It was a dark, stormy, and flooded Friday last June 24, 2011 when I underwent the Obagi Blue Peel at House of Obagi in SM North Edsa. To be honest I’ve never had a chemical peel ever in my whole life. I don’t even have a regular dermatologist. I was not the least bit scared because I know for a fact that House of Obagi only employs the services of PDS-certified (Philippine Dermatological Society) dermatologists.
The dermatologist who would administer my peel was Dr. Ma. Cecilia Cabildo-Ongjoco. We started with a brief consultation which involved telling me how Obagi Blue Peel was House of Obagi’s deepest chemical peel and how the downtime was more than a week. I could still change my mind and switch to the milder peels but I thought if I’m going to do this I may as well go all the way.
There are two levels of Obagi Blue Peel — 15% Coat System and 20% Coat System. Since it was my first ever peel Dr. Ongjoco suggested that we go with the 15%. Personally I would’ve opted for 20% since I want dramatic results but I went with what the doc recommended. My session started with skin cleansing. Then the attendant told me she was going to apply toner on my face to remove all the excess oil. It smelled like acetone. I asked her if it was acetone, she said it had acetone content. Bah, it was actually acetone.
All the time the attendant was prepping my face, Dr. Ongjoco was mixing the peel solution. She applied it in layers. I knew it was going to hurt. True enough my entire face felt like it was burning. The attendant actually held two small electric fans to my face to ease the burning sensation. Dr. Ongjoco asked me what level the pain was from 1 to 10, I said “10” but I was too busy taking photos of myself using the Samsung Galaxy SII’s reverse camera.
I think I was even trying to smile for the camera despite the burning pain. The pain lasts for about ten minutes before it finally subsides… either that or my face got used to it already, haha. You let the blue mask stand so your skin can soak in the solution. Dr. Ongjoco used a cotton bud to apply the solution around my eye area so that my facial skin will be uniform in color and texture afterwards. Hey, no pain no gain! :p
When it’s time to remove the solution, the attendant will use a mild cleanser and wet cotton ball to sort of wash it off.
They asked me if I wanted it thoroughly scrubbed off so I’d walk out of the treatment room looking like nothing happened. Dr. Ongjoco suggested that I don’t do that though as to allow the solution to thoroughly penetrate. So I told them that I can walk around SM North Edsa with a blue face so they don’t have to try so hard to take it all off. Dr. Ongjoco actually congratulated me for not crying during the procedure because most patients actually tear up because of the pain. The last step was application of sunscreen.
There were traces of bluish tint all over my face afterwards. I actually had a dinner party that night at Choi Garden and already the blue was starting to darken (see photo above right).
What I had to do after having the Obagi Blue Peel done as advised by Dr. Ongjoco:
- Wash only with water for the first 4 days. I could only start using a mild cleanser on the 5th day. I recommend using Physiogel or Dove Beauty Bar (white variant).
- Use moisturizer after washing. The simpler the moisturizer (meaning no additional chemicals that whiten, treat wrinkles, etc) the better. I actually bought a PCA moisturizer at House of Obagi (over P500 for such a tiny jar!) since I didn’t have anything simple at home. Now that I think of it, some Cetaphil moisturizer would be good too (it’s available in leading drugstores nationwide).
- Put on lots and lots of sunscreen before going out in the morning. I used Obagi Condition & Enhance Healthy Skin Protection SPF 35.
- Avoid the sun. I wore a baseball cap every day since I need to walk from the parking lot to our office.
- Absolutely NO make-up for around two weeks!
This is how I looked like on the second day. This photo was taken at another dinner party, this time it was held in Gloriamaris in Greenhills. My face has a slightly blue cast but nothing really embarassing yet… although some of my friends did comment that I look like a battered wife. The eyeglasses make it a lot less obvious. :p
The Obagi Blue Peel 15% Coat System costs P7,840. It’s recommended that you do the it 2-4x a year depending on the condition of your skin. I’ll continue my Obagi Blue Peel chronicles in my future posts. I look like a horror movie character by days 4-7… hahaha!
Click here for Obagi Blue Peel Day 3 onwards.
House of Obagi
G/F Main Building,
SM North Edsa
332-0421
http://www.facebook.com/HouseofObagi
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