Week 3 - Finally the peeling starts to slow down.

Day 15 - My friends are starting to think I'm slightly mad for putting myself through this skincare system as all I keep saying is how much I'm peeling. I'm very glad to have time off in between jobs to do this, although finally I think I would be comfortable in a professional setting. My nose is looking better in some places and worse in others with the pores and blackheads either improving or looking a lot worse. The neck area is settling and peeling. No more itching! The worst peeling is around the eyes from cranking up the Tretinoin and blender there for the last days.

Day 15 AM

Day 15 AM blotchy neck

I saw Dr Sarah Shah today for my follow up appointment. My skin is looking great and adapting well to the system. As I'm peeling a lot around my mouth I can stop using the Exfoderm there for a few days (Hurray!) to allow some recovery. Next week I will start using the Exfoderm every other day as I'm starting my new job and want to look as normal as possible. I'm also free to moisturise my neck as much as needed until it has recovered. She also said I could cut back on the Tretinoin to every other day if I wanted to reduce the pinkness, but I'm going to try to keep it up. My next appointment is in 4 weeks time, when I will have completed phase 1 of the system. Then we will also see how the small scars on my nose are looking as I may need some dermarolling to get them off. Exciting!

Day 16 - Not much change today. Applying less Exfoderm as avoiding the mouth area. Hopefully I will peel less in the afternoon as a result. Peeling starts around 2 or 3 pm otherwise so avoiding that would be great! Maybe I can reclaim my social life a bit more. :) My neck is looking better today too since I've been moisturising it like crazy yesterday evening. The Spa Manager at my gym said as my face is settling it only looks like I'm wearing the wrong colour foundation at the moment, with the pink stopping at the jawline. I'm thinking that's progress!

Day 17 - The peeling is slowing down slightly and I'm not so flaky everywhere when I wake up in the morning. I will try wearing make up soon but the skin is still peeling and isn't completely smooth so I'm worrying the mineral powder will highlight it rather than conceal it. Skin around the mouth is very dry so I'm putting extra moisturiser there as I've stopped using the Exfoderm in the area. I did still peel around the mouth yesterday but it was significantly less. My neck is still unsightly but the redness is subsiding although it's flaky and peeling. No new spots on my nose, just the one that popped up days ago. I'm still using Tretinoin every night and my face does go more red after application. I'm getting used to a pink face staring back at me in the mirror!

Day 17 AM

Day 17 AM

Day 17 neck update

Day 18 - I'm definitely less flaky this morning so peeling is calming down a lot! My neck has improved significantly from my efforts of hydrating it more throughout the day. I'm very happy. The pink colour is also fading more after the morning routine. This is definitely the most "normal" my face has looked since starting using Obagi Nu-Derm. The large pores and blackheads on my nose are improving, they are still there and I want to see them improve significantly still. As my nose is the last to peel it's probably going to take a bit longer.

Day 19 - I tried wearing make up yesterday evening, a bit of mineral powder and blusher. It wasn't great looking as the flaky parts were showing much more than without make up. At the moment my flakiness is on the nose and around the eyes plus a little bit around the mouth still. My skin looks very even in colour and glowy now though. I even got a compliment from a complete stranger at the gym! Wohoo! I get bright red when exercising still, it's a bit annoying but small price to pay given the positive changes overall. I've also got in to a routine of the morning and evening regime now so it doesn't feel complicated anymore. I leave a few minutes between each step so the cream can really penetrate the skin and it still takes about 10 minutes or so.

Day 19 AM

Day 19 AM

Day 20 - I'm starting to feel really happy that I embarked on the Obagi Nu-Derm system now. It's also nice not to wear make up as normally I wouldn't leave the house without foundation or powder, blusher, mascara and eye shadow. The time spent doing the morning routine is clawed back from not applying anything but mascara. Not much changes today to the skin. The part of my face (around the jawline and cheek) that looks a bit more red in pictures is where I have more sun damage. It was the last part to come off and peel when I did the TCA peel almost two years ago now. It's good to see that it's taken to the Obagi as well. I suspect it's a few weeks behind the rest of my face in the transformation to glowy. My neck is pretty much healed up now, finally. Wohoo!

Day 20 neck update 

Day 21 - The morning flakiness is very limited now and my skin tone is almost back to normal. I am seeing improvements in my blackheads now, there's definitely less of them. I've stopped using the moisturiser on my nose and forehead in the mornings as they don't feel dry. I have an oily t-zone so I don't feel I need the hydrate cream there as it's very rich. Overall I am starting to feel "normal" again and hopefully I'll be able to pull off mineral make up soon as I'm starting work in 5 days and it would be nice to look fresh faced on my first day, and flake free.