8 Weird Things That are TOTALLY Breaking You Out...

The products you're using and the foods you're eating could be one of your triggers!

Hi Buzzfeed Fam!

We are the owners of CLEARstem Skincare and we are here to help you stop breaking-the-freak-out.

I’m Danielle, who owns San Diego Acne Clinic, and I’m Kayleigh, who is a holistic nutritionist.

Why We Give a Sh*t About Acne

Danielle lived with horrible acne through most of her life and tried everything to clear it up, without success. She has a background in biology and, after learning from some of the best medical minds, she left a high-paying corporate job to start San Diego Acne Clinic. The clinic has been in business for over five years and has created acne protocols that really work!

Kayleigh met Danielle when she was one of her patients a few years ago. At that time, she was eight months away from her wedding, and her skin had completely erupted. Kayleigh, being a holistic nutritionist, thought she was doing all the right things to heal herself internally and had been frantically searching the internet trying to figure out what was going on with her skin. But, she was all on her own until she found Danielle. It turns out that Kayleigh had eleven different acne triggers! (We told you there wasn't just ONE cause!)

1. Coconut Oil

Topical products with coconut oil are very popular, but it doesn't absorb into your pores, it clogs your pores and forms a little ball of wax that has to be extracted!

2. Your Conditioner

Hair conditioners that contain shea butter. This is a common trigger for about 95% of the women we've helped! You may have noticed breakouts along your jawline on your dominant sleep side or on the tops of your shoulders. These are a clue that your conditioner might be the culprit.

3. Your Vitamin Cabinet

Supplements, in large amounts. Check out the labels on what you're taking. Stop taking any supplements that provide more than 50% of your recommended daily intake (RDI) of Zinc, B-12, or Vitamin D. These three common vitamins, when taken in too high a dose can spike testosterone levels. Testosterone is a primary hormone that can aggravate acne.

4. Your Macaroni and Cheese Habit

Clean up your diet. Good digestion is so important! Good digestion means less inflammation in your body, and usually far less acne.

5. Your Egg Scramble

Egg whites contain the protein Albumin which is very hard to digest and eating eggs spikes cystic acne in over 80% of our clients!

6. That Chocolate Milk

Dairy is a very common trigger for acne. In fact, eliminating dairy is the #1 dietary tip to try if you have acne on the lower part of your face.

7. Your Booze + Your Latte

Caffeine and alcohol are key players in inflaming cystic acne because they get filtered through your lymphatic system and can spike testosterone (see above.)

8. That Steak

Eating meat at night (within 3 hours of bedtime). Meat is the most difficult thing to digest and can take hours to properly break down. When meat isn't digested well, it can create alcohol in your body, and the undigested protein can become toxic and end up in your lymphatic system which can actually cause cystic acne.

You've Got This...

A big part of our mission is to help educate women on which ingredients to avoid. So, while you're at home during this pandemic, you can start going through the products you use every day. On our website www.clearstemskincare.com you'll find an incredible resource that's completely free. Under the Ingredients tab, you'll see a searchable list of pore-clogging ingredients. Take a look at some of the products you've been using (like makeup, hair products, and lotions) and check them against our pore-clogging ingredients list.

You may be surprised (and maybe a little bit shocked) by a few of them!

So many of our customers are seeing great results, and we couldn't be more proud! We're in this to help and educate as many people as we can, and it feels so incredible and affirming to see and hear from all the people our products are helping!

We're here for you! We've lived with acne and gotten to the other side. You can too!

Much love,

Danielle & Kayleigh