Looking back on these photos now and seeing the difference in just over a year is absolutely wild to me, because for so long I think I had just accepted that this was what my skin looked like now and I just had to accept that.

But the truth was, no matter how much I tried to convince myself I was okay with that, it really did have such a huge impact on my self esteem and mental health for so long.

It also became such a financial burden, because I was spending so much on skincare and beauty treatments, desperate to try and treat it. But in the end, it was none of that I think helped to start to get to the root cause of the problem and really start to treat it.

I want to preface this before I share with you the things I did that I am not a doctor, nor a certified beauty therapist, or anyone with any qualifications to give personal advice. Rather just a little girly who went down the rabbit hole in search of answers, sharing with you what I found worked for me…

But without further ado, here are the main things I did/changed to help clear my severe cystic acne

1. Get All The Fact

After months, if not years trying to find topical solutions and getting skin treatments and spending so much money, I realised that trying to work on it from the surface was not working. And it was always clear something else was underpinning it, I didn’t know what, so I went digging…

That also kind of made things more confusing to start because different people had different opinions. Some said it was hormonal, some said it was fungal, some said it was diet, and others had NFI.

However, I have always had hormonal issues, and the location of the bad areas on my face did scream “hormonal”. So I started there…

I had already been given a course of antibiotics by a GP, which temporarily helped for a few months, but it came back even worse. So I knew I wasn’t keen on trying that again.

So I went and saw Nat Kringoudis, who I had previously seen for periods and hormonal issues. She started with a full panel stool sample to see what was off in my guts. Which to no surprise came back with a plethora of things off that she treated with a specific type of probiotic for those specific issues.

I want to note that Nat has been a huge part of helping me on this journey, and one of the only people who has listened to me, listended and been respectful of the things I did not want to do (like more antibiotics or contraceptives), and no shut me down when I wanted to investigate differant things but rather encouraged me to keep seeking to know more!!

I also got full blood tests done as well as genetic DNA testing, which gave me a 120+ pages of personal genetic data.

My blood tests showed a number of markers, including hormones and liver function that showed I have terrible detoxification and a lot of inflammation in my body, which would very likely be the cause of the breakouts.

The DNA test I actually did with the raw data I already had from my Ancestry account, which you can download and then upload to Stratagene to get a report.

This also revealed a lot of fundamental information about my DNA that we could then specifically attribute to causing slow detox pathways, again adding even more pressure on my system.

I discovered that both my MTHFR and COMT genes, two that are both involved particularly in methylation, detoxification, and the regulation of brain chemicals. And issue with these two genes is also especially common in neurodivergent women (cause we don’t have it bad enough).

This information was invaluable, and in hindsight something I wish I had sought out sooner, or was more normalised in women’s health, because it was a huge part of the puzzle in finding solutions, rather than just throwing on bandages to my problems.

The issues these gene mutations can cause around methylation means that I need to take supplements in a specific form to be able to digest them properly and they actually be absorbed as I’m missing the enzymes to assist with that.

So all those years of taking supplements that were wrong for me or just not working, great!!

It also meant I knew that assisting my detox pathways was one of the main things I needed to do. And so over the last year I’ve made a lot of lifestyle changes and worked toward reducing inflammation in my body.

Here’s somethings I did:

• Installing a filtration tap system to remove heavy metals and nasties in the water.
• Reduce alcohol intake
• Increase fibre intake to aid flushing everything out
• Regular exercise, low intensity so not to spike cortisol
• Try get a full night unbroken sleep (not always successful)

There are a couple of other things I regularly do that I’ll share after this as well.

It is hard to say which one of these works better then the other because I did them all concurrently, but regardless of the result in my skin, I feel better for doing all of these things just in general, so no great loss.

But I definitely think, as a first point of call if you are experiencing something similar, is to investigate all of these things before just going in blind and wasting so much time and money on products, knowledge is power.

2. Regular Saunas & Dry Brushing

On the topic of detoxification, I think having regular saunas has been one of the biggest helps in so many ways.

I have actually had a sauna for over 5+ years and got one at the start of the pandemic. But I upped how many I was having a week to around 3-4. Making sure to drink plenty of water and sweat it out!!

If you are in the market for a sauna, I have a Kylin branded one and I’ve loved it and found it super reliable, but there are heaps more brands available now like Nook.

I then had someone recommend dry brushing, which honestly sounded like a gimmick to me, but I tried it anyway, and look even if it isn’t helping, my skin feels AMAZING after because it effectively removes dead skin cells.

But the dry brushing apparently helps by encouraging lymph flow, and supports the body’s natural process of filtering out toxins and waste.

I also mentioned, I recently got a vibration board, but I will report back on that once I’ve used it long enough.

3. Skincare Routine

Now, I know you might be wondering what I am doing on this front since I said I wasted so much money. And before I even started any of the stuff above, I had honestly given up and just gone back to a very basic and gentle routine, because I realised using so many harsh products I might have been making it worse.

I just started using things like CeraVe, Bubble and unsexy chemist brands and just the basics like cleanser, toner and moisturiser.

I have popped some of the ones I use below. But I genuinely think my skin thanked me for this and once it started to clear, I felt a noticeable difference in texture too.

Then once I had stopped seeing those really deep cystic pimples and mostly just had scarring left, I introduced a few products to help reduce redness and scars and just overall help my skin feel nice and hydrated.

Those I will pop below too but the main ones are:

The Ordinary Glycolic Acid: which I also use on my decolletage and back as I get a lot of sweat bumps and just in general to help with dead skin.

Anua Azelaic Acid 10 Hyaluron Redness Soothing Serum: This is great for acne prone skin and helps reduce redness, blemishes and dark spots. I think this has been huge in helping my clear the acne scars I had.

BRIOTECH Topical Skin Spray Hypochlorous Acid Spray: I use this a lot when I travel but also just at home or days I have worn a lot of makeup. It helps support your skin against irritations, inflammation and can be used on your body as well.

La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5+ Repairing Balm: This is my GOAT. I know it’s the unsexiest product ever, but I swear by this and think it’s been integral in helping repair my skin. It strengthens your skin barrier, helps prevent moisture loss, and  keep your skin feeling amazing and is good for dry and sensitive skin

The Ordinary Squalane Cleanser: If you are wanting a cleaner recommendation, I do use this one as well as Bubble and CeraVe. It just depends on what is special.

I hope that in sharing this, it might be helpful for others who are experiencing the same or similar. And I encourage everyone, before you do or buy anything, to gather as much information as you can to help build the bigger picture for you so tha t you don’t have to spend months if not years like me obsessing and feeling so anxious about something that impacts you on so many levels.

Knowledge is absolutely power, and often these things are not just topical solutions or tablet that will magically fix everything. And I so wish that before prescribing antibiotics or hormonal contraceptives, women were afforded more time to truly investigate the deeper systemic issues they are facing.

I also want to note, this did not happen over night, it took weeks, months and even years to get to this point. And even now, my skin is not perfect and I just get breakouts, I still have some marks and scarring and my skin does change with my cycle, that is unavoidable.

And again, please seek individual advice from professionals as everyone’s body and journey is different too. There is no one size fits all unfortunately.