% is strong.”

I can imagine.

“You can see the white frost now. But in an hour, this fades into a pink sunburn-like look. Do you see it?”

What do you guys think about her frosting?

I just can't even imagine. I mean, I've had some light frosting in the past with just the 13. And I cannot even imagine.

Now, I've done the 30, but only with the cross. And that causes frosting. But I can't even imagine what that would feel like because I would never do it.

What did you see her? She was like, uh, gripping. Oh, yeah. She was gripping the air like, ah! There's just no.

Serious.

No.

No.

“To a pink sunburn-like look. TCA doesn't require neutralizing. But if you want the discomfort to end sooner, you can. And if you don't see frosting, don't worry. You'll still get an exfoliation. I've just noticed that if I don't frost, I won't finish the peel in 7 days. It typically lasts longer, and it flakes longer.

Well, it's at least 7 to 10 days, for sure.

And you don't want the skin to come off prematurely because that's when you can get the PIH, PIE.

Especially in a circumstance like this, you wanna keep that skin on as long as humanly possible.

Absolutely.

Like, if I were her, which I would never be, and I did these three layers of 30, I would have my face coated in Aquaphor.

Keep every little bit, just like if you did a phenol peel, every little bit of that, stay on until that, until your body is ready to push that skin off. And the longer you can keep it on, the better, because it's protecting. Once that comes off, you're gonna be pink, and that's when you're gonna run into all your issues.

Even cleansing is risky when you're doing that many layers.

Yeah.

You know, because a lot of skin comes off after cleansing.

Water, and like, let it air dry. Like, I wouldn't even want to use a towel.

Well, and that whole thing at the beginning where she's like, 'TCA's no longer available on Amazon,' I did check that, and it's true.

I was one of the complainers about that because I felt it was, and it's not even that…

This is the type of stuff that gets it on the radar of, like, people getting hurt, which we're gonna obviously show so badly.

They had things like TCA 50, TCA 80, and TCA 100% available on Amazon. Okay, so here's the thing.

We have a handful of peels on Amazon, too. Not a single TCA, not even the seven. Not a salicylic 25.

Like, I think we have salicylic 15, we have glycolic 30, mandelic 22, and 40. Nothing that I could even fathom that would hurt somebody that doesn't know anything, because when you're on Amazon, and Amazon feels the same way, they feel like any product that you're buying from here should be safe. Should be safe to the average person who knows nothing and has done no preparation.

I'm just gonna pick this up and put it on my face, and I should be fine. And TCA 50, 100, that's just so dangerous. And I wrote to them numerous times, saying, “This is so dangerous, you must get this off.”

And just, you know, nothing, never a response. I'm like, well, whatever.

eBay's a good one, too.

eBay, too. Yeah, people will buy from eBay. Like, nothing wrong with eBay, but it's terrifying what can be sold on eBay.

​Well, and think about it. You know, you don't know, it's not a, it may or may not be a company you're buying from.

It could potentially be a manufacturer.

Maybe.

But. Why are they selling on eBay, though?

Exactly, yeah. You would want to educate those customers for liability issues, not only for your own company, but for them, obviously.

They don't care. They just don't care.

“Just gonna take off my gloves and throw away all my supplies. So now I'll go to bed and sleep it off. And tomorrow would be hot yoga, but I'm going to skip it because I just did this peel and don't want any heat on my face. It's the same with the shower. I won't want to take a shower and have hot water on my face for the next day either.”

“Here's what my face looked like before I added the acid. It gets a lot of sun.

You can see freckles, dark spots, and even some elasma that has developed in my cheeks as I've gotten older. This is why I love doing these peels at the end of summer. I love to shed that summer skin.

Day one, tightness and shine. My skin feels tight and glossy, like plastic wrap. No peeling yet.

Day two, frosting aftermath. Today, my skin looks leathery and feels even tighter. No big flakes yet, but you can tell it's working beneath the surface.

