As a registered Nutritional Therapist and an accredited Esthetician, I’m in a unique position to understand and offer support to those affected by acne.
I experienced acne from age 11 into my 30’s. I tried everything I could afford from over the counter skincare that promised clear skin to medications prescribed by my doctor, and even some odd homemade concoctions suggested by well-meaning friends.
Some things would work for a short period, and I would be excited and happy only to have my hopes dashed and the upset and despair return. Those were the good times because some of the things I tried actually made my skin a whole lot worse.
Because my skin was oily and felt it ‘looked’ dirty, I was convinced that the cleaner I could get it the better. How wrong I could be.
This obsessive and excessive cleaning and scrubbing of my skin damaged the protective outer barrier, the stratum corneum which is composed of keratinocytes (specialised skin cells), coated with waxy sebum containing lipids, wax esters, squalene and adipocytes (fat-producing cells). This outer barrier serves to waterproof and protect our skin, preventing infection and bacteria from getting in.
After years of struggling with my skin, the first breakthrough I had was discovering the healing support of natural and organic skincare products. Gradually over the course of a couple of months, the breakouts reduced and my skin began to flourish.
This was where my journey to train as a holistic skin therapist began. Over the following years, I realised that I could only do so much topically and that to achieve real skin healing I had to look at the physiology of what was happening inside the body.
I ate what most people would consider a really healthy diet, but as I progressed through my nutrition degree I began to understand and learn how the nutrients in food provide the essential building blocks for healthy cells and ultimately a healthy body and how these nutrients affect our genes and the progression of disease states and health conditions.
What began as my need and desire to heal my own skin gradually became a profession to support others on their own journey to skin health.
If you would like to have a chat, ask questions or find out how the Acne Programme could support your skin health journey, then please get in touch, we can also arrange a short telephone call.
