How I Finally Cleared My Adult Acne After 10 Years of Suffering
BY EMMIE BRYETT
At 28 years old, I've finally found the one brand that truly works.
18 OCT - 2021
If you’ve suffered with any kind of skin condition, you’ll understand the extent to which your daily life is affected. Mine is acne.
I’ve always been a sucker for skincare with good marketing. As soon as I read, ‘for acne-prone skin or ‘skin-clearing treatment’ on the packaging, it’s an automatic *add to cart*. I’m sure many of you can relate.
After a solid decade of suffering with acne, I’ve finally come to realise that these products are full of empty promises. Instead, my blemishes were exacerbated by inflammation and since receiving a sprinkle of skin education, I’ve understood that they basically peeled my entire skin barrier off of my face.
Because of this disappointing cycle, I came to terms with the fact that I will never have perfect blemish-free skin that looks like an Instagram filter. Plus, my wine and food choices are far from a salad and fresh pressed celery juice combo. But since using dermaviduals, I’ve actually set up skin goals to achieve over time, which is something that I’ve never been able to do before!
If you suffer from acne, or even the odd pulsating zit, I don’t need to tell you how awful it feels. I’m such an outgoing and extroverted individual but my acne would sometimes be emotionally debilitating. Looking in the mirror would be such a blow to my mental health, and obviously, it was one of my main insecurities as the face is such a visible place to have your flaws exhibited blatantly for everyone to see. Let’s just say there have been some ‘woe is me’ wailing about it. And so, having these incremental skin goals have been amazing to look forward to.
Corneotherapy
I met Bridget from Mood Skin Clinic in June this year, and she very quickly became my skin guru. When it comes to skin, this woman knows everything from A-Z. At my first appointment, we talked for about an hour, delving into everything I have ever done with my skin; when my acne started, when it's at its worst, what products have worked and what hasn't; literally, everything.
It’s something that no doctor or clinic has ever done before, not that I would want Cetaphil and accutane for my prescription. We also talked about my lack of confidence when it came to my own skin and she genuinely wanted me to get to a point where I could feel truly happy, rocking my own natural skin.
Bridget gave me a run down of how dermaviduals works; the science behind it and what they strive for when it comes to skin. Their entire philosophy is based on Albert Kligman’s corneotherapy - in other words, they aim for the recovery of the stratum corneum (top layer of the skin), improving the function of the skin barrier and subsequently, the overall equilibrium of the skin. It’s all about nurturing the acid mantle and maintaining our skin’s harmony so that it can defend itself against external aggressors. Simply put, corneotherapy is concerned about the wellbeing and health of your skin.
As it turns out, I have what she explained to me as ‘dry acne,’ which is basically how it sounds; acne but without the super oily part. Absolutely everything I had previously been told to use on my skin was, in fact, killing it. Great. Things like emulsifiers, SLS, mineral oils, petrolatum, PEGs, silicones, colourants, fragrance, EDTA, butylated compounds and phthalates were wreaking havoc on my skin. If you look at the back of your product packaging, you’ll find that a lot of these ingredients are in your skincare. It honestly astounds me how the cosmetic industry is still using them, considering that most of these chemicals have been proven to be toxic and/or carcinogenic.
I can finally leave the house, with no makeup and not feel as if people are silently judging my, what felt like, ‘unclean’ skin.
My Anti-Acne Skincare Regimen
We concluded that the aim was to work on repairing my skin's barrier so we can further treat the skin to minimise blemishes and scarring and for the first time in my life, restore its GLOW.
My first treatment was for Bridget to get a feel for what she was working with. Even though it was just one treatment, I came out of it with foreign feelings of hope and optimism in achieving healthy skin. As creepy as it sounds, it was as if I had someone else’s skin on my face. I genuinely just felt so happy to be in such capable hands. I was finally going to have acne-free smooth skin.
I had previously explained to Bridget that I’m not that knowledgeable when it comes to skin, so she kept my home care incredibly simple, which had a huge impact on the consistency of my routine.
In retrospect, it’s apparent that I was living in a world of utter confusion with a million and one skin products; none of which were beneficial for me. They simply gathered dust but now they’ve found a new home of true belonging - the bin.