Day three, first flakes. Here we go. Peeling starts around my mouth and chin.

I'm not picking, letting it come off naturally. Do not pick at peeling skin.”

At least she gives you advice there.

That's good advice. As I said, I would put layers of Aquaphor on here to keep every bit of that skin on. And no exaggerated movements either, because that will loosen the skin.

And that was the good, it was a very good thing to say, like she normally does her hot yoga or whatever. And you really wanna avoid anything that's gonna cause you to sweat until that skin is actively peeling, because what's gonna happen if it's not ready to come off and you get sweating? All that's gonna bubble. And it's not even just like, okay, the bubbling's gross, it's filled with sweat.

The problem is that it's pushing the skin off of you before it's ready to come off because the liquid is just swelling. And no, you can't pop it. You can't do anything.

You just have to let it reabsorb. And it looks really gross. And obviously, you're pushing that skin off early.

Anytime the skin's off early, you're now running the risk of hyperpigmentation.

They always pop it.

You're a female.

Oh yeah, you want that goo out.

They don't wanna go to work like that. They don't wanna go to the church, the bank, or wherever.

And they'll say, oh, I already popped it. And then now that skin's gonna come off prematurely, and then you're gonna have, like you said, that gooey stuff underneath, and it's just…

Oh yeah, so you definitely.

Recipe for disaster.

Definitely, just don't do any sweating exercise.

Little soon, too, three days?

Three days is pretty early. Three to five is average, right? But that's probably because it was just so aggressive. There are so many layers of dead skin right there, and they're all together and thick and ready to come off.

But just, yeah, you have to be so careful, no picking.

“Day four, peak peeling. This is the peak.

Sheets of skin are lifting, and it looks extreme. Hydration and SPF are completely critical right now.

Day five, softer skin appears.

Edge is still peeling, but I can see fresh, tender skin beneath. It's red and very sensitive.

Day six, most peeling has finished.

Just a few flakes left, mostly around the edges. The new surface looks brighter and smoother.

Day seven, final reveal.

Peeling is basically done. Here's the side-by-side.

Day zero…”

I mean, you can see some of her pigmentation has…

It's faded a little. There are two marks on the left that remain. Okay, even after a three-layer TCA 30.

So that's just telling you right there: overall, it's nice and fresh. But when you're doing peels, that pigmentation isn't just in the top layers. Pigmentation runs really, really deep, especially if she spent all summer, you know, and she's in the sun and all that kind of stuff.

Even that extreme peel didn't get those two spots, just the ones that I'm focusing on right now, off. It's a little bit lighter, but she might, and I don't recommend TCA 30. She can't do another TCA 30 peel for months now.

We're talking like four or five months before she can do another peel. So when she does another peel, you know, she's gonna wanna target that again. I would literally suggest that she use Jessner, you know, and probably do a couple layers of Jessner, maybe a couple layers of a milder TCA, like TCA 13, or maybe even 20 with her, you know, she might be okay with that.

And then she'll get a little bit more results without having to be so extreme. And of course, use like melanin inhibitors. I don't know what she's doing.

Somebody emailed her before-photo to me. I would have recommended Jessner. And then if she had said, you know, “I'm an advanced peeler,” you know, then I would have said, “Okay,” maybe two layers of Jessner, two layers of TCA 13, followed by maybe Dream Peel. If you are, you know, an advanced peeler, I feel she would have received similar results with a much safer treatment.

Yeah, possibly even better by adding the Jessner in there, because Jessner, has those ingredients that are good for pigmentation. There's the resorcinol in there that helps to lighten.

Maybe, maybe not, but so yeah, overall, yeah, definitely she looks, you know, brighter and smoother and all that kind of stuff. It looks good.

One thing I just thought of: did she ever talk about preparing with an inhibitor before?

She didn't.

I think she might get into it.

Okay, okay. Just curious.

I think you're hitting on the point that bugs me the most, is that, and I don't have anything against her. I mean, she's in control of her skin. I think that's great. And she knows she can do it. So she's obviously done this before.

