It’s been 15-years since I finished esthetician school, which seems crazy that I’ve been doing this so long.
I started out working for a Plastic Surgeon doing microdermabrasion & chemical peels, because those were the HOT treatments at the time. Everyone was doing these harsh treatments.
Yep, they were harsh! I was burning people & damaging their skin with the peels & microdermabrasion. It was scary and I realized at a young age that wasn’t the direction I wanted my career to head.
After two years, I was blessed to work in a small spa in my local town. The owner of the spa took me under her wing & taught me everything she knew. It was a wonderful experience and I learned so much from her and from working in her spa.
I will never forget this teenage boy coming in for his acne. He had it all over his face and I remember my boss telling me that he has too much yeast in his system.
That triggered something in me.
Acne and yeast?
How could that be?
I was taught that acne was an abundance of this bacteria in our pores called P.acne bacteria. That’s what he had and that’s what we were treating, right?
Fast forward several years to when I had a 1 year old and wanted to keep working because I was bored being a stay at home mom.
I knew I wanted my skin care business to be different than the other spas in town, but I didn’t know how to go in that direction. I started working anyways.
A year after opening up, I decided to bring in a product line to offer to my clients. I stumbled upon a natural line & the doctor who created the line was there.
We got to talking and I realized that this was the perfect line for me!
His philosophy is to treat the skin from the source of the problem. Meaning, you still need to care for
your skin correctly and with the right products.
BUT…
You ALSO need to have a healthy gut & liver in order for your skin to function & perform correctly.
In other words, that yeast & acne conversation I had with my old boss several years before was true and I found a new twist to add to my business and help people with their skin!
I dove into that line and never looked back.
Now that you understand my history and how I became the esthetician I am today, I’m going to go into my stories of how I cleared up my skin with diet changes.
My acne story
In 2006 I went off birth control pills because I wanted to start a family. Within a few months of stopping, I had full blown acne, which was odd because I never had acne or major breakouts as a teenager.
With each of my 3 pregnancies, my skin was clear, so I just assumed that it was hormonal & once my hormones evened out & went back to normal, my skin would clear up.
After baby #3, I still had about 5lbs to lose. I was running & exercising 5-6 days a week, so I decided to bump it up and do a 14-day cleanse to drop the last few pounds that were lingering.
Not only did I get back to my pre-baby weight, but my skin completely cleared up in less than 2 weeks!
What?
Yep, I realized that dairy is a HUGE trigger for me and consuming it in large amounts meant that I would have a beautiful, juicy zit pop up on my cheek, lip or chin a few days later.
I avoid dairy as much as possible, because I hate the feeling of breaking out. Sometimes I cheat & am ok, but most times I’m not.
Due to the persistence of being an esthetician & constantly trying new products, I’ve been able to keep my skin clear since 2013.
Until 2017 when the melasma started to appear!
My Melasma Story
2017 I was still living in Texas. Being a Chicago girl, forgot that ALL events are always outdoors in Texas. I went out without my SPF and ended up with a nasty sunburn. The worst part was I had owl eyes from my sunglasses.
After the “tan” faded in the fall, it still looked like I had owl eyes, which was weird. Until I took a closer look.
I realized that the tan was gone but I now had big chunks of dark patches all over my cheeks and another one right between my eyebrows.
Ugh, melasma, otherwise known as the Mask of Pregnancy.
This was going to be tricky.
I added in a really excellent Vitamin C serum in the winter of 2018, hoping to lighten up my Melasma. I began LED treatments twice a week, in addition to my microcurrent treatments.
I saw some improvement by summer, but not the results I was hoping for.
This past summer, I had my SPF with me everywhere & wore hats every time we were outdoors, including the pool!
It didn’t get worse, thankfully, but it wasn’t getting better, despite all the work I was doing to my skin.
In June, I was introduced to the Keto Diet and decided to give it a try, mainly because I wasn’t feeling great, my clothes were tight, I was tired and suffered from daily headaches & heartburn.
I LOVE the Keto Diet!
It’s simple and easy to add into my daily routine and I’ve found that I eat less during the day, but bigger meals at mealtime. My energy levels are high, headaches & heartburn are gone. My clothes fit amazing and I feel really great!
Here’s the added bonus…
Last weekend I took pictures of my skin because I was curious to see how my Melasma has lightened up.
To my shock, it totally faded away!
Icouldn’t believe the results. This is ALL due to changing my diet back in June.
It took me several months before I started feeling great on the keto diet, not only did I see improvements in my skin, but no longer have ANY sugar cravings!
For those of you who know me, chocolate is my BFF. Well, not anymore! I kicked the sugar addiction completely & healed my gut and liver.
Hopefully reading this inspires you to take action on your skin and your health. We all deserve to look and feel beautiful inside and out.
If you can make one small change, I would highly suggest adding more fat to your diet, eliminate sugar, carbs & dairy. It’s not easy at first, but your skin is worth it!
To book an appointment with Samantha, please visit Skin Deep: www.skindeepil.com
XO
Samantha
Skin Deep is changing lives one face at a time
