Katrina’s Acne Journey

January 31, 2020

• Skin

By Katrina Fandrick, Skincare Advisor

I guess you could say I was pretty lucky. I never had acne problems, maybe the occasional pimple through my teen years – even though my father and sister had acne, I took after my mom. Clear skin with minimal to no skincare routine needed.

At least that’s what I thought. Then the switch flipped – while working as a medical aesthetician and helping people with their skin, I was dealing with my very own perioral acne. I tried everything, and I mean everything.

Natural products? Check. Facials? Check. Microneedling? Check. Dietary tests? Check. Don’t touch it and just pray? Check…

My skin in 2018

While all these approaches can be successful depending on your concerns, they didn’t solve my acne. That’s when I started my career at Project Skin MD and was introduced to the world of a cosmetic clinic with invested and highly capable providers.

The first step was meeting with Dr. Janet Ip. With a repertoire like hers, I was so excited to have her invest in me. Our first consultation was 20 minutes and we talked about everything. She listened to my feelings, and while all I really wanted was a magic pill to control my hormones, she gave me even more. A prescription for TactuPump, antibiotics, contraception, skincare advice (did you know SPF can help your acne??) and what proved to be the most valuable suggestion – vascular treatments with the VBeam laser.

My goal was to not be dependent on makeup, and to be one of the success stories our clients can be inspired by.

My starting point in 2019, prior to treatment

I started all three courses of action immediately. While I had to wait for my body to respond to the medication, the series of vascular laser treatments changed the game.

I saw all three PS laser technicians – Christine, Janice, and Kyle. I’ll be honest, it’s not the most comfortable! I may have looked calm and collected, asking intelligent questions and pretending like I couldn’t feel anything. In reality I needed the distraction – I squirmed and by the last few pulses I was asking them to be done. Everyone’s experience will be different. Personally, I’ve always had problems with people and things touching my face (I didn’t let water touch my face unless I could control it, which was at 8 years old and my mother bribed me to put my face in our pool for 20 seconds).

Luckily, the techs calmed my skin and my psyche with the help of SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF, SkinCeuticals Phyto Corrective Gel, and Colorescience All Calm Clinical Redness Corrector SPF50. Then they passed me a mirror. I was prepared to see a tomato looking back at me and to need to take the rest of the day off work. Instead, I looked like me – my cheeks weren’t abnormally flushed, I wasn’t swollen and I felt fine!

I completed the VBeam treatment four times, each spaced out by about 4-6 weeks. While I still get the occasional breakout and I need to consistently address the PIH (post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation), my situation has completely changed for the better. It was hard work, sticking to an avid and consistent product routine, avoiding picking at my face and continuing to receive regular vascular treatments. The results speak for themselves!