How One Ingredient Can Affect Your Results
Veronica started my virtual acne program, Clear Academy, hoping she could clear her acne quickly—her goal was clear skin in 10-12 weeks.
She followed the step-by-step process closely, adjusting her products every week and modifying her diet a little. I tracked her progress carefully as I do with everyone.
Her skin improved right on schedule. She had started with a lot of closed comedones on her cheeks from using the wrong makeup.
However, when the 12-week deadline came, she had started breaking out again. I noticed her breakouts had changed—from non-inflamed bumps on her cheeks, to inflamed breakouts on her jawline.
Acne is always caused by something and has a very predictable pattern. Even the worst cases of acne usually clear up in 12-13 weeks. If they don't, there's something going on that's causing new breakouts to form.
I went over everything with Veronica: she was using her products the right way, her new makeup was acne-safe, her haircare checked out. It seemed like she was doing everything right.
In cases like this—when someone is doing everything perfectly, but their skin is telling a different story—I have a list of questions I use to dig a little deeper.
And sure enough—we found the hidden cause of her new breakouts: she was washing her hair twice a week at her country club, and the shampoo and conditioner had several clogging ingredients in it. That was enough to cause new acne and delay her results.
As soon as she stopped, her skin cleared up fully 6 weeks later.
The secret to fast results is finding your acne triggers and avoiding them from day 1. It's easy to do once you find out what your triggers are, but every now and then, something sneaks in. It's okay when this happens, it just delays your results by a few weeks.
Another client had a similar experience—but with a completely different hidden trigger.
She had switched dairy for coconut milk in her smoothies, because drinking too much dairy can cause breakouts. But her coconut milk had added vitamin B12—which will also cause inflamed breakouts in acne-prone skin when consumed regularly.
That one hidden ingredient delayed her skin from clearing by 6 weeks.
Once we figured it out, it cleared right up.
The takeaway?
You can do everything else right—but it only takes one product or one overlooked ingredient to slow down your progress and cause breakouts.
And it doesn't mean your products aren't working.
Knowing what's causing your acne is just as important as the products you're using and can save you years of breakouts.
