Week 6 should be the end of the “delete” stage of the Nu-Derm programme, when you can expect the peeling and redness to have stopped and the pigment on the skin should be significantly reduced, ready to start the next 6 week cycle, the “restart” phase. Let me stress the word SHOULD in that sentence. I have been told on more than one occasion in varying aspects of my life that I am “different”, generally this is said with an inflection of sympathy for those around me. It would seem that my skin has some idiosyncrasies of its own that it would like present and feels that this is the perfect time for its very own expo in how to be non-conformist.

Week 5 was amazing in terms of my skin health and it was with great excitement and the chariots of fire music playing on my inner monologue that I entered week 6. There I was a naïve fool believing that I had options in the way of maintenance programmes, that I would not need the full 18 weeks to tame the problems with my skin, I am a trailblazer, a maverick with super skin. The sound effect I would like you to imagine going along with the next statement is the noise played on family fortunes to accompany an answer so ridiculous that the host is forced to reply “if it’s up there, I’ll give you the money myself”, UR ERRRRRR and a huge flashing X! Week 6 brings with it a return to peeling and hue of pink that any self-respecting sow would be proud of. I had not banked on this. The peeling is nothing like I experienced in the first few weeks of the programme but totally out of the blue. It has however made up my mind that I need to continue on with the Nu-Derm system as it obviously still has work to do. I was so pleased with the appearance of my skin in week 5 that if this is only the interim result then it is worth persevering with the remaining length of the programme in order to get the maximum benefit from everything the system can achieve.

At the end of each 6 week cycle on the Nu-Derm programme Obagi recommend having a Blue Peel Radiance treatment to kick start the beginning of the next phase and it may just be that my skin is ready for that treatment and that is why I am experiencing the light flaking around my nose and mouth again. I intend on having the treatment at the beginning of week 7, so keep your fingers crossed for me that, that will clear the residual peeling in order to “restart” a whole new skin!

I have put together a baseline photo and a week 6 photo to show the improvement in the pigment and the tone of my skin. I hope the blog has been of some help in providing an insight into how Nu-Derm works and the stages you can expect to go through on the journey to your best possible skin.

I will keep you informed of my progress at week 12 as I prepare to begin the “refresh and restore” stage.

Thanks for reading

Faye

It dawned on me yesterday that I have two weeks before I take part in the Manchester to Blackpool bike ride and so I schedule in a practice session to test my legs. I apply my SPF to protect whilst I’m out and will do my full morning routine when I get back. The AM products have to be on the skin for at least 4 hours to make sure they achieve the penetration depth they need so it will still have plenty of time on the skin before I need to apply the PM products.

The bike ride over to Hebden Bridge not only tested my legs but also my will to live. I hit a physical wall in Heyside and whistled for my husband, a mere blip on the horizon by this point, to stop. He understood the seriousness of my situation when I begged him to buy me a Lucozade and a Mars Bar. Years of experience in the field of my behaviour had taught him that this was not a drill or a test, I was in serious need of a sugar rush and this time he would not be berated in the future for letting me have the glucose and calorie hit I requested. I don’t think I even chewed the Mars Bar, I inhaled it like a Gremlin being fed after midnight. I managed to make it home! It was no longer morning and if there had not been a date indicator on my watch I wouldn’t even have been sure it was the same day, but I still had the necessary time and energy to apply my AM routine, and my skin has stood up to the ride much better than my legs, bum and mental state. We had cycled through, wind, rain, fog and sun but my skin still looked radiant. A shallow victory, but I’ll take it!

Day 2
I decide to change my exercise today and go swimming, I really enjoy swimming but haven’t really been since week 3 when my face was still peeling and the chlorine made it feel very tighter and more uncomfortable than it already was. Being of the belief that the peeling was behind me I felt it is once more safe to venture into the water.

Day 3
It seemed like I had gotten away with it, the perfect crime, exercise and good skin. It was not to be, and today the peeling has found a winning return to form. I have an awards bash to attend tomorrow and would rather not peel all over the venue. Fingers crossed for not only a FAB, but also a facial win on the night

Day 4
A nerve wrecking night at the Skills for Business Awards and my skin has managed to hold out on what is the hottest day of the year so far. Lisa and I are joined by Maxine Parfitt our sponsor from Tameside College at The Point at Old Trafford, sharing our table with several other nominees. As I sit and try and explain to the gentleman next to me that when I mentioned body shop, it was the beauty kind and not as he had assumed the motor vehicle kind, we are announced WINNERS! Euphoria, an amazing night had by all, backed by the reassurance that should we fail to make it in beauty, we could still pass as panel beaters in a very different kind of body shop.

Week 6 on the horizon and with the home straight, I now have to decide where to go maintenance wise from this point, I still have a week, I’ll decide later!

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!