My Secret shhhh

Hello my Millefiori loves! I come bearing gifts of story time, funny internal dialogues(maybe I’m the only one who thinks I’m funny), and of course KNOWLEDGE.

I Waited Long Enough

I’ll be honest with y’all. I had been EXTREMELY nervous to try prescription strength Retinol for a long time, for many reasons!

A. I have heard horror stories from our own clients who used to be on strains of Retinol, like Tretinoin for instance, and the side effects have been gnarly. (redness, burning, peeling, etc.)

B. I’ve seen pictures of what happens when not used properly (don’t try to be the hero of your face y’all, listen to your Medical Estheticians. THEY are the real heroes of this tale)

C. I’ve discovered over time (lol) I have fairly sensitive skin, and personally, I didn’t think I could handle it. The big difference between Tretinoin and Retinol is that Tretinoin is pure Retinoic Acid. Because of this, the skin improving effects will happen faster, but you run a greater risk of those horrible side effects (redness, burning, peeling, etc.)

Questions I had

Well, one day I decided to be brave! During my Micropeel treatment, I discussed in detail with my Esthetician (Jessica) whether or not Retinol would be a good fit for me.

Should I incorporate it into my regimen at home to help with my jawline acne? Will it treat textural issues I had been experiencing on my cheeks recently?

She assured that Retinol would be a good product to try out, as would be perfect for my acne and textural issues. Another reason I LOVE working here, is that even when I’m not working, and I am there as a client, they treat me as such! I am a patient just like you guys, and they don’t take it easy on me! At the end of my treatment,

I was given printed Retinol instructions to go along with my product and was advised when I was safe to begin using it. (NO, you can not use it immediately after a peel, that’s just madness!)

So What Happened?

So I did what I was told and waited the correct amount of days before I could start using my Retinol at home.. I followed the directions step by step.

Only at night, a pea sized amount, avoid the eyes, yeah yeah yeah. Because I am on the sensitive side, they recommended I only use it 1-2 times per week until my skin acclimates.

Yeah okay, got it. So things are going great, it even prevented a MONSTER from forming that was brewing under my skin right before Shark Week! (Ladies in the house know what I mean) I was so excited and happy with my results thus far…

OOOPS

And then… I GOT GREEDY. I became THAT patient.. that impatient patient who wasn’t getting their results fast enough! I don’t even know how I ended up down that rabbit hole but there we were. I got even more brave, and thought “Hmm, once a week is working just fine, lets bump it up to THREE times a week!” (Severe eye rolling at myself as I write this)

One morning, I hop in the shower, wash my face like usual, and when I rinsed my face, my cheeks felt a little warm. I could tell it wasn’t from the heat of the shower.

I get out of the shower and pat my face dry, and BOOM! like someone set fire to my face! I look in the mirror and see the lovely face you see below, staring back at me. “What have I done?!” Good Lord I’ve ruined my face, and now I’m going to get scolded when I go back to work on top of it all!

 

I thought fairly quickly, and ran to the kitchen and grabbed my Phytocorrective Masque out of the fridge and slathered that all over my face. Ahhhh, sweet sweet relief. My poor skin was still stinging though, so I sat in front of the freezer for a hot minute. I was out of commission for the next couple of days, but eventually returned to normal.

I also laid off my cure-all potion cream for about a week. I am happy to say that YES, I have since resumed my recommended treatment with said potion (once a week), but apparently I like to learn things the hard way (You were right mom! Sorry..)

What did I Learn?

Moral of the story? Listen to your Skincare Professional, and TRUST their advice. They genuinely care about you and the health of your skin. Even if your treatment plan seems conservative to you, there is probably a good reason for that.

 

That’s all for now, stay beautiful y’all!

 

 

-Amanda