It all started with her, my beautiful sister.
Watching her self confidence and self love be trampled by acne made me appreciate how hard it is to live with problem skin.
The acne first started in high school, and she tried all sorts of things to make it go away before going on the pill.
And the Pill worked until she realised she didn’t want to be on it anymore (10 years down the track!).
There were so many times when we’d be getting ready to go somewhere, and she’d look in the mirror and start crying, professing that she couldn’t come with us because of her skin.
She would avoid mirrors whenever she could.
I remember her telling me she was feeling really good one day, walking around with a spring in her step, smile on her face and wind in her hair. And, then she caught her reflection. She’d say, “I can forget I have acne until I see myself in the mirror. And, that’s not me. How I feel and how I look are two different things.”
People would look at her pimples and not her beautiful green eyes when she spoke.
Her clothing choices became about what would cover the acne, not about what she wanted to wear.
This was the cumulation of ten years being on and off the pill, on and off antibiotics, and being offered the generic acne-range skincare whenever she asked for help.
Doctors would tell her to go back on the pill and to try antibiotics again. One even asked her “how she let it get so bad”.
Dermatologists would tell her to consider Accutane before pushing their own generic acne-range skincare.
She had tried everything under the sun, and still it was her skin that determined her mood and her confidence.
I had been a Naturopath for five years at this point.
I watched from the sidelines, heart breaking every time I saw her cry. Heart exploding every time I saw her get on with her plans, regardless of her skin.
My gorgeous sister, I would do anything for her.
I had learnt so much about how to treat skin, but I didn’t know if I was ready to take on the emotional responsibility of treating her.
She felt her acne was her Goliath, and I felt like that too.
What if I couldn’t help her? What would happen then?
After some heavy promises made to follow my instructions, I broke my “no family or friends” rule and agreed to treat her.
We started with routine pathology and salivary hormone testing, which revealed several drivers to the problem that hadn’t been investigated before.
We worked with herbs and supplements to help heal her gut, optimise liver clearance and balance her hormones.
She changed her diet, her lifestyle, and started exercising regularly.
Topically, she used custom blended skincare and had regular skin therapy to help decongest and improve healing time of the skin.
I watched her confidence return, and shared in the celebration of more and more frequent days of clear skin.
I watched her buy the first backless dress in years, and start to wear singlets without having to cover her shoulders or chest in concealer.
I watched her focus less on her skin and more on how she wanted to express herself.
I watched the reflection of my beautiful sister return.
And I started to notice how many other beautiful sisters out there are struggling with acne.
Who have been on and off the pill and don’t know what to do to help their skin; and, worse, are given the same answers that they’ve already tried before or are reluctant to try for very good reasons… and these answers are actually detrimental to their skin and their health.
I watch more and more women feel helpless to their acne, and have this deeper knowing that there’s something that’s not being addressed but they don’t know where to go to explore it any further.
And that’s where my passion for acne began.
Because the answer to acne is not the pill, and it’s not antibiotics.
It’s unique to you. And you deserve to know what that is.
And to wear all the backless dresses you want.
