Day 1 of week 4 is also day 1 of a 4 day hangover, although my skin does not show it. Where I would usually be a morbid grey colour with matching purple suitcases under my eyes, I appear fresh faced and radiant. My head is banging and my stomach is demanding I eat everything in the kitchen cupboards, but my skin is performing some kind of smoke and mirrors illusion which is telling the casual onlooker that I’m fine. I am not, and won’t be for some time.

Day 4, the fog in my head has cleared and I am thrilled to report that the peeling seems to have stopped. My forehead is luminous and I can see a visible refinement in my pores especially across my cheeks and nose.

Some lucky people do not need to wear make up to look presentable but I have never been one of those people, I have missed wearing make up so much! Aside from the party last week I have only really worn make up to come into work and even then I have only really worn mascara and lipstick as any kind of foundation has made the peeling look more obvious. I decide to give a mineral foundation a try. Mineral foundation would never have been an option for me before as it didn’t cover the pigment and blemished areas on my face enough to mask them. Today even the very lightest dusting has given my skin a healthy natural glow. It may well have all been worth it!

Day 6 and I’m actually getting excited in the morning to look at my skin and see how much it has changed in the night. It is a lot brighter and more even looking and the redness around my mouth has subsided but not completely disappeared. I have had a few comments on my skin in recent days, but if I’m honest I’ve had more comments on how brave I am to be putting pictures of myself looking so awful on social media for the world to see. Finger crossed the swan is about to emerge from the ugly duckling.

This week’s brave yet awful photo does not quite do justice to the improvement my skin has made.

While my nose gently weeps

Day 1 of week 3 and my sore red face needs to make an appearance at a BBQ with the “Reggae Weekenders” as a group of friends we are now that close they feel that brutal honesty is not only allowed but compulsory. The BBQ is at 2pm and my shedding period has become later in the day, I may get away with it, unfortunately the more I talk the more my face peels and after an hour of catching up my face hits full peel, cue generous amounts of laughter and head shaking from the male members of the group. We leave after 2 hours to go and collect my eldest son from a cricket match in Preston. By now my face is losing skin in sheets I try and cover it over with a scarf, but it’s a hot old day over in Preston and the heat is too much for me to bear. I remove the scarf like they remove bandages in films when they are revealing a person’s face after they’ve had surgery that’s gone horribly wrong, slowly unwinding to expose the abomination beneath.

After a short while staring a lady finally plucks up the courage to ask if I have seen my Dr about a possible vitamin c deficiency! Having spent all afternoon explaining my shedding to friends I’m at my wits end, so go along with her line of questioning assuring her I will make an appointment with my Dr first thing Monday morning.

Day 3
I’m shedding in the night now too! I give my face a vigorous rub over with a damp face cloth after I have cleansed. Arrrghhhh, why does the toner sting so much this morning? Oh that will be because I have scrubbed with a little too much vigour and made my nose weep, and what is that? A few spots, sore, yellow, I’ll just do a little extraction. Note to self, leave spots alone! Instead of popping they have just bled under the skin and now I have a series of blood blisters on my chin to distract from my weeping nose, can’t wait until later on when I start to shed too!

Day 5
I have turned a corner, the past few days the peeling has calmed beyond measure, it is no longer shedding during the day, just a little at night and the redness around my mouth has calmed, excellent just in time for my gorgeous sister-in-laws 30^th birthday party. During the process I have not really worn much make-up as it only draws attention to the shedding so fingers crossed I will be able to wear some to the party.

Day 7
Party night! I have applied make up, I am pleased to say that the skin on the upper part of my face looks flawless, the system is definitely working it’s magic there. My mouth and chin areas are still dry so my make-up doesn’t sit as well there but it’s a huge improvement from last weekend. The party is a rip roaring success and as such I am still up and dancing at 3am (yes I am too old for this). My face has given up well before my feet and I started to peel around midnight, like Cinderella this should have been my cue to leave. At 4am when I finally roll home I drag myself in to the bathroom and against the odds do my entire night time routine. When I wake a few hours after the fact that I did manage to apply my creams is a complete miracle, the fact that it will take me until the middle of next week to shake the hangover is less of a surprise. Week 4 will be sponsored by Obagi Nu-Derm and copious amounts of water and ibuprofen!