We asked Ourself user Erica Foxworth to share her personal experience with one of our star products.

Name: Erica Foxworth

Age: 37

Occupation: Ourself Consultant

Skin Type: dry

Skin Concerns: lines and wrinkles, hyperpigmentation

Even though I’m well-versed in skincare and will try anything twice, my nerves had piled up when it came time to administer the Brightening Peel. I’ve used just about every OTC acid product out there and never had a bad experience, but something about this 34% glycolic treatment had my knees knocking. I mean, that’s strong, clinical-level stuff. What should I expect? Would I be beet red? Would I need to hide out for a week while my skin sloughed off?

I blocked off my Friday night, which wasn’t hard to do (ha), and set up my at-home “clinic”: Brightening Peel, Accessory Kit, mirror, ring light, hair tie, headband, and timer.

First, I pulled my hair back and put on my headband. Then, I washed my face with a gentle cleanser and thoroughly dried it. Now it was time to start peeling. As per the directions, I applied half a dropper of Brightening Peel to the gauze and swiped my forehead, cheeks, chin and nose with the solution. I set my timer for five minutes and waited for the magic to happen. And then…nothing happened. I felt some slight tingling but not a remotely alarming sensation. (That said, I do have, we’ll just call it a very intact moisture barrier (I am the self-proclaimed “Moisture Barrier Advocate”). I did a total of seven passes of the peel, waited 30 minutes, and then applied Daily Renewal Cream. My skin drank up the moisturizer and then I turned in for the night.

Confession: The next morning I woke up anxious to look in the mirror. Truth: My skin looked tight, glowing, and overall really smooth. This was the most drastic change in my skin over the next seven days. I actually considered that I had maybe done something wrong, because by day four I wasn’t seeing a suggestion of peeling. I even thought–maybe I should just do it again? I wanted even more dramatic results!

I’m so relieved I stuck with the whole regimen because by day five, I saw what they meant by “peeling.” It’s actually more of a flaking and it’s not noticeable. For lack of a better word, it’s like a bit of dandruff on your face. The key step for me was: moisturize, moisturize, moisturize and SPF, SPF, SPF every two hours. By day 10, my skin was baby soft and radiant. My key takeaway? I was intimidated due to the strength of the formula, however, pleasantly surprised by not only how easy it was, but how potent the actual results were. #Like