Yes.

It's like one and done aspect. That's what it's like, to me, it's like she didn't do a series of eight peels. She's doing one peel and showcasing it. But it's really like, it's not a one-time thing.

Yeah, that's peel number one of your series. Now you gotta do about seven more.

Yeah, and you're not gonna be able to do, yeah, if you can't do another peel for two to three months because your skin is so, well, it's been hit so hard with an acid.

Right, you don't wanna interrupt that healing time because you're just gonna reset your skin back to…

Yeah, so even though she looks normal now, she looks like she's back to normal. Yeah, you can't do a peel again.

Your skin underneath is so busy right now, like that's not even a true after. The after is gonna be about, at least 90 days from now, it's gonna be a true after.

And that's only when the beginnings of things are happening. You know, the collagen stimulation and all that kind of stuff. Like, yeah, that's a quick before-and-after of an exfoliation process, but that's not actually the results of a TCA peel.

TCA is just, has its amazing powers to stimulate all that collagen and elastin. And that takes time for your body to grow now.

Yes.

You just triggered it. That's all you've done at this point.

Well, and the last one I thought was important is that, you know, instead of thinking that the TCA is gonna be this one-time change your life event, like look at Lacey's, we sent her transformation out last week, and this is no peel. This is just product transformation…

Just the prep products.

What was she using?

In 45 days.

What was she using?

She was using AB cleanser and toner.

Awesome.

Fade Bright, Regenerate, Vitamin C, and…

​Great regimen.

Vitamin B complex, sunscreen, right? And Fusion A, really.

Right, so she's on the regimen. And look at the difference when using just regimen products. She looks like she did five peels.

The difference between that picture and this picture is the same as a girl who did three layers of a TCA 30.

True.

I'm telling you, looking at a side-by-side picture, that, and that's not even a peel.

Yeah, the brightness, the glow that she has that everybody is looking for. Just smooth and just lovely. And she didn't even have to do a peel to do that.

Obviously, she's prepping, but nonetheless. But she was consistent.

She was consistent with her products.

She did it right.

Yep.

“Zero versus day seven.

My skin looks more even, smoother, and brighter, but it's still healing and very sensitive to light. SPF remains a must, and my sun shield for sure.”

SPF can even burn at this point.

Oh yeah.

“What would I do differently? I accidentally scotched my nose one night, leaving a little spot that took longer to heal than would be normal.

Oh, oh, oh. I just want to mention this. And we've had one customer who's been just adamant about erythema and PIE.

Yes.

And this is PIE right here. This red mark here is post-inflammatory erythema. And this can obviously happen.

Yes.

​Many reasons, numerous reasons. Like, okay, she could have gotten that whether she scratched her nose or not.

Yep.

Because it's a matter of, she did a really deep peel. A lot of skin was removed.

Yes.

And then now, you know, the blood is closer to the surface. It's pinker.

That skin is thinner.

Oh yeah.

And so, obviously, she did the peel and scratched herself.

You know, the same thing, if you were to like gouge something, hurt your knee, get it caught on something, that skin is ripped off.

Right.

That area will be red. It could be months.

Absolutely.

That might be red for six months or more.

Yeah.

And so what do you do for something like that? So, like, what I normally tell people to do is the most important thing: try to regenerate new skin to thicken that area. So use things that will help promote growth.

You can, I, a couple of things off, I would say exosomes, PDRN, epidermal growth factor, copper peptides, emu oil, like those are key things to help if you're running into post-inflammatory erythema or even just, you know, a red mark from, let's say, a wound or something like that. It's the same thing.

Sure.

You need to thicken that skin again. And I just wanted to throw that in there, you know.

This is why I wanted to talk about it, too, when you start looking up chemical peels gone wrong. Like he had to go get like third degree burn, like treatment at a hospital after doing a peel. And that's what we're trying to help people avoid.

