before + after. treating acne holistically.

Healing acne holistically is so damn satisfying.

This client came in with stage 3 acne and had tried everything. We started working on healing her skin slowly and gently focusing on restoring her barrier function. She was on antibiotics and the product line she was using had parabens, fragrance and artificial preservatives causing her skin to be reactive, sensitive, and inflamed. First step was to swap out all of her products with Botnia products. We switched her cleanser to the Botnia gentle cleanser. This cleanser is full of soothing botanicals that help bring the skin barrier into balance, like goldenseal leaf and chamomile. We changed up her exfoliation method to the essential enzyme. This multitasking cream utilizes pomegranate, juniper, and calendula to regulate the skin’s lymphatic system and prevent the effects of environmental stress. We also swapped out her moisturizer for the daily face cream and remedy oil. She got off the antibiotics and focused on her gut health. Incorporating a variety of fruits, veggies, and soluble fiber to help bring back healthy bacteria.

Next step was to get blood work done with her functional medicine doctor. They discovered she was very low in vitamin D and zinc (crucial for healthy skin cells). Once she started supplementing the zinc and D and using gentler products her skin responded positively in a short amount of time. She already ate a clean plant based diet, exercised regularly, and drank plenty of water which is crucial to healing any skin condition. We did facials every 3-4 weeks focusing on restoring the barrier and calming the inflammation. Nothing too aggressive, just gentle exfoliation, colloidal oats, sulfur, calendula, antioxidants, goldenseal, and LED red light therapy. I used the red light on her not the blue - I didn’t want to kill the healthy bacteria on her skin that’s trying to repopulate.

We are still working together to heal scarring. Of course she is human so still has breakouts from time to time but all and all her skin is balanced and clear.

The first photo is her first visit in September 2022, second and third photo are in December 2022, the last photos were in January 2023.