Acne Bootcamp case study with Joell Ashcraft

Maedeh Samimi: In this week's episode of The Skin Coach in Georgia podcast, I interviewed Joell who has experienced our acne boot camp and shares her journey to clear skin today. Hi, Joelle, thank you for coming on to the show!

Joell: I'm happy to be here.

Maedeh Samimi: I love hearing stories, and especially acne journey stories.  Tell us about your beautiful skin and any challenges you've had.

Joell: So my acne started when I was about 15. I didn't pay much attention to it, I kind of just ignored it, and used makeup to cover it up. Now, backstory, I am not good at makeup. So anytime I would try to use any type of makeup, my acne looked worse, but I just avoided it until it got really bad.

Another problem I had was the oil production, which was off the charts. You'd look at my skin, and it would be drenched in oil. I was just embarrassed, I didn't want to go outside. I can't even tell you the mental pain it causes to have acne. You isolate, you don't want to go see friends, you don't even want to take pictures. It's just awful, I was so much of a mess with my confidence. 

So I decided to go see a dermatologist who put me on a whole range of things, all of which every single time made my skin worse. She put me on oral antibiotics, on topicals, she put me on birth control... None of which helped. I would cry every single night because my skin just looked so bad, and my makeup ability was just horrific. So, I begged her to put me on Accutane. I have GI issues and I had read all of the side effects but I thought "I don't care, I'm going to do it". My mental state of mind is important to me, so I decided to do it. It gave me a red face for like six months straight. It cleared my skin but I was so read from the side effects. And so I got off Accutane, and I was clear for about three months until I changed my cleanser.

I think about that moment so much because I'm like, how is it that you just change your cleanser and your whole skin just breaks out again? And so I relapsed and by then I had spent thousands of dollars on Accutane and dermatologists. And so I was just upset. I went online, I did all this research, I tried different products, all which made my skin worse and worse and worse until I came to you at Urban Skin Care Clinic. I didn't go back to a dermatologist just because I didn't feel like my dermatologist was really invested in me, I felt like I was just another one of her patients. So I didn't want her to put me back on another cream.

Maedeh Samimi: Yeah, I can totally relate. Okay, so then you got online to search for a solution. How was that process?

Joell: It was trial and error every single time. I followed a lot of Tik Tokers who would say "Use this product" or "Use that product" and I would try it. It would either make my acne worse, or it didn't make a difference at all so I just got really frustrated. Every night, I'd take off my makeup, I'd see acne all over my face, and I just felt anger because I went to a dermatologist and I paid all this money for something that was supposed to stop my acne.

So I kind of just stuck it out for probably about a year. I'd seen a few videos about estheticians but I had also seen a few about not very good estheticians until I found you and I saw all of the great reviews, you had so many testimonials. I told myself "this is the person that I am meant to go to". I just felt it.

So I actually booked you as a customized acne facial. I showed up not knowing you were going to pump the brakes and do a whole consultation. I was scared, I'm not gonna lie, because I had been given so much assurance in the past. But you had told me that acne is like an ecosystem. And you can't target it with just one thing, which I feel in the past when I went to the dermatologist or when I went online and bought products, I was only targeting one thing.

Maedeh Samimi: Absolutly!  How was the process of making the decision to join our acne bootcamp?  It's not for the faint of heart. I mean, I can say it until I'm blue in the face but it's great to hear from someone who's gone through it. So tell us first what made you decide to commit to the process? Tell us about the highs and lows, ups and downs...

Joell: Yes, so when I initially came to you, you played a video and you looked at my skin, and you evaluated based on what you were seeing. “It looks like you have sensitive skin. It looks like you do have acne, but it's not cystic.” And so you gave me these recommendations but then you also laid the groundwork and you said: "If you want to do this, you have to be all in. This is not easy. How much do you want clear skin? Not completely clear skin because you know, over time, you may get a pimple here and there, but how much do you want this? And are you willing to do the things that I recommend?”

I was terrified because I didn't want to try something that wasn't going to work again and be back to square one.  I had never tried an esthetician before and you had really great reviews. I asked myself "if I do the things that she says, what if it actually works?” But it sounded like if anything was going to work, this approach was going to work because it looked at the whole ecosystem of what causes acne. So when I started this program, I remember going home and thinking, "oh, gosh, I have to go through my haircare, my lotions..." I really had to put that initial legwork in the beginning. I just told myself, "I want this, I'm so sick and tired of feeling like crap about my skin, I'm just gonna give this a shot".

Maedeh Samimi: Wonderful. That's exactly who this boot camp is for, someone who feels they've tried it all and nothing's worked, and it's kind of like their last resort. So tell us about the process once you did start the boot camp, because it's not like your acne goes away in a week, or even a month. So what was going through your mind and what kept you going?

