First Impression: SkinMedica Vitalize Peel

I recently visited CosmetiCare for a treatment that had me a little worried about the outcome: a Vitalize Peel. My skin can be incredibly sensitive and I was once advised by an esthetician that I should refrain from doing anything too aggressive to my face because of the fragile capillaries and active areas of rosacea.

I recently visited CosmetiCare for a treatment that had me a little worried about the outcome: a Vitalize Peel.

My skin can be incredibly sensitive and I was once advised by an esthetician that I should refrain from doing anything too aggressive to my face because of the fragile capillaries and active areas of rosacea.

I met once again with Lisa McCoy who talked to me at length about what the Vitalize Peel could offer and what I should expect in the days after. I was really worried my face might end up red and raw but Lisa assured me I would probably only experience peeling similar to a sunburn. She showed me several before and after photographs, including ones of herself.

The purpose of the Vitalize Peel is to smooth fine lines, wrinkles and skin roughness.

Lisa had me hold a hand held fan during the procedure because the chemicals used do get warm and “sting” the skin. The process is three-step. First, the skin is prepped with Isopropyl Alcohol. Next is the peeling solution which is made up of Salicyclic Acid, Resorcinol, and Lactic Acid. The last step is Retinol. Lisa applied it to my entire face with exception to the eye area and to my décolleté.

My face felt tight for two days afterward. I started to see the skin get dry and lift on the night of day two. The third morning I woke to a full face of dry skin. Lisa advised that a soft peel was the goal and suggested using coconut oil all over at night and a SPF during the day.

The amount of peeling was more than I expected and had seen on other patient photographs. Additionally, I saw peeling around my eyes and down my neck even though the chemical wasn’t applied to those areas. The only area that didn’t peel was my décolleté but Lisa said that cell turnover is happening even though not visible.

Unfortunately my timing for doing the Vitalize Peel wasn’t great. I had several video projects to film that week and thought I wouldn’t be so dry. Luckily with a lot of makeup and great lighting, the peeling wasn’t totally obvious on camera but you can see the a little bit of dryness under my eyes and a flake of skin on my cheek in this picture from that week (four days out from the day I received the Vitalize Peel).

The results post peel have been glorious. My face is baby soft and the fine lines on my forehead have smoothed out nicely. I have long struggled with one patch of extremely dry skin on my cheek and it is completely gone now. My makeup blends beautifully and my skin looks luminous. I wish I had seen better results on my décolleté.

The following week I was in front of the camera again for more videos and though still a little dry around the hair line, I thought my skin looked great.