And think about it. I get this email or phone call all the time or phone call, you know, I was too aggressive, and I think I burned my skin. Well, that is what a chemical peel is. It is a controlled chemical burn.

You're deliberately applying an acid to your skin to damage the top layers and force it to shed more quickly than it normally would.

Yeah, stimulate all new things.

Stimulate all that stuff.

So it's like, it always amazes me that, you know, we try to educate, but I don't feel like sometimes the concept is grasped. See what I mean?

It doesn't sink in.

Because it doesn't sink in that, yeah, you are burning your skin.

Even with, you know, it's a controlled.

Yeah, it's a mild burn.

Yeah, it's a controlled chemical burn.

And these people have suffered severe burns. Oh, yeah. But you know what? And I will say this too.

You know, the darker your skin is, the darker your Fitzpatrick is; it looks a thousand times more severe on her right here.

But that's also 75%.

Yeah, that's insanity. I'm reading that.

Oh my goodness.

But it's going to look, even if she did a salicylic 25, her face is gonna turn brown, and it's going to look like a quote-unquote burn, even when it's just that dead skin drying up, getting ready to go.

The darker your skin is, the more likely it is to turn dark and come off.

It's common.

​So it always looks more severe than it does on somebody with very, very light skin.

Wow.

But you know, my goodness, you have to be careful.

The pre-treatment is so important, you know, and I still don't feel like we've heard enough about it, like we've talked about in the past: when you're painting, your preparation for your room takes longer than the actual painting.

Yes.

Similar concept…

And they just want to scream ahead, you know, and then now you've ended up with trouble.

You have to suppress that melanin to dial that down. So if you do put on too many layers or use too strong an acid…

With that inflammation.

You know, if your skin wants to purge that melanin, it's going to be dialed down.

So it's not going to be as horrendous as it could have been.

It doesn't mean like, yeah, of all of these people, but you know, with these horrible afters, had actually been pre-treated with a melanin inhibitor. I guarantee you that, you know, their post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, like the dark marks that are remaining on their face, would probably be probably 50% less than they are now. I'm not guaranteeing that you're not going to get that, you know, and that's by using either alpha arbutin or hydroquinone. Those are the two best ways to reduce melanin in your skin.

Yep.

I'm not saying those are 100 percent because they're not, but they're greatly reduced. The chances bring you down to like, like somebody just like a normal level, like normal lighter skin level, but yikes.

We've had light skin individuals.

Yeah, I'm saying it can happen to them, too. Anybody could have it.

TCA 20, you know, maybe they're doing, you know, a lip or, you know, the smokers line lip around the mouth peel. Now maybe they've done 10 peels. All of a sudden, they do one, and now they get pigmentation…

Dark shadow, like, okay, stop.

Stop. Now you work on that for a couple of months till that is 100% gone. And then the next time you go back, you need to do something milder.

Yes.

Because that was just too much for you.

Yeah, yeah. For sure. So it can happen to anybody. Happen, it's a risk.

Yeah, well, so, you know, obviously, what the takeaway from this is, so we need to use milder percentages. We need to work our way up slowly and methodically.

Like this whole idea of like, you know, having the different levels of understanding what the S's are.

Yeah. Yes.

We have a great link video that I copied a lot, where it says, “Understanding how TCA works.”

It's a very good video because…

Yeah, just say like layers and stuff.

Yeah, and volume versus like, you know, volume and layers.

Yeah.

And it just explains more, like, why you're waiting those five minutes. You know, what's happening during those five minutes, why it's important, and why it's important to get an even layer and things like that.

Yes.

And obviously starting with the lower percentage and working your way up. And then only when you're putting like five, six layers on, that's when you're kind of equal to the next percentage up, and as you kind of slide into that.

Yeah.

And then start again slowly. But gotta be safe. If you're gonna peel, it's an absolutely amazing thing you can do at home that's gonna give you literal professional results and such benefits in the long run.

Yes.

