Founder’s Story

I first began struggling with acne in high school. I was about 14-15 years old. My acne almost always MANIFESTED as small itchy bumps on my face, neck, chest, and back. The first time i went to the dermatologist i was immediately PRESCRIBED antibiotics which did nothing to help my acne. I was then prescribed tretinoin and prescription grade benzoyl peroxide. my skin reacted poorly to benzoyl peroxide, but the tretinoin seemed to solve everything. I loved it! from age 15-19 i managed my acne mostly with tretinoin. eventually, my skin became extremely SENSITIVE and tretinoin was no longer successful in managing my acne.

my acne became more and more severe until at 21 i went on my first round of accutane. my skin was pristine in a matter of days. i didn’t have overly dry skin, i HARDLY ever had to shower my hair, however i did have joint pain and loss of mobility. for the most part i loved accutane and was told it would be a permanent solution. i finished that first round of accutane and within a year started experiencing the same itchy small bumps.

at this point i started learning about fungal acne and my dermatologist recommended i try nizoral shampoo. though the ketokonazol seemed to help with the ITCHINESS, there were to be too many additional harsh ingredients that damaged my SENSITIVE skin and ultimately did not bring the results i wanted. at 23 i went on my second round of accutane. i experienced the same results the second time around as the first. while i was on the product, life was great (with the exception of my joints and mobility) but upon getting off accutane, within a year i was EXPERIENCING the same itchy, EMBARRASSING, AGGRAVATING acne.

and this point i went to a hormone, VITAMINS, and minerals specialist to determine if an imbalance in my body was the cause of my acne. it was recommended i take a whole cocktail of vitamins and minerals which i took religiously. I saw some minimal improvement, PARTICULARLY from taking zinc, but i still wasn’t satisfied. i tried controlling my acne through diet by eliminating sugars, carbs, dairy, and generally trying to eat an ANTI INFLAMMATORY diet. i was using the best products i knew of and still my “good” skin days consisted of mildly itchy, bumpy, red, rashy skin.

i was so frustrated, but i was determined to find a solution. after speaking with my dermatologist, it became apparent my acne was likely a combination of both fungal and bacterial acne with a heavy emphasis fungal acne. after hours of research, reading medical journals, blogs, anything i could get my hands on, i determined i needed to eliminate anything that fed the fungus which causes fungal acne, AKA Malassezia. my skin care routine got paired down to only products that were “fungal acne safe” meaning products without esters, lipids, fatty acids, or fatty alcohols. my skin got better but still wasn’t quite there.

I tried several different fungal acne specific products, some which I loved, and some which were unfortunately too harsh for my sensitive skin. I came to the realization that the perfect solution didn’t exist yet and i would need to be the one to create it. after hours and hours of research, many phone calls with my formulator, countless hours spent on packaging, I am proud to announce abeo skin foaming face wash.