I had to include Acne as part of the chemical peeling process because it’s the first thing everyone wants to try regardless of the side effects. A chemical Peel is the last thing I would do to treat acne. In most cases the skin is so badly over processed I have to balance it first. Starting with a chemical peel will only create more over processing and possibly make matters worse.
Acne comes in all shapes and sizes. I had acne when I was 16 until I was 33 so I have some experience. Most of you know my story of how my husband taught me how to use glycolic acid to fix my own acne problem. In my skin care practice I have seen so many different types of acne, Cystic, Black heads, Milia, Small Nodules to large Nodules. I have treated minor cases to extreme cases.
As a facialist Acne is not my passion but I have learned to treat it with much success. One case in particular comes to mind probably the worst case I have ever seen. It was the middle of December, cold in California when I received a call from “Nicole the actress” that’s how I list her on my cell phone. She told me she had acne and she was desperate to fix it. She believed she needed a chemical peel and if I was willing to do it. I told her I would have to see her first then I would decide how to treat her.
So let me set the serino up. Nicole was 22 years old , Malaysian, olive skin tone, and quite beautiful. She was set to start filming a movie and she had 15 days to get her skin into shape or the film company was going to recast her because her skin was soooooo bad and they couldn’t cover it with makeup. Her skin was so bad it itched all the time and she wasn’t able to sleep. Not only was her face itching but the skin on her entire body was itching. Her skin would keep her up at night. She had these little tiny white liquid bumps all over her face and her face looked swollen from all the inflammation activity that was happening to her. The first thing I told her was that a Chemical Peel was out of the question it would only make her condition worse. Our first step was to find out why she was itching then I had to get the itching to stop. I knew that anything I would do to treat her would only make the itching worse.
Our first meeting was a discussion about her itching. There was no way I could treat her at all. The condition of her skin was so bad. How can a young 22 year old beautiful, olive skin tone girl be so itchy? EASY, the first thing I asked her was how many times do you bathe or shower a day. I was shocked when she told me she bathes 5 to 6 times a day. I told her to STOP bathing, that was her problem. She told me she was addicted to the water and she loved bathing. What she loved more than bathing was acting so I explained to her that she was destroying her skin and she wouldn’t be young and beautiful for very long. She was accelerating the aging process of her skin by stripping the natural oils away. What I also explained to her was that she created this problem and it was what I call BEHAVIORAL ACNE. Her skin was fighting back from the constant stripping, scrubbing, and bathing.
The Four Step Skin Care process I would set up for her would go like this:
1. Stop the Itch.
2. Balance her Skin to a healthy normal Ph.
3. Pull all the Acne under the Skin to the Surface.
4. Clean up any Pitting and Scaring that was left.
Now, remember I had a 15 day time line to get her skin in shape to film her current movie project. I explained to her because of the condition of her skin it would take about 6 to 8 weeks to get to step 3. But as long as she followed my plan she would be able to see and feel the healing process happening and she would know we were on the right track. I also believed that the liquidly bumps on her face would start going away enough she should be ok for filming. Our first meeting she agreed to follow my directions and no bathing or makeup for 3 days and I would see her again in 3 days. She agreed, This was her plan:
Morning: Apply SkinWater Hydration Cream
Apply Waterscreen
Evening: Apply SkinWater Hydration Cream
Apply Waterscreen.
If she felt she needed to clean her body (not her face) she could use our facial wash and gently wipe clean with a soft towel. Absolutely no bathing.
If she needed over the counter anti itch ointment that would be okay. The reason I didn’t have her washing her face was that her skin was so depleted, and I just needed her to stop everything she was doing and add a little moisture to her skin and then seal it up. She called me the very first day that the Skinwater Hydration Cream was burning her face so for the entire 3 days all she could use was the Waterscreen. Her first 3 days out of the bath tub or shower her skin stopped itching on her body but her face was still a little itchy.
We started her facial very slow. She had bumps every where on the surface and under her skin she was a HOT mess. After her first mini facial which I was just cleaning and trying to hydrate. Her skin was still so sensitive I could hardly wipe her face because her skin was so weak and painful . (I want to also remind everyone she wanted to start with a chemical Peel.) That evening Nicole started itching all over again. It took me two weeks to stabilize her skin I saw her 3 times a week for 2 weeks. In that 2 weeks it was just enough time to calm down her skin a bit so she would be able to wear makeup again and film the movie.
ALTHOUGH every one around Nicole…her agent, the film makers, her friends, and her family, were still concerned with the condition of her skin and every one had a suggestion or a name of a Dr. for her to see. She would politely explain that she was going to follow the Biokorium Acne plan for her recovery. One thing I have to say about “ Nicole the actress” is that she did follow my plan exactly.
One day I was treating Nicole and she walked in with her sister, who had beautiful skin. I of course had to comment and Nicole told me she does nothing to her skin she doesn’t even wash it much. Well, that comment spoke volumes to Nicole herself. Her acne was a behavior issue. She was over washing, over cleaning, over scrubbing, and over stripping her beautiful skin away.
It took us 12 weeks to really get to step 3 and it took us almost 8 months to get to a chemical Peel. In which she had 2 of them. A weak one then a strong one. I would always proceed with caution in this case because it took so long to rebuild her skin.
Nicole had tried everything: Medications, Over the Counter applications, Facials and Spa Treatments. Her condition just continued to get worse, and no one had ever looked at her behavior, “ bathing”, the one issue that kept the acne condition reoccurring.
While searching for the latest Acne cure or her next Acne Fix, at 22 years of age, “Nicole the actress” was so frustrated and almost ready to lose her dream job when she found BioKorium.
Today her plan is really simple:
Take quick short showers.
Stay off make-up whenever possible.
Her BioKorium products are Facial Wash, 5%Glycolic Acid Cream, Anti Oxidant Cream, Skinwater Hydration Cream, and Waterscreen.