Skin + Me Stories: Lauren + 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, we’re talking to 27-year-old Lauren from Essex, who’s sharing her skincare journey with The Dose. 

Tell us about your skincare journey over the years

I have quite sensitive skin and I have always been into skincare and trying out new products or the latest trend to find the products that don’t irritate my skin. I really got into it when I started breaking out with hormonal acne in my early 20s and it was at its worst at the very beginning of lockdown. The stress of lockdown and having all this freedom to try new products was my downfall.

I was told by my GP “it wasn’t that bad” but to me it really affected how I felt and I was constantly looking at my skin and over-analysing it. I started to try even more products and I think the overload of all these different things made my skin worse – which is why I turned to Skin + Me! I loved the idea of a much simpler routine and my skin has thanked me for it.

What mistakes did you make along the way?

Trying too many products – I have quite sensitive skin and I think the combination of this and all the products under the sun really didn’t help. Oh and I didn’t wear SPF before starting Skin + Me – something I wear every single day now!

When did you first start using Skin + Me? 

I started using Skin + Me in August last year and my original skin goal was to get rid of my acne. My skin is now clear (apart from the occasional spot) and overall my skin is just so much healthier and smoother. 

How has the process been overall? 

My journey with Skin + Me has been amazing. I haven’t ever used a product that has tackled my skin concern and also been so simple and easy to use and incorporate into my routine. It has had its ups and downs of course. Around December time, I was prescribed Tretinoin, which was too much for my sensitive skin, even when using a moisturiser before my Daily Dose my skin was irritated, itchy and red. I persevered for 3 months as I heard so many wonderful things about it but reached out to the team and they were happy to remove this from my prescription and try something else, and honestly, my skin has never looked better. It’s so good to know what works for someone may not work for someone else in their prescription.

How long did your purging take to resolve?

I experienced purging around 1 to 2 months into my journey with Skin + Me. I got quite a few more spots and redness but I made sure to remind myself every day that this wouldn’t be forever and is part of the process of getting clear skin. I applied my Daily Dose the same way every night (after cleansing and before moisturising) and it took about 4 months for the purging to completely stop. I’m so happy I went through this difficult stage because the skin I have now is so much more healthy than when I first started, it was all worth it.

What are your future skin goals? 

My future skin goal is to keep it looking healthy and manageable. I understand that I may get one or two spots along the way and that’s ok! But I know that my skin is in a much better place and I have found a routine that makes my skin happy.

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

Reach out to the team and persevere. The team is always so happy to help and give such great advice. Purging is completely normal and the team is there to help you during this difficult time of the process but please remember it’s not forever and it’s so worth it when the purging is over. 

What are your Holy Grail products?

Cleanser: Cerave Hydrating Cleanser

Moisturiser: Cerave Facial Moisturising Lotion

SPF: Heliocare 360 Sunscreen gel