Skin + Me Stories: Carys + Clear Skin

As much as we love sharing customer success stories, we think it’s just as important to highlight the skincare journeys that don’t always follow the smoothest path. Setbacks and challenges can often occur with prescription skincare, but with perseverance and coaching the results are worth it. Achieving your skin goal takes time, dedication, and often a little extra expert advice to reach the finish line. 

With that in mind, we’ve reached out to real Skin + Me customers who met their skin goals, with a few consultations and formulation tweaks along the way. Today, Carys, a 38-year-old NHS Midwife Coordinator from Cheshire shares her story. 

Tell us about your skincare journey

I always had absolutely perfect skin as a teenager and never suffered with anything other than the odd spot here and there throughout my 20s. Subsequently, I never took proper care of my skin, I completely took it for granted and it was a big shock when, while pregnant with my third baby, I developed painful cystic acne that covered my cheeks, jawline and chin. 

The GP said it was hormonal and would most likely go away post-pregnancy and I hung onto that, but it really affected my self-esteem and sometimes I wouldn’t want to go out. It really affected how I enjoyed my pregnancy and I was so disappointed when it didn’t go away after my daughter was born.

I then suffered with it to varying degrees for about ten years, trying everything from oral antibiotics, facials and chemical peels, to seed cycling, where you eat certain types of raw seeds at different points in your menstrual cycle to try to balance your hormones!

I was at my lowest point with my skin when I saw the advert on Instagram for Skin + Me. I thought I’ve tried everything else, so why not give this a go, not really holding out much hope. I’m so glad that I did, it has been a complete game-changer for me and I never thought that I would receive compliments about my skin, but that happens regularly now.

What mistakes did you make along the way?

My biggest mistake over the years has been over-exfoliating. I used to really struggle with the texture of my skin when it was bad and almost wanted to try to scrub it so it felt smoother, using facial scrubs and face cloths to try to achieve a smooth skin texture. I now know from advice the skin Skin + Me experts gave that this only inflames your skin and makes it worse. This is what I love about Skin + Me, I had never had any advice about how to actually care for my skin until I started the subscription. I love that they have given me a holistic treatment plan, which has included advice about what products I can use alongside my prescription and how to actually properly take care of my skin.

When did you first start using Skin + Me? What were your original skin goals? 

I first started using Skin and Me at the beginning of this year – I have to admit that I was really anxious about starting something new when my skin was already in such a bad state and I had tried so many other things before. I had heard that some of the active ingredients in the prescription were quite strong and I was worried how my skin would react. My original skin goals were straight up to clear my acne, nothing else! I couldn’t even think past that and would never have imagined I could also have achieved a gorgeous glow and reduced the lines around my eyes, but that seems to have happened too. Bonus.

How has the process been overall? 

I love that it comes in the post every month, it’s never late and comes in fully sustainable packaging which is very important to me. I have to admit, the first month I received the Daily Doser, I hardly used it because I was so fearful of making my skin worse, but then I started following them on Instagram and reading about other people’s positive experiences on their treatment which really reassured me.

I was mostly worried about Tretinoin and the possibility of purging. I emailed the team and they responded really quickly with some reassuring advice which gave me the confidence to give it a try. I liked that I got a response from a ‘real person’ too. There’s also such a great supportive online community, made up of people that are using Skin + Me, where you can ask questions and share experiences of the product which has really helped me too.

What are your future skin goals? 

I can honestly say that if my skin stays like it is now I will be really happy. It has not been as clear as it is now for years and it’s really had such a positive impact on my confidence and self-esteem. My skin goals are to continue with the simplified skincare regime I’ve established as it’s clearly working! It does take a little self-discipline to stick to it but the rewards are so worth it.

What advice would you give to someone struggling with their Skin + Me prescription?

Get in touch with them straight away – I was really pleasantly surprised with how helpful they were and you can never ask too many questions. They want to help you and are only an email away. I did experience some purging in month two and that was tough, especially when I had been so anxious about that happening in the first place. But I am so glad I powered through it and persevered because I’m so delighted with the results. 

What are your Holy Grail products?

Cleanser: Neutrogena Hydro Boost Water Gel – so fresh!

Moisturiser: Bioderma Sebium Hydra 

SPF: Heliocare 360 Oil-Free Gel – this is amazing stuff, doesn’t even feel like sunscreen and is a dream under make up.