As the co-founder of CTRL-Z IT, I understand what it’s like to feel insecure due to a face full of acne and other skin imperfections. My acne struggles started as a young teen and progressively got worse as I got older.
I’ve always been a beauty junkie, with clear skin being the end goal. I was someone who was constantly searching for and trying new products in hopes of finding a holy grail that would put an end to my acne.
In turn, by layering various products and chemicals on my skin, it ended up stripping and damaging my natural skin barrier. When Covid-19 hit, things just got worse for my skin because I was wearing a mask all day, trapping sweat and bacteria on top of the products I had layered on for the day.
My skin was in the worst condition it has ever been in, with every type of acne on every inch of my face. I had painful cysts, white heads, black heads and fungal acne. It was hard for me to look at myself in the mirror and I avoided leaving the house and seeing friends. This had a huge impact on my mental health, I felt super insecure, ugly, and ashamed, which lead to depression.
To tackle my acne, I turned to the internet for intensive research. I learned that the ingredients in the numerous products I used was feeding into the fungal bacteria. I became obsessed with looking up the ingredients I was using on my face and making sure I wasn’t feeding the fungal bacteria. This forced me cut down a majority of the products I was putting on my face daily.
Secondly, what I learned was that cystic acne is the toughest and most stubborn type of acne and there aren’t any over the counter treatments targeted for cysts. From my research, I learned that the cortisol shot was the only remedy that would help with cysts. I immediately made an appointment to get a shot on the most painful cyst that I’ve ever experienced, and, like magic, it disappeared within a couple days. However, the treatment I paid for was $150 per cyst, really expensive and not exactly sustainable for those who have consistent cystic break outs. I didn’t give up and I continued my research on acne treatments. I came across a couple research papers on both microneedle and hydrocolloid technology and effectiveness they had with wounds and acne. From there, I started contacting labs that could produce the patches I had in mind and sampled different patches that worked on my acne. And that was the beginning of CTRL-Z IT Skincare.
