Nicole had started getting breakouts from the age of 14. She was prescribed the Genette pill to help control her hormonal breakouts and keep the acne at bay. This pill was great for helping to clear the acne and stop the breakouts from turning into painful cystic acne, but the one downfall was the depression and emotional ups and downs that came hand in hand with this pill. She pursued it for 5 years feeling awful and wondering why she was feeling so down in the dumps all the time. When Nicole realised it could be the pill causing these emotions she stopped taking it. Not long after this, the painful cystic acne occurred and it was sometimes so painful she could hardly move her face. A return visit to the DR put her back on the Genette and along came the reoccurring depression and also an added perk of constant nausea. After this Nicole decided the pill was not for her and has not tried anything like this since.
Nicole started to explore the skin health and went gluten and dairy-free after being recommended by a skin therapist she was seeing. The diet change helped her skin but the very sore cystic acne was still present. A skin plan of regular peels and treatments was out of reach for Nicole at the time. She started doing a basic home care regime but was never made aware not to be putting non-mineral foundations on her skin. She was still using chemical-based foundations to cover her acne which may have been contributing to the congestion and the sensitivity.
Nicoles next step on her skin journey was to see a dermatologist. She was put on Doxycycline for 9 months it did help to clear the big cystic acne but did not clear her skin completely. Unaware of the side effects from the antibiotic her skin became sensitised to the sun and Nicole constantly felt queasy. Feeling like she was doing damage to her gut health she decided to stop the Doxycycline after 6 months.
Choosing to go back down the Skin Therapist track, Nicole headed to a different clinic in Dunedin where she was put on a regular LED facial plan and a new skincare regime with active ingredients such as Vit A. Her skin was on the up and she stuck to this plan a regime for a year.
Next, was Nicole’s move to Wanaka, this is where we were lucky enough to meet this beautiful soul in our Skin Clinic. Nicole had started working at Ukiyo hair salon with who we share a space. I think Nicole came to my room and said ‘please help me, my skin is so sore’.
Nicole’s skin looked very painful, sensitised, inflamed, and very sore-looking cystic acne around the chin, cheek, and mouth area. I thought to myself right we need to get back to the basics here and repair this barrier.
First of all, we got Nicole on a new basic skincare routine (which has now changed since her skin has). The skin could not handle much; nor did it need anything that would strip the skin or turn the cells over, the skin was in stress mode and we needed to nourish it. Internally Nicole started taking the Beauty From Beneath capsules (x two a day) to boost the zinc and vitamin intake, and the Beauty Plus oil. We gave Nicole advice on cutting out inflammatory and heat-creating foods as well as congesting foods. We recommended upping the water and herbal tea intake and cutting down on the dairy again. Her at-home skincare regime was the Couperose milk and Hydration spray, BioRepair serum for treating the really sore inflamed areas, and the BioRepair cream for all over day and night, changing to a mineral makeup was also key for Nicoles skin it needed to breathe. In the clinic we did a BioRepair facial and zapped the really sore cystic spots with our IPL machine for acne treatment, this stopped the sebaceous glands from producing any more oil that could then turn into an infection in the follicle. Although the zapping procedure was a bit sore (but over very quickly) Nicole got relief from this.
Nicole’s skin starting changing and so did her recommended products. We then added in the Biohyal Hyaluronic serum (remember not all hyaluronic serums are the same quality!!) and changed Nicole to the Dermafill Barrier repair cream – this can be a bit active if the skin is sensitised but Nicole’s skin was changing and ready for this. We also had Nicole on the Pure fluid as a spot treatment on the areas that felt like something was brewing under the skin or directly on the acne if any was still popping up. Nicole did a course of LED with blue, red, and near-infrared light to help, with antibacterial properties, collagen, and elastin stimulation, and healing of the skin.
Nicole has seen great results and continues with our plan. Our next step is to treat any of the old scarrings from the breakouts with a needing and LED treatment plan. The needling will also help to strengthen the skin, help with the redness and deal with any pigmentation left on the skin. Nicole constantly gets comments on how great her skin is looking and feels much more confident. She hardly wears any makeup at all now just her light minerals. Nicole is aware that these breakouts can be triggered hormonally, but we now know the best way to get them under control quickly and stop them from turning cystic and painful.
It is so rewarding to help someone with their skin like this. It is definitely a journey and takes a bit of commitment from the client but results like these are possible. This truly is why I am so passionate about this industry and find it really rewarding to change how someone can feel simply through helping with skin.
Please if you have acne or breakouts come in and see us for a skin consultation so we can put you on the right path from the start. The less stripping of the barrier that is done the faster results we can get. Purchasing off-the-shelf acne products where no one has looked at your skin may end up costing you more in the long run.