Joell: I have very sensitive skin and so initially, starting out with an exfoliant such as mandelic acid and benzoyl peroxide, it did make my skin fairly red in the beginning. Pushing through having a red face for a couple of weeks, and then as well as just looking at all of what I put in my body. That was hard because I love dairy and I love fast food. So I kind of had to step back and say, "what am I willing to try?" I have this esthetician, she's laying the groundwork and honestly, it's not a bad thing to do. The goal is to be healthier, right? It's a holistic approach.

So by doing these things, I'm not just only going to get healthy skin, but I'm going to be healthier in general. I'm fueling my body, I'm putting things in my body that are good for me. But I will say that the first couple of weeks, my skin was very red. I wasn't noticing a difference immediately. But you were amazing, checking in on me, asking how I was doing, assuring me that this was all part of the process… And so after a few weeks, I did notice that my skin was acclimating to the exfoliant so it wasn't as red anymore. 

Maedeh Samimi: Oh my gosh, that's victory right there!

Joell: My skin looks great. We've increased my benzoyl peroxide as well as Mandelic serum and my skin over time has acclimated so much to be able to handle the higher percentages, which I  would never believe was possible with my sensitive skin.

Maedeh Samimi: It's all about using the right products in the right way.

Joell: Definitely. So noticing slight improvements was encouraging to keep going. It was a huge win for me. Especially with the little bumps I had on my forehead that no skincare I got online could get rid of. And within a few weeks, I noticed that the little bumps were gone, so that to me was so important. But I will say that, you know, probably four weeks after starting the bootcamp, my skin purged, which is important to talk about, because I got really discouraged. But then you assured me that it was normal.

Maedeh Samimi: Definitely, yes. We go over this process in the consultation, it takes up to 90 days for a breakout to surface. So, yes, still breaking out while going through the bootcamp is normal, but our goal is to kill the active bacteria that's present and prevent any future breakouts from forming. Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Joell: When I was at my lowest with acne, I would follow acne awareness blogs, which was crucial to me for giving myself love. Acne in society sometimes is seen as something that's not attractive, and it's not viewed as something that some people just can't control. And so I would beat myself up, I would tell myself I wasn't pretty.

My friends would invite me out and I just wouldn't want to go anywhere. It was depressing. I felt really bad about myself. And now, it's completely changed. I don't even have to wear makeup to go out and even if I do have a zit or two, I'm not beating myself up about it. I really don't care at this point because I've come to a place where it doesn't matter. I've come to an acceptance where I'm going to love myself even if I do have acne. I'm going to give myself grace, which is so important because, for so many days in my life, I told myself that this other woman was prettier purely for the fact that she didn't have acne. That was the common denominator in what separated me from "her". 

A friend once told me that acne doesn't change your physical features. You still have the same beautiful eyes, the same beautiful nose, your facial features don't change. So just waking up every day not having to worry... My skin is glowing. I go on campus now for college and it's just incredible. I wake up, I spend 10 minutes getting ready, and I leave. Whereas if I had acne, I would be beating myself up all morning not even wanting to go to school. I think my mindset has also changed about it because even if I did get acne now, I've noticed not to put my self-worth into that.

Maedeh Samimi: That's huge. Thank you for sharing that. It's so liberating. Acne is very complex, but clear skin IS possible. If you have an acne-prone skin type, you're always going to have acne, nobody's going to be acne-free 100% of the time for the rest of their life. We're human beings, especially as women, we have hormonal fluctuations. You may want to indulge in dairy, or whatever you're not supposed to eat more than you should and that's okay, but when a pimple shows up on your face, it's okay, you now know how to deal with it. That's wonderful.

So what advice do you have for other women who struggle with acne?

Joell: I just feel for you, I really do. Those who don't have acne will never understand. Just have grace for yourself and instead of focusing so much on what your face looks like, focus more on what's going on inside. Your self-love is so important during those times.

But also, find a community of those who also suffered with acne because that, to me, was crucial. Sharing my story, seeing other stories online... You've been great with this acne community that you've created in these podcasts, making it accessible for people to get information. I'm just very happy that my skin looks.

Maedeh Samimi: Thank you so much for sharing your story. You're glowing when you're smiling, and that makes me so happy.

Joell: You're so awesome in what you do and how you lift up women, Maedeh. I truly believe you've been a crucial piece in my acne journey. Your kindness and your love and your willingness to share your knowledge and just your constant thirst for knowledge as well. You're always trying to learn more, improve your techniques, educate... I couldn't ask for a better esthetician.

Maedeh Samimi: It's been my pleasure being your acne coach, Joell.