okay, im 15 years old. and i have been doing microdermabrasion and AHA 20, alternating every week. And i wish i had a camera because i haven't been able to tell an improvenment in my skin or not since i look at it everyday. In the beginning when i used AHA 20, HUGE amounts of SKIN just fell out in the shower, i would scratch my skin and be holding a handfull on brown dead skin in my hand. It really freaked me out at first. But it wasn't painfull what so ever, just made me nasueas. I so of like the idea of the dead stuff coming off. But still with all the dead stuff coming off i still didn't and don't see any improvements in my skin.

PS. thanks turquoise. Congrats on your results. i often find myself revisiting your site and viewing your pictures when i feel discouraged by the time and slow effects that i am having.

Alternating methods is not the regimen I used. Dermabrasion is meant to be done constantly (about once a day), until the skin is smooth. (4-6 weeks) Only after that is AHA therapy going to be effective for severe cases. (Ideally, you want to apply AHA to skin that has already had its *bumps* removed. This makes the follicle openings much easier to access, when that pile of dead debris on top of them is already gone.)

I've never heard of anyone using the alternating method you have. Maybe it would work, but I wouldn't recommend it. I bet it would do *something*, but you would be in new territory as far as what results to expect, and at what rate.

The fastest. proven way to treat KP is with a full course of dermabrasion followed by a full course of AHA, in that order, with a total treatment duration of maybe 3-4 months (for a mild/moderate case) or 4-5 months (for a severe case).

Hi,

I was already using the aha lotions for about a month when I read somewhere that microdermabrasion is reccomended as a pretreatment.It was too late for me to try it but I'm pretty sure that it would have taken me less time to achieve the same results.Mixing chemical an physical exfoliation would be way too agressive for the skin.Luckily I started soon enough,I have two months left before summertime and I know I'll be done by then.Patienece and persistence is the key to success.

Thank you Turquoise for sharing your experience with us and for all that great information you provided on your page

okAY. I will start over. and follow the guidelines more strictly now.

just thank you for sharing your information...

hey yall, just wanted to ask if anyone has had any success in getting some aha 20 in the u.k or europe? iv tried absolutley everything and the cheapest i could find it was £40 (around $80) a bottle which is ridiculous! iv asked the skin bar person on ebay a while ago and he didnt reply please if anyone finds anything out post it coz im sure a lot of us are in the same situation...

Oh dear, that is a lot of money. In that case, I would say the best option would be to order it from me, as is described on my site's FAQ. (I have noticed that everything I check on in the UK seems to cost nearly twice what it does in the US. Why is that?)

Also thanks to all the newcomers and for all the positive comments. It is wonderful to see this treatment working for people.

Okay. I have limited my ethics to just microdermabrasion and its wierd because now im noticing opened pores and smoothed skin which i didnt notice two days ago. its amazing.

Your earlier method probably did start the process, as you described all the exfoliation happening. The main reason against physical and chemical exfoliation close together is not that it wouldn't "work" per se, but that it is too harsh on the skin and takes off too many layers at once. Irritation of that type is usually counterproductive to progress and will halt improvement once it worsens. AHA softens the skin and makes it come off easily, so the crystal treatment will strip it raw in that case.


That is great that you're seeing results. Dermabrasion is an awesome method and can exfoliate a lot without really causing any side effects. If you're doing it right, you should notice more and more smoothness every day and a little less redness (you may get total clearing on your more minor KP areas). I never noticed that it opened my pores - that is usually associated with chemical treatment, so it could be a combined effect of what you were doing before.

For Microdermabrasion

Can i use that Loreal Refinish Kit? Is this good enough?

Hi meanboy,

I contacted the skinbar seller from ebay,shipping to Europe is 10$.I hope this helps.

I don't know if you meant the question toward me, but from what I see, that kit comes with a 2 oz jar that is already in suspension. That means they put a little teaspoon of crystals and mix it into a quarter cup of their moisturizer, and charge you $20 something for it. That would last you a few days, maybe!
A giant rip off.
Plus, those kits are meant to be used on the face - that's why there is such a tiny amount. You need a lot of the stuff to treat all the surface area of KP every day.

The affordable way to do it is to buy the crystals dry in bulk, and mix them into your own moisturizer at home. Dry crystals cost about $12 a pound, if you get them at the site, and you can mix them with any kind of moisturizer (even the dollar store brand. It doesn't matter). The link is on my pages, if you want to explore this option. I was assuming that people were reading my site, but maybe they are not aware that it covers this.
Best wishes.

Hey, thank you so much, i didnt get a reply myself lol but maybe theyr just busy. thanks for takin ur time to help, youv just saved me a lot of money lol

Turquois, Really thorough phenomenal work on documenting your treatment! Comparing your before photos to my KP I would classify mine as moderate - unless I drink wheatgrass juice (by mistake the last time I did!), eat strong EVOO, or depending on climate. Mild AHA treatment worked very well for me in a humid climate. I found 20% AHA and microdermabrasion too harsh for my current location but since your path includes working with variation of percentages, it seems like a _great_ place to start. I'm thinking of the mild AHA again just because your methodology is so clear and encouraging.

to rosebughive - asking about natural store products. Whichever Jason lotion or Kiss my Face that has some glycolic or AHA might be available. I personally don't use products with squalane (I think it's shark oil, literally.) It's an irritant to me (maybe it's the olive oil version of squalane, squalene?). I like the almond oil for massaging that natural product stores sell. One with vitamin E reduced some very old scars on my arms, one from a bad cigarette burn. I guess I was still pretty red when I used that but I'm freckly too so I just dealt.

to billybarty - 10% on face, maybe? I used to use an 8% on face in a humid climate with _wonderful_ results. Really minimized old scars too! Now I'm using a mild "clean and clear" salicylic acid cleaner and moisturizer and I'm somewhat happy with it - my skin is not uncomfortable or itchy but is not its smoothest or clearest, either. I wish they'd add in some of the licorice-based redness reducer that Eucerin uses for rosacea products. The licorice extract works on me to lighten redness but not effective on KP/acne mix, per se.

I'll look at some of the product links that Turquois provides but if anyone quickly knows of a 8% glycolic acid cleanser with peppermint in it, please post. I used to get it packaged as "Skin Sense 2000" but I wouldn't be surprised if it gets other "house" labels at spas and specialty places but it wasn't as expensive as some of the other glycolic stuff I'm seeing out on the web.

Moonchyld - climate affects my KP, too. Less sun and dryer climate in the Canadian Plains give me more keratin buildup. I'm only starting to work this out though after being back here for a few years.

Thanks everyone!