Lifestyle

PLANT POWER

I’m 74, and This Needle-Free Treatment Makes Me Look Decades Younger

It requires a lengthy recovery, but the results were absolutely worth it.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

PublishedMay 22, 2026, 1:31 PM EDT

UpdatedMay 22, 2026, 1:31 PM EDT

Updated May 22, 2026, 1:31 PM EDTPublished May 22, 2026, 1:31 PM EDT

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When Pamela Allyn turned 70, she gifted herself a makeover. The retired teacher from the Pacific Northwest underwent a lower facelift to minimize the appearance of her jowls and a blepharoplasty to lift her eyelids.

Five years on, she still loved her blepharoplasty results but began to notice her “jowls” had become pronounced again.

She visited another plastic surgeon, Dr. Hakim Said at Said Plastic Surgery, to explore the possibility of a new lower facelift, but he offered a simpler option.

Rather than opting for another invasive surgery, he suggested Allyn undergo a croton oil peel.

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The treatment, sometimes referred to as the Hetter peel, is a deep chemical peel made of croton oil and phenol.

It can dramatically smooth wrinkles and help with scarring and sun damage, with effects lasting at least 10 years.

The procedure must be performed by a highly skilled professional: risks include hyperpigmentation, scarring, and even cardiac effects.

The 74-year-old was so amazed by the before-and-after pictures the surgeon showed her that she booked her procedure for March.

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During the needle-free appointment, her skin was first cleaned with acetone, and then the phenol and croton oil were slowly applied to her forehead and around her mouth, while the professionals monitored her heart rate.

The worst aftereffect, Allyn recalled, was a little burning. Otherwise, the discomfort was minimal.

In just over an hour, she was ready to leave the clinic, with white tape around her face that would slowly lift over the next few days.

While the procedure was painless and quick, the recovery was anything but.

“The recovery truly was harder than my facelift,” Allyn told The Looker.

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“It was very uncomfortable, especially for those first three to four weeks, because I had this incredible, unbearable itching, and I was not allowed to scratch it,” she said.

The itching was not the only thing that affected Allyn.

“The first two weeks, you have this brown, gunky stuff all over your face,” Allyn said.

That “gunky stuff” was a mixture of her peeling skin and the vaseline she was instructed to apply multiple times a day.

“And then your skin starts peeling, almost like tiny sheets of skin. Then it’s real pink and red, and that’s when you play the waiting game,” she admitted.

Initially, Allyn panicked about the redness and feared that the area around her mouth would remain permanently pink.

“I saw the doctor the other day, and I said, ‘Do you promise me this is gonna go away?’ And he kind of started laughing, and he said, ‘Trust me, it’s gonna go away.’”

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After her skin finished peeling, Allyn purchased various products to cover the pink color, which, in some patients, remains visible for up to six months.

She was also careful to use moisturizer and sunscreen daily, as instructed.

But even with the grueling recovery process, the results were worth it.

“The skin on my face is all new skin, it looks like a 20-year-old’s skin,” Allyn said, adding, “I wanted to get rid of my lines and wrinkles, and indeed, I have.
It’s beautiful skin right now.”

When she spoke to The Looker six weeks after her operation, Allyn’s skin was still slightly pink but visibly smoother.

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“It’s six weeks against the rest of my life. I’m very happy with it,” she said.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

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