"I was threatened": Part of my journey to flawless skin

After my bad peel job, I decided to switch to a clinic setting to get treatments because they helped me loads to prevent some really bad scarring on my face. Good on me. After the scarring cleared, I had a round of consultation and was given a set of Cosmedix products. I knew very little about this brand. According to the dermal physician, Cosmedix products are paraben-free, mineral-oil free and are made from chirally correct ingredients. Sounds overwhelming, no? Well, I thought I was getting a good deal because they sounded so ideal but there was this nagging feeling deep within me. I asked if the physician if she had samples. She said no because they were medical grade products.

This got me a bit doubtful. I read the label of the products but they contained no ingredients, whatsoever. Some of them did. I googled up Cosmedix. Apparently, there were some people who reported irritation after using the products. Nonetheless, I tried them. And boy, was my skin irritated!! At first, it was just itching and red spots popping up for no reason. I thought my skin was purging but hell no! The following day, the red spots became quite painful and getting itchier and itchier. When I sweat from exercise, my skin will burn like hell! It was pretty awful. I took a good look at the ingredients list and realized the culprit: ALCOHOL. I called up my dermal physician about my condition and she asked me to stop the products. I asked if I could get a refund, she said sure. Great.

So I went into the clinic and asked for a refund. I was denied. Instead, I was given a new set of products to complement the problematic ones, on the claim that my skin is weak. I blindly bought them, for fear that, in case my treatment backfire, they would not be able to blame my decision to not use the products as the root of all evil. However, I got some nasty feedback from my mom because the products are not cheap. I would n! ot discl ose the price but all I can say that, after discovering the US webpage for the Cosmedix range, they were seriously overpriced! Albeit my mom's anger for my foolishness, her anger woke me up in a sense. I was rethinking the whole scenario again. If my skin were to be weak, why am I even getting peels in the first place? This I do not quite comprehend. So, I called them up and demanded for a refund.

I went to the clinic today. It started with a little coaxing from the other party. Then, I did my straight talk, saying that my mom will kill me if I do not return them. I also pointed out that there are no samples to try and asked the question "Can you guarantee if this would not irritate my skin?". She diverted by stating that the products that I used after my peel worked for me. True, they worked for me but they were of a different range. It's so bad to generalize when it comes to skin products! Strike one. This did not work so she persuaded me from a different angle, stating that my skin needed more antioxidants and actives and that my current products (I told her I was using Neostrata) would not work as well. However, I always have this understanding that "one man's meat is another man's poison". If they work for me, she should leave me be. Strike two. Finally, she used the ultimate vice: threatening. She claimed that if I were to not use the products, I cannot continue with my peels and treatments. Strike three. So, I told her, on the advice of my mom, that I would discontinue the products and the treatments.

Amazing no? My road to flawless skin? I certainly learnt a lot!