This Skin Guru Will Change Your Life

Emme Diane is the US skin guru who has made it her life’s mission to solve ‘unsolvable’ skin concerns. In other words, she’s the girl you want on your side!

I first heard Emme speak on the podcast Her Body and was blown away by the unusual information she gave on food and product ingredients, as well as the lifestyle habits that contributed significantly to acne, pigmentation and ageing.

Naturally, I had to get in touch with this woman and pick her brain further!

The first step was to reach out for a treatment plan to complement my regular facials and experiment a little on myself. And yep, with just a few simple food and product changes, I entered zero-spots-almost-ever land. This was a big first for me!

I was blown away at how dramatic the difference was, so step number two was to collaborate on a blog series so all the BUF Girls out there could get in on the clear skin action.

We’ll start with some fairly simple and directly applicable tips and delve deeper as the series goes on.

Our first topic – Adult Acne (Part 1)

The king pin… adult acne. This blog covers the top level stuff you can start actioning straight away if you’re a sufferer – and the tips apply to teens too!

Pay particular attention to the food and product pointers Emme provides here, and if anything strikes a chord, apply it and see how it goes for you or book an online consult via her site.

What really changed my skin was combining Emme’s advice (and incredible products!) with regular facials at my fave local, The Clinic.

Happy clear skin hunting ladies! Here’s our Q&A with The Skin Whisperer!

BUF

What are the top 3 reasons adult acne occurs? 

Emme

There is only one reason acne occurs… genetically defective pores. In other words, people who have acne have a genetic predisposition in which the pores hyper-shed dead skin cells which builds up in the pore creating a clog. This is the root cause of all acne. However, there are many triggers that will exacerbate the condition and definitely plenty you can do to calm things down.

Hormones are a major trigger for women which is why (believe it or not) it’s most common for a woman to begin breaking out in her early 20s through her mid 40s whereas men/boys will typically begin breaking out during their early teen years and go through a “die-out” phase in their mid-twenties. This is due to androgen/testosterone surges (which happen in women before our cycles, and in men while they are going through puberty).

Hormones are not the only trigger though… food, lifestyle habits and even the products we use can be major triggers too!

BUF

Give it to us straight! What food and supplements can make acne worse.

Emme

Foods that are high in dietary iodine are major triggers and this is why we think of junk food when we think of foods that make us break out, because of the salt/sodium content these kinds of food contain (e.g. french fries, packaged food, most processed meats, fast food, and food that has a long shelf life).

But there are also foods that are high in dietary iodine naturally and these are huge triggers too. These include milk, cheese, yoghurt, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, ice cream, frozen yogurt, coffee creamer, soy, soy milk, tofu, tempeh, edamame, table salt, whey and casein protein powders/bars, peanuts, peanut butter, peanut oil, shellfish, oysters.

What most people are surprised about is that even very healthy foods like super greens (spirulina, chlorella, blue-green algae, kelp, seaweed), the Biotin that’s found in a lot of multi-vitamins and the seaweed around your sushi rolls are all major triggers!

Be sure to eliminate all of these foods from your diet as they can keep you from achieving your skin goals. 

 

BUF

Are there any particular activities that make acne worse?

Emme

One of the biggest reasons people are not successful at clearing their skin is skipping their skin routine in the morning, night, or after working out. Not showering/washing fairly immediately after sweating will trigger acne significantly if you’re prone to it (this is a big one that keeps clients from clearing… it will be important that on the days you workout/sweat that you hit the shower within 10 mins of finishing your workout, or at least use an odorless face wipe and then go on with your morning routine).

So on the days you workout, you will do your morning routine in the morning, also immediately after working out, then your night routine before bed… so this is 3 times a day.

Also, swimming pools and the ocean water can exacerbate breakouts, which may seem counter-intuitive to most people! Don’t be afraid to take a dip but if you swim, make sure to at least rinse your skin as soon as possible.

BUF

Which beauty products will make acne worse?

Emme

Believe it or not, most products on the market (even the ones made for acne prone skins, or prescription products) will have some pore clogging ingredients in them.

This is so frustrating because even if you use a product that has all the right active ingredients in it to clear the skin, if there are hidden pore cloggers, you will be kept in the vicious cycle of clearing a little but still struggling constantly with breakouts.

This is one thing that makes our system very different… we use no pore clogging ingredients in any of our skin care or makeup and we also share a short list of pore clogging ingredients in our Acne Bible which you can check your current skin care and makeup against to see what offending ingredients it might have!

BUF

OK let’s move on to what can help repair acne prone skin, starting with food and supplements?

Emme

While food won’t “clear” the skin as such, eating a clean and low-sodium diet with as much unprocessed food as possible will help prevent breakouts.

There are some supplements that can help accelerate the clearing of the skin too: quality omega 3s and zinc monomethionine (like OptiZinc from Source Naturals).

But please make sure you avoid at all costs any of the super greens (spirulina, chlorella, blue-green algae, kelp, seaweed) and Biotin as these are hidden in many of the healthy drinks, green powders, protein powders, multivitamins and other supplements on the market or in cafes.

BUF

Any other hot tips before we wind up our first instalment?

Emme

Stress is a major trigger for acne too. So making sure you are doing things on a daily basis to help manage your stress levels is a good idea… that could mean doing something as simple as going for a walk, doing yoga, dancing, meditating, reading or journaling, connecting with friends, making sure you get enough sleep, etc.