Definite Improvement for Acne and Complexion! - Chicago, IL

After a handful of Vi Peels, years of experimenting and a ton of money, I definitely have some solid advice for those wanting healthier skin. This is only what worked for me and I can’t guarantee what will work for you. However, I can guarantee you that healthy skin…anywhere on your body…must start on the inside! We want to look beautiful on the outside, but we have to treat our insides well in order for that to happen. We so badly want to find a cream or a serum that will fix all of our skin problems and trust me, I tried that for years, but that’s never going to lead to long-term results and it’s going to cost you a lot of money in the meantime. Even though we seem to be most concerned with our physical appearance for obvious reasons, our face or our skin is not the only part of our body that will benefit once we start treating our bodies better! And who doesn’t want a totally, completely healthy body from the inside out?!?

While I have tried a ton of things over the years and have a lot to say, I am mostly going to stick to a few basic principles here and if you have any specific questions, ask and I’ll tell you my experience, if I have one.

As my pictures show, I mostly suffer from cystic type acne on my jawline and cheeks (read: crazy, hormonal acne. The only predictable thing about hormonal acne is that it blows and I can’t control it because I certainly can’t figure out when or why I’ll have a major breakout and then a relative calm. Oh and of course, that it is guaranteed to be at its worst when I have something important or really exciting planned!) This type of acne tends to be really “deep” so it’s very difficult to manually exfoliate and also comes with a ton of blackheads.

While I have relied heavily on products in the past (thank you Ulta giftcard Gods!! But what’s up with nothing expensive ever being on sale in that store?!? Ugh!) to remedy my skin issues, I tended to focus a lot on health as well. Health and wellbeing is kind of my thang! Which I always thought gave me a heads up when tackling acne. However, after many years of being vegan, eating clean, going raw, juicing, gluten-free, soy-free, corn-free and basically anything that makes life great-free…I eventually realized that my clean diet and healthy lifestyle were not helping my acne at all. Like at all! This led to major frustration because I have always believed that you can heal your body from the inside out if only you take care of it. But, nothing I had ever done consistently gave me clear or healthy skin. (Do you know those people who eat super unhealthy but have great skin? Yeah, cause I do! There goes that whole chocolate theory…sorry WebMD)

I continued down this road for quite a time just dealing with the acne because I had no other options. Then, I decided to take everything in my life Back to Basics! I cut my skin care routine and products way down to only a very mild wash and moisturizer, took out all serums and creams and magic potions. Broke my diet down and extensively tested my reactions to food groups. After all said and done, I found that I had a ton of food allergies which meant that all the healthy things I had always been eating weren’t beneficial to my body because I was having allergic reactions. This ultimately led me to attempting to heal my gut and my body and eventually led me to the real answers I was always looking for!

That answer is deficiencies. We are always worried about what we are putting in our bodies like carbs and cheese and well, pizza!! But we don’t put enough emphasis on what we are NOT putting in our bodies. The human body today is so deficient in minerals, nutrients and vitamins because of how our food is sourced that we are missing a lot of super important, mega critical components that keep our bodies running and healthy. I found that I had quite a few deficiencies, but I don’t want to talk about my specific ones because that’s not helpful to others. I just want to suggest that anyone with any health issue (big or small) that manifests itself with acne, eczema, psoriasis, any skin issue (because acne is just a symptom, it is NOT the problem) then please look into deficiencies.

I will share 2 of the most common ones that affect skin and hair though. Magnesium and Sulfur!!! There’s a ton of research and information out there about these guys and it’s readily available so please read up on it. If you decide this could be part of your problem and you want to supplement, please read into the type of supplementation that is most effective. Not all forms of magnesium and sulfur are as effective.

The most success I’ve had in eliminating 90% of my acne, reducing pore size- YES reducing pore size not just appearance, and evening out my skin tone (as the pictures show, I used to flush so easily when my acne was bad) is hands down supplementing with magnesium and sulfur.
My skin care routine is still super simple because I don’t need all that other stuff that I was doing before. I just honestly don’t need it! I still use a mild face wash and moisturizer, Vitamin C and Ferulic acid serum, a Retin A occasionally, and my secret weapon…Epsom salt exfoliation sessions! I love the results I get from just using Epsom salt (MAGNESIUM sulfate) on barely wet skin. It provides all the exfoliation necessary for me without using harsh and abrasive products and leaves a film of magnesium on the skin. And please don’t use products with dyes, fragrances or irritants…I do not understand why cosmetics companies still use these ingredients, they are so unnecessary! (Like women choose their facewash based on mermaid green or seafoam blue preference!)

So…about that Vi Peel… yes, I think if it’s in your budget, it’s a great addition to keep your skin healthy. Ideally, I would like to be able to get one every 6-12 months just for maintenance. But, please keep in mind, if you are doing peels for anything more than rejuvenating skin, no peel will ever ‘cure’ acne. You can only get rid of acne by healing your body and that starts on the inside. Mine has been a long journey and an especially difficult one to figure out since I ate such a clean diet and had a healthy lifestyle. Yet, years later I find out that something as little as a mineral deficiency was literally sabotaging every healthy thing I was doing. Healing a leaky gut is a terribly difficult thing to perfect and I’m still on that journey and therefore do still have some acne every now and then, but the difference is obvious!

Remember acne and illness of any kind is just a symptom of something off in the body. Always look for answers to get to the bottom of things whether it’s as little as a headache or as big as an autoimmune disorder. Our bodies are seriously magical and they were meant to heal and protect themselves so if they’re not doing that…then we have to look at what we are and are NOT putting in them. Both are equally important.

Hopefully this update is helpful. Sorry it took me so long to get it together, but I have so much information and just wanted to pass along the right stuff to anyone interested. Please ask if you have any questions!

I don't have the best pictures, but they are the only ones I could find. The before are pretty obvious and have been at various stages before and in between my 5 Vi Peels.

I went in for a 5th Vi Peel. This time I went with the Vi Peel Precision Plus because it was discounted cheaper than the original Vi Peel. Plus, my skin has progressively been getting worse over the last year so I figured the booster, which is 25% stronger, would be beneficial at this point.

One thing to note is that even though my biggest concern and reason for getting the Vi Peel, or any peel, is acne and its scarring. However, I will not get the Vi Peel Acne again because the only added 'benefit' is that it kills the bacteria from any current breakouts, but as my esthetician has pointed out, the peel is so strong and removes so much dead skin, along with the follow-up facial, that all the bacteria that is 'active' will be killed off and removed anyway. So, it's not worth the extra cost and if you are willing to pay extra, it's better to just go for the Precision Plus and get those added benefits of removing more skin and going deeper.

My esthetician warned me that I may not peel anymore because I have gotten several peels and the more you get them, the less likely you'll have the same reaction in regards to peeling and/or pain/stinging. I did peel though and actually started the second night which is earlier than ever before. I started peeling around my mouth and nose first with a little on my cheeks. I'm currently on day 4 and only have my forehead and a little patch on my cheeks left to go. The skin on the forehead is always the last to peel off.

The initial application and day of is never painful or uncomfortable to me. The days that hurt a little are days 3-5 when a majority of the peeling occurs and that's just because the skin exposed is so tight and so raw that it burns regardless of what product you put on it. You must use a very mild product with no acids though because that will definitely burn and can leave scarring since it's on raw skin. I use a tiny bit of the protectant that comes with the peel kit to reduce any stinging, but I try to apply as little product or moisturizer of any kind as possible in the first week after I peel because I'm prone to breaking out after I peel.

I will update shortly on the rest of my progress.