Your Acne Won’t Clear Up Unless You Find Its Root Cause

Launching Cohort 1: Our diagnostic test and comprehensive blueprint to help you tackle acne inside out

Acne - it’s been a triggering word for me over the years. I spent most of my life with perfectly normal skin. Then at age 25 - bam! Angry red acne all over my cheeks. I went from not thinking about my skin to not being able to look past it.

My acne was visible enough (and I was bothered enough) that I tried everything under the sun. Product after product, brand after brand. Rubbed toothpaste, turmeric, and even garlic on it. Scrubbed my skin till it burnt. I spent over three years jumping from one solution to the next, with my hope dwindling away each time. When nothing worked, I started speed-dating dermats.

Throwback to my acne-filled face [Read my acne story]

I met various kinds of dermatologists along the way…

❌ Some who would insist that only PCOS can cause adult acne (even though my blood work didn’t reflect it)

❌ Some who gave me Accutane without any warning (read more about that saga ➡️ here)

❌ Some who pushed me into chemical peels (with a “15% discount if I signed up the same day”)

💚 And some that made me feel comforted, gave me options that didn’t feel harsh or scary, and looked at my skin as a product of my lifestyle, internal health, hygiene, and topical products.

My search for healthier skin led me to doctors that view the skin the same way. One of those dermatologists is Dr. Vandhana Manoharan. In all our conversations about skin, products, and acne, she’s now become a friend - a 1 am friend :) A few years later, I finally managed to get rid of my acne - it took months of research and incredible levels of patience. I’ve written about that journey ➡️ here.

If you have acne and are still wondering what actually might be causing it
we’ve designed a comprehensive root cause analysis test and blueprint to heal acne (inside out). This is an exclusive trial cohort [only 20 spots]

Identifying your acne’s root cause is the first step to healing it inside out.

Over the years, I’ve seen countless friends and family struggle with acne — men, women, teens, adults. I’ve seen them run after quick fixes, try expensive in-clinic procedures, and throw money at expensive international brands. I’ve seen them start aggressive medication with side effects, and still see the acne come back when the medication stopped. I’ve seen them disappointed after each try and bogged down by the bumps and scars.

Your skin health is a complex system, governed by multiple factors

But what I’ve now learnt (thanks to copious reading and the good dermats!) is that the true unlock to acne is looking at your skin as a complex health system, and not the wrapping paper of your body. We tend to look at our skin as just topical - affected by oil we can see, makeup, dust, or weather. But the other half of our skin is on the inside - affected by our gut, blood, glands, hormones, and even mental state.

To understand my own acne, I did years of research on the subject - reading clinical papers, talking to dermats, understanding why acne even happens. In all my research, I broadly found 6 potential causes of acne.

Potential causes of acne

If you have acne or have had acne, I would love to know how you identified your acne’s root cause

The first step, as you can imagine, is to figure out what your root cause is. For me, this was a process of elimination.

1. I started by investigating hormonal imbalances since that’s what most doctors pointed me towards. But many blood tests and gynae visits later, I realized that wasn’t it.

2. Lifestyle had always been a problem - I’m a highly strung, type A, late sleeper - but surprisingly, even cleaning up my schedule didn’t move the needle significantly.

3. I went through the list till I discovered that it was a combination of two things:
   (i) inconsistent double cleansing at the end of the day (which allowed residual sunscreen and makeup to clog up my very dry pores)
   (ii) greasy oily food (I blame Zomato!).

It took me almost 3 years to get to the bottom of it - three years of hiding under concealer, and crying about having skin that didn’t feel like my own.

In the years since, I’ve put together an ‘acne cheat sheet’ - think of it as my class notes from getting through acne (I told you I was type A) - passed around to friends and family who were now in that boat. It was just a way to help them find their root cause faster.

Over the last year, I’ve been working on an easier-to-follow version of that cheat sheet - an interactive test that helps you get to the bottom of your acne in one shot. I’ve spent time with hundreds of people dealing with acne and tens of doctors to improve this test and build real solutions for people based on their specific acne triggers. Solutions that I wish existed for me - looking at the skin as a product of everything inside and outside the body - grounded in care and research.

Have acne? Join our early cohort today

For the first time, Dr. Vandhana and I (and the incredible folks we’ve been working with along the way) want to invite people struggling with acne to try our test and process. We can’t promise you quick fixes (because we don’t believe in those) but we can promise you no bullshit, no invasive or expensive procedures, no thoughtlessly prescribed meds, and no shaming.

What can you expect?

➡️ Scientifically built (with doctors!) root cause diagnosis test

➡️ Detailed explanation of your skin health and acne cause

➡️ Personalized recommendations across diet, lifestyle, products to treat the root cause

➡️ Curated topical products from dermat approved pharma brands (free of cost)

➡️ Handholding from Dr. Vandhana and us along the way

Note: For this cohort, we are focusing on people with active acne on the face. Additionally, we will not be accepting pregnant women, people who smoke, or those on anti-TB medication.

If you’d like to join this early tester cohort
👇🏼 fill this quick questionnaire and we’ll get back to you ASAP👇🏼