I wanted to write an honest review today for those who have been struggling with chronic acne for…read moreover half of their lives like I have. I came to Lynne as a last resort after trying everything in the book - Accutane, Proactive, every possible antibiotic, probiotics, various types of birth control, over the counter creams, lasers, peels, DIY treatments, changes in diet, you name it. At 28, I felt that my self esteem had completely plummeted as a result of my ongoing acne. I found that there were days where I couldn't wake up without a breakout. I was constantly searching for a better way to cover my breakouts and new technologies to help my issue. Was I covered in cysts all over my face, neck and back, like I had before I went on Accutane? No. But I would get painful cysts around my chin ALL the time, and would get them around my temples and they would easily turn a good day into a bad one. I felt a lot of shame around the fact that at my age, I would look around the room at work and realize that I was the only one with a face full of caked on makeup, when everyone else had clear and glowing skin. Or that I still had days where I could not leave my house because of the condition my face was in. My experience with Lynne was interesting, to say the least. She is a very sweet, informative and passionate esthetician, but unfortunately I did not feel that we were the best match. When I first contacted her with my story I stressed multiple times that I was not sure that I could afford her program. She does not take insurance as most medical practices do. Despite that, she made sure to reach out to me constantly, via phone, email, Yelp, etc. to coax me into booking an appointment, even after I had communicated that I am not sure that I could afford the appointment and will get back to her when I can. When I finally, out of desperation, decided to go through with the booking, she sent me a long text about a $1,000 acne boot camp, which surprised me, because I barely had scraped up the money to pay for my first facial and the products (roughly $380). I wasn't anywhere near ready to pay for a full set of sessions, especially without knowing what the results would be after a few days or a few weeks. When I saw Lynne she was polite and informative, although she did say something that threw me off a bit. She told me that my skin "wasn't what she expected," as if to say that it should have been SO much worse in relation to all of the suffering I had expressed to her. Acne is an incredibly sensitive, heart wrenching issue that so many young women and adults suffer from. It takes over your life. And I have had to deal with it every day since I was 12. Minimizing the issue communicates a lack of sensitivity in my opinion. No two clients are the same, but it doesn't mean that my skin doesn't affect me in the same ways that it does, let's say, a woman with cystic acne all over her face. I was that woman.
Anyway, Lynne continued with her extractions, gave me the products and sent me home. The very next day I could tell that something was wrong. I had a red rash all over my face, tiny bumps and breakouts everywhere and cysts forming in places they never had before. As I am typing this I have one on my nose near my eyebrow and under my chin near my neck. Every day I have been waking up with terrible breakouts, 8 at a time, and every day my skin has gotten tighter, drier, and has experienced burning and sensitivity. Her response to me was that "it doesn't set off any red flags" and that I should continue the process. My skin was just undergoing a treatment that it had never been through before. Eight days later....all I can say is that I have never seen my skin produce such a terrible reaction in such a short amount of time, day after day. I knew that something was wrong, and went to see a dermatologist. She had told me that I developed an infection from the extractions, have reacted badly to the products, and she prescribed me a whole new line of products as well as antibiotics to get rid of the infection. After just ONE day of taking the doctors recommended products I can see a complete change in my skin. My smaller breakouts dried out in one night and my skin appears so much calmer. I highly recommend that those of you experiencing similar problems look into a product line called SkinMedica and consult a doctor before considering other options or experiencing adverse reactions. I would also suggest, if you are strapped financially, to highly consider the risks of any type of treatment plan like this, before putting down $1,000 for the bootcamp - you may not be happy with the results.