But you have to be careful. You have to be serious and you cannot just go on the internet or TikTok or whatever and just look at somebody else and think that you're just, you can just do exactly what they did and you're gonna get the exact same results even though there's nothing that, I don't care, her sister is not gonna get the same results that she's gonna get. So you have to, like, take it from where you are.

Because when it happens to an individual, their next, you know, they send me the email, you know, we go back and forth, we determine, you know, it was too aggressive and this and that. And then, well, “when can I do another one?” Well, I wouldn't do that again.

Now we have to wait. Now we have to start our preparation again for four solid weeks. And then we recommend doing, you know, maybe one layer of Jessner or even Lactic-50 because that's something they can do once a week.

Yeah, that's a common one to recommend. They have hyperpigmentation, and they were just going gung-ho, and it was too much. It's like, you gotta take a step way back. Let's be much more gentle. Because, you know, those are the people who run the risk of getting hyperpigmentation. And we're like, you don't wanna do that. You wanna spend most of your time focusing on targeting that with your daily treatments.

​

That's why it's so important to read the peel manual, follow our guidelines, because, you know, they'll wanna do a peel real quick. And then now you're trying to correct something that you didn't even have before.

Right.

It's going to take six, seven, or eight months.

You've compounded; you were worried about a couple of fine lines and a spot here.

I know.

And now you've got a bunch of spots, and it was because you just didn't prep properly. And if anybody, you know, when you get this, open it up, there is a peel manual. And yeah, okay, let's say it's, I don't know how many pages long, 25 pages or something like that. You can read that very quickly.

Sure.

And even just the first pages.

First four pages.

The first pages are everything: how to prepare your skin, what is considered preparation. And then it just kind of gets into the different acids. So then, you know, you could go to the acid you're interested in doing a peel in, and read that. It's going to show you, you're going to be on charts on there, how often you can do it, and what percentage. It's so simple to follow. And then if you're trying different acids, move. And then of course, skip along to the end too. So you can see what aftercare is, check out some FAQs, but for sure read the beginning, then go to your acids page, and read that. Like, it's not going to take you more than 10 minutes to avoid most of these.

I would have read that peel manual 10 times.

Oh my gosh. The first time I did a peel, I don't know. Oh, I had, you know, I always had like the acne issues. And I remember, like for Christmas, my mom asked me what I wanted. And I want, there was this company that had some peels. I saw it on like an infomercial. I'm like, “I want some peels. I want to try that.”

Okay.

Well, I got it. And it was like, you know, a sheet of paper. I don't know how many times I read it.

I probably read it 25 times. I mean, read the whole thing, I'm like, I don't know. I don't know.

I got my timer. And I'm just like, oh, I was like so scared.

Sure.

You know, that was like a glycolic 20 or something like that. I was just terrified. But I'm like, some people, they don't care.

They'll be like, oh, it's a TCA 30. I'm just going to put it on five times and not to think twice about it.

Yeah. I do get the emails where people say, "I've had my, you know, TCA 13 peel, and I've had it for a year, and I haven't used it because I'm so scared." You know, I appreciate that they will reach out for more guidance, even though they have all the tools they need. It's just sometimes, you know, people learn by watching a video. Somebody may learn by, you know, peeling right along with Jen, you know, in the videos or, you know, reading the manual. Maybe it's not for everyone. It's okay. Reach out. We'd rather you reach out before than after. You know, we'll help you no matter what.

We will help you. We will guide you, but you know, your frustration level will be so much lower if you follow the guidelines.

For sure.

Yeah. Okay. If you are ready to start your peel journey safely, please watch the next video.

Yes. And also, you know, go to Peel University, join our Facebook group, Platinum Skincare Gurus, Email support, and platinumskincare.com. And, of course, we're available by phone at 1-800-917-3155.

We're there Monday through Friday, 9 to 4:30 Eastern. And we will help you.

Yeah.

You know, if you have any questions, go check out the video.

And that's all in the description too.

Yeah. Happy peeling. You got this.