Day 1 and 2--Milan, Italy

After a very long flight through JFK we finally arrived in Milan. Thankfully, the flights were uneventful, but we were all suffering through serious jet lag the first day. I hired a car service, Milano by Car, to meet us at the airport for transport to the hotel. We got a large 7 person van and had it filled to the top! The driver got us into Milano in a little over an hour which was good since it was rush hour when we arrived. Our hotel in Milan, Hotel Berna, was highly recommended on TripAdvisor so I decided to give it a shot. The staff are wonderful and very helpful and friendly. They arranged for our taxis and gave us dinner recommendations that were very good. The rooms are basic, but big by Italy's standards and very clean. Free Wi-fi too! The best part has been the elaborate breakfast buffet. OMG! It has everything you can possibly imagine plus made-to-order coffees. http://www.hotelberna.com/ The first day we just walked around and explored the city center around the Duomo. We went out in search of shopping which was not quite what we expected. I expected more boutique shopping with interesting fashions, but it almost all large stores like D&G, H&M, Louie Vutton, etc. I haven't even bought a pair of shoes yet! Guess I need to remedy that situation in Como. In the evening we walked near the hotel and asked several local shopkeepers and a lady walking her dog where we should go for good local food. We found a little pizzeria with a lovely antipasti buffet and cheap wine. It was very good! The second day we had to leave the hotel early as we had reservations to take the Autostradale city tour. We took a very short tour of the Duomo, Vittorio Emmanule shopping area, La Scala (where they were rehearsing a new ballet--gorgeous!), Sforza Castle, and of course The Last Supper. The Last Supper was truly amazing. It looks just as beautiful in person as in pictures. They only let 25 people in at a time and only for 15 minutes. No pictures :( That was the highlight of Milan in my opinion. Milan is a big city and very dirty. I just started to see the charm of the city last night while wandering around in the Brerea Arts District. It is a cool and distinct part of town with lots of art galleries, cafes, and boutiques. I hope to have more time to wander around there and go back to the specialty food market at the end of the trip. Today--Lake Como!!

Lizard Face-Day 7

Today I was almost back to normal. I had very little redness and I'm now starting to see the effects of the peel. I don't have sunspots on my cheeks or my forehead anymore. I still have a few on my nose, but they have lightened considerably. My skin is very even toned and my pores are smaller. I think I would probably do this peel again in 8-12 months to try to get rid of the rest of my sun damage. For someone who is outside all the time riding a bike or running, I have a feeling I will need to get these peels on a regular basis for maintenance. At $300 a pop, I'm not sure I care to do it more than once or twice a year. Overall, I'm very happy with the results!

Lizard Face-Day 6

Day 6 was a work day and I was finally able to put on make up for the first time in almost a week. I had to put on a layer of thick moisturizer, a layer of SPF 70, and then a layer of foundation to help even out the red spots. I wasn't really peeling much, but after three layers of products on my face you wouldn't have been able to tell anyway. If you want a great sunscreen use Neutrogena Dry Touch SPF 60-70. I also use Lancome Photogenic foundation. It looks very natural. The evening of Day 6 was pretty much the same routine--wash with a mild cleanser and then apply a heavy moisturizer. Most of the peeling had stopped by bedtime.

Lizard Face-Day 4 and 5

Day 4 and 5 were pretty much the same. Lots of peeling! I felt like I had duct tape on my face and I wanted to rip it off at any given time. The peeling process is very uncomfortable and it itches like crazy! Unfortunately, I did scratch at my neck in the middle of the night and woke up to unsightly red marks on my neck. However, the derm told me to keep a heavy cream on it for a few days and it would go away.

Lizard Face-Day 3

Today is the most uncomfortable day so far. I am now visibly peeling on my chin and nose area and my face itches like crazy. The peeling will get worse over the weekend. I'm not allowed to touch my face except to wash it twice a day and apply the face cream and sunscreen I was given. If I peel away the skin myself, I could possibly scar the fresh skin underneath. No touching! While peeling I can't wear makeup so I will just have to deal with the red lizard face while watching re-runs of Deadliest Catch and ordering in Chinese food. Maybe this isn't such a bad idea after all...

Lizard Face-Day 2

Here are a few photos of Day 2. I woke up less red than the night before, but I still looked like I had a bad sunburn. I tried to cover it with makeup, but there is still a visible ring around my face. I had to answer questions at work all day, haha. I didn't really notice much the morning of Day 2 other than redness, but by the afternoon I had started to peel a little around the mouth and nose. My skin also started to throb so I spent the evening with an ice pack on my face. I had to apply a second dose of Retin A before bedtime which would really jump start the peeling process. That was unpleasant.

Lizard Face-Day 1

Well, I promised photos of the entire chemical peel process and I'm true to my word. I'll let you guys see my lizard face and renewal process so that you can decide if you would like to try it. If the results are as good as I hope they will be I could be doing this process several times a year. Here is a website about the VI Peel. It has a lot of good information! http://www.vipeel.com/Vi_Peel_FAQs.asp Day 1: My aesthetician, Rachel at Dr. Rene Snyder's office, was wonderful. She explained the whole process while she was cleansing my face, went over all the instructions, and then let me ask all my questions. I was nervous as I was about to cause a second degree burn to my face. I wanted to make sure I knew everything that could happen. The acid was applied to my face and I admit the first few minutes were quite uncomfortable. It did burn, but then it became a dull ache. It felt like Icy Hot on my face. I had to wear the peel home and could not wash it off for 4 hours. My face was so red!