johnsmith007

Hi,
The Obagi Blue peel is a TCA peel, which as far as strength, is in the middle. There are weaker peels, such as Glycolic and Salicylic, and stronger ones, like Phenol peels. The TCA peels are a good way to go for treating wrinkles since the weaker peels don’t do much and the stronger peels are a little scary (months of recovery time and scary possible side effects).
For some of your questions:
What was the pain like – not bad at all, the actual TCA chemical acts like a local anesthetic, but you do feel tingling (like your face is really itchy), but it only last 30 seconds or so.
Did you get put under or are they not painful – again, since the TCA chemical acts like an anesthetic, there is no need to be put under.
What was the recovery time – your face will be red, and little blue because the chemical is blue, right after the peel. Over the next week, your skin will start to peel. You should be back to normal after 7 to 10 days, 14 at the most.
Is it done once or every month – they don’t suggest doing TCA peels any closer together than every 6 months.

If you are considering doing it, the pain should not be a factor (since it is very minor). You should look more at the price and the down time.

I would like to suggest something else that I feel is much better for wrinkles. It’s not everywhere, but it’s called the Fraxel Laser. It has less down time and it shows better results than a TCA peel (in my opinion). It’s fairly new (a few years), but it’s getting incredible reviews from a lot of people. It seems to be the next big thing in treating wrinkles (because of the short down time and good results). I would also look into that.

Hope that helps.