K-beauty resurfacing aftercare
Prickling for the first few hours, peeling from day two. Don’t rub your face. The spicules are still in it.
Marine spicules are microscopic, and they stay in the skin after you leave. That’s how the treatment keeps working. It’s also why rubbing your face will make the next two days unpleasant.
This is a ten-day treatment, not a three-day one. If you have something you’re being photographed at, this should never be inside two weeks of it.
The short version
Prickling and heat for the first few hours is expected, and worse if you get warm.
Don’t touch, rub or massage your face for 48 hours.
You’ll peel from around day two. Let it happen on its own.
Hour by hour
The first 72 hours
Skin doesn’t run to a timetable, so read these as the usual shape rather than a promise. Yours may be quieter or slower.
0 - 24
hours
First 24 hours
What you may notice
A prickling, nettle-sting sensation, strongest in the first two to six hours.
It intensifies with heat: a hot room, a hot shower, exercise, a glass of wine.
Redness, and skin that feels rough to the touch.
What to do
Stay cool. A fan is more use than anything in a jar.
Leave your face completely alone. Rubbing drives the spicules deeper and makes the prickling much worse.
Only the products I sent you home with. No make-up, no exercise.
24 - 48
hours
24 to 48 hours
What you may notice
Prickling mostly gone.
Skin tight and dry, starting to shed at the edges.
What to do
Cleanse with cool water and fingertips, patting rather than rubbing.
Moisturise generously. SPF 50 every morning.
You may look worse today than you did yesterday. That’s the expected shape of it.
48 - 72
hours
48 to 72 hours
What you may notice
Peeling properly now, often in sheets around the mouth, nose and chin, for three to five days.
What to do
Let it come away by itself. No scrubbing, no picking, no dermaplaning.
Moisturise, and keep SPF on. The new surface underneath burns easily.
Not yet
Leave alone
Timings are the cautious end of the range on purpose. Waiting a day longer than you needed to costs nothing. The other way round is what leaves a mark. If you’re not sure, I’m always happy to guide you.
- Rubbing, massaging or touching your face
- 48 hours
- Make-up
- 48 hours
- Picking or pulling flaking skin
- Until it’s finished
- Retinoids, acids, vitamin C, scrubs
- 7 days
- Heat, sauna, steam, hot yoga, exercise
- 48 hours
- Swimming
- 5 days
- Waxing, threading, laser, IPL
- 14 days
- Direct sun
- 2 weeks
Safety
Contact me if
None of these are common, and none of them mean something has gone badly wrong. They mean I’d rather see it than hear about it in six weeks.
Prickling that’s still strong after 24 hours.
Blistering, weeping, or raw patches.
Swelling around the eyes.
A cold sore starting.
Peeling that hasn’t finished after a week.
This page is general guidance for people I have already treated. It does not replace what I said in the room, and it is not medical advice. If you feel unwell, or something is worsening quickly, contact NHS 111 or your GP rather than waiting for me.
What happens next
Your next appointment
Usually a course of three, four to six weeks apart. Book the last one at least three weeks before anything you’re being photographed at. And never inside two weeks of a wedding.