Before dermaviduals
The Routine
Bridget started me off with the basics - a cleanser, spray, and moisturiser to rebuild the stratum corneum before adding the serum and mask. I’ve included my personalised routine for dry acne but if you have oily acne, it would look slightly different.
Total Cleansing Cream:
Having a non-stripping and nurturing cleanser is incredibly hard to find. Our skin's acid mantle and its microbiome depends on a very delicate balance of pH to ensure that it’s working at optimal health and protecting us from external irritants, and so, it’s crucial we have a good cleanser.
The Total Cleansing Cream contains gentle tensides with additional natural oils and DMS®-compounds. It can be used on any type of skin including sensitive and problematic skin. Plus, it can be used all over the body, including your scalp and hair.
Süüsmoon® Lotion P:
Hyperactive skin needs effective first-aid measures to restore its natural balance. It’s very important to keep skin caring substances at a minimum dose while using a product that simultaneously has cleansing and regenerating properties to avoid further irritation.
Süüsmoon® Lotion P meets those requirements and supports the prevention of psoriasis. Due to the large concentration of linoleic acid in the liposomes used, Lotion P is also effective in treating and cleansing blemished skin (pre-acne).
Liposomes are used as a natural ‘means of transportation’ for skin care agents. When included in preparations like in the present lotion, they are capable of performing gentle cleansing as well as skin caring functions. The liposomes described here consist of natural phosphatidylcholine which is also to be found in the human cell membrane and contains large amounts of linoleic acid (vitamin F).
The human organism, and above all, the skin, needs linoleic acid; which the human body is not able to synthesize. In terms of texture, süüsmoon® Lotion P spreads easily on the skin due to its liquid consistency and doesn’t leave an oily film.
Süüsmoon® Lotion N:
Dry skin with skin barrier disorders needs a skin care lotion with a high oil content to restore its natural balance. Süüsmoon® Lotion N regenerates the natural skin barrier and supports the prevention of dry and neurodermitis skin.
It’s also recommended for the prevention of skin impurities and light forms of acne with simultaneously dry skin. As with most dermaviduals products, the nanoparticles used consist of natural phosphatidylcholine which we now know mimics our skin’s outer membrane and helps with absorption.
Base Cream:
A staple moisturiser for most skin types, Base Cream is a delicious, fast penetrating cream that revitalises the skin without leaving any shine. It’s packed with high quality skin caring substances such as phosphatidylcholine, shea butter, ceramides and squalane, without any emulsifiers.
Liposome Concentrate Plus:
This product is used for supporting prevention of cornification disorders on the sebaceous glands. In other words, it offers intensive care for blemished and rosacea prone skin.
Containing highly enriched native phosphatidylcholine in a liposomal dispersion, this serum is brimming with essential fatty acids like linoleic acid and alpha-linoleic acid to thoroughly penetrate the uppermost skin layer.
Because the chemically bound linoleic acid is transformed to the anti-inflammatory 13-hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid (13-HODE), Liposome Concentrate Plus supports the prevention of blemished and inflamed skin.
Individual Mask:
Aptly dubbed, this is a mask with a gel/clay base that is completely individualised and custom blended. Mine was made with:
Liposome Concentrate Plus
Hamamelis Extract
Vitamin B Liposome Concentrate
Liposome NMF Complex
Zinc Liposome Serum
Aloe Vera Extract
The Results
In a nutshell, I won’t be using anything else but dermaviduals for the rest of my life. The results speak for themselves. After a few weeks of this skincare routine, the redness in my face dissipated and I had a glow that was emanating from my healthy and revitalised skin cells. My skin has never been smoother.
I struggle to really put into context how life-changing this has been for me. When I wake up, looking in the mirror all of a sudden isn’t so disheartening. I can finally leave the house, with no makeup and not feel as if people are silently judging my, what felt like, ‘unclean’ skin.
Don't get me wrong, I’ve got a little way to go but in the space of 6 weeks, Bridget changed my entire life.
As dermaviduals is a prescription only model, you’ll have to find a clinic near you whether you’re in New Zealand or Australia which is easy enough on their website.
After dermaviduals
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