What a fantastic week

You are probably bored by now hearing how fantastic my job is but some weeks I am completely overwhelmed with the results my clients are getting by following my advice. This week in particular has been amazing. This is a week that I have been run off my feet in fact this week I am lucky if I had one break for lunch and after dinner I have also been busy working but the fact is, it all payed off. This week I have had six clients achieve clear skin in a very short period of time and one after a long period of time and only after we had tried just about everything I could think of but we got there in the end.

It is a shame because some people do not believe that they will ever be able to clear their acne and I understand truly I do because there are so many people falsely claiming that they can clear skin when they have absolutely no understanding of why the body produces spots.

I am blessed to have this knowledge and go to bed happy each night with the knowledge that I have helped to change peoples lives by simply showing them how to clear their skin.

Job well done.

I do love honest clients!

I had a great email come in this morning by a client who came to see me 3 weeks ago and is now realising that what I suggest works. This really made my day.

She announced to me that she had a huge confession to make and said that she was skeptical about what I was saying at the time of our consultation. The reason why? Because she had seen so many people previous to me who all promised to give her a spotless complexion, this included every NHS acne consultant in the part of the country in which she lived as well as a Herbalist that she consulted, no one however was able to clear her skin. There was I then talking to her about how I was going to clear her skin and she was sitting there thinking "here, we go again, probably another huge waste of time and money." (her words). Fortunately, something I said "rang true" and she decided to "give it a go" and low and behold her skin started to clear. In her words "and now I am seeing the results and the more I see I believe in what you are telling me. I owe you a huge apology for being so cynical."

Don't you just love it when people are so honest?

I fully understand why some people are cynical, there is so much utter garbage written about acne (and I include what most dermatologists and doctors write online with that statement) there are also lots of e-books going about that are misleading and it all results in acne sufferers going round and round in circles trying everything in sheer desperation to clear their skin.

I still find it absolutely incredible that here is little me sitting in a clinic in Glasgow resolving peoples acne problems when there are doctors who should fully understand the workings of the body and therefore should have a clear understanding of acne...what the heck were they learning in medical school...it beggars belief!! No wonder some of my clients are so skeptical...the medical system fails to make any sense!

Sometimes I am misquoted

In a recent interview I was asked what changes I make to my client's diets to improve their acne. The answer I gave is that there is no single diet that suited all of my client's simply because everyone was different and it really depended on the type of spots that were appearing. What my client's eliminate or what foods they need to eat more off differed from person to person which is why each client has an individual food diary provided for them.

When the article was published I was quoted as saying that I "increase my client's fruit intake and ask them to reduce their intake of carbohydrates". I just want to clarify for anyone paying heed to this, that these words were not uttered out of my mouth. I never ask my clients to increase their fruit intake and I never make mention of carbohydrates. I can only think that the person who interviewed me must have conducted their own research after speaking to me and decided that this is what I must be doing...wrong!

There is so much information on acne on the internet which is truly confusing for acne sufferers. There must be countless acne sufferers who are eliminating cow's milk when they may have no need to do so, or working to a candida diet when candida is not the root cause of the problem; eliminating gluten thinking that gluten intolerance is the root cause, taking liver cleansing supplements thinking that is all they need to do, taking a host of expensive vitamins thinking that is the answer or using expensive skincare products feeling that the secret to getting rid of acne comes with selecting products with a hefty price tag.

So much money is spent on choosing the wrong options for acne, so much time is wasted on trialling out online advice. If you are cutting out carbohydrates or are increasing your fruit intake based on what you think I have said, please stop...this is not the key to clearing any types of acne.

If you need advice on acne, why not get in touch and hear what I have to say in person and in that way you will be sure of getting the right advice.

The acne milk connection

I was recently contacted by a dermatologist in the states who has conducted a lot of research into the link between acne and milk. He very kindly emailed to me a host of articles for me to read. It made for an interesting read but in my 5 years of treating acne, I could not agree with the information that I was reading. Why?

It goes back to classing all spots as 'acne'. Cow's milk will only ever cause one type of spot. I can clearly identify a dairy spot when a client comes in for a consultation. Has the dairy spot appeared due to the hormones in the milk? No, in all cases where I have identified dairy as being a problem, by introducing certain enzymes, I am able to stop the appearance of these spots. If these spots were hormone related the introduction of enzymes would make no difference. This makes the cleverly written articles null and void as far as I am concerned. Sorry!

I find it fascinating when dermatologists get in contact with me. I love to hear how other people opt to treat acne but as soon as I find out that they use antibiotics or Roaccutane/Accutane to treat acne I know instantly that they still have a lot to learn about why the body produces spots. No one with a full understanding of acne would need to rely on these drugs...drugs that I may add can cause acne when used long-term.

I never recommend acne medication as I don't need to...I have spent 15 years researching acne and I know my subject. When I am asked then if I am a dermatologist my answer is normally "no, which is why I am able to clear acne...I opt to think differently."

I have my doubters...

From time to time when I have a spare moment I pop onto google to see what is being said about me...now that always proves interesting.

First of all I have my doubters, they are not people who know me, or have read my book or have had a consultation, but there they are online commenting about the advice I give for acne when the truth is they haven't a clue how I run my clinic or care for my client's or the wonderful results that I get, but they feel that they need to comment anyway.

I know that I annoy a lot of people in the health profession. I do not associate myself with any 'bodys' or choose to write articles for peer magazines, you see that does not interest me. What interests me is helping people to get rid of acne to allow them to get on with enjoying their lives. For example, take doctors, they train for 7 years and think they know everything about health (and so they should after 7 years) and are sitting in their cosy surgeries writing out endless prescriptions for acne medication telling their patients that diet and acne are not linked. Here I come along and tell their patients that this is not true and in fact the medication prescribed by their GP could actually cause acne...I understand that most doctor's would not like that...and let me tell you they contact me and tell me so!

Then I have nutritionists who feel that they are far more qualified than I. I have noticed that some nutritionists have mentioned this online. That makes me laugh. What makes me qualified to treat acne is not my 'official qualification' it is the fact that I have spent 15 years researching and reading every book available as well as speaking to various doctors from around the world and then experimenting with my knowledge until I undid the puzzle which confuses so many health professionals. I agree that this is not conforming, but why should I conform when I spent countless years going ot health professionals who were deemed qualified and yet they were unable to clear my skin. Isn't it time that someone was brave enough to take a different look at this skin condition that continues to baffle most health professionals.

The interesting this about one of the comments by a nutritionist on one of the acne forums was that she had acne and yet here she was telling people to be careful about my advice; if she could be a little more open to suggestion she should be getting in touch and I would then help her to clear her skin and she too could use this information to help others. Sometimes it doesn't pay to be too critical. Isn't it sad when people judge you on what letters you have or haven't got after your name...in the world of health letters after your name can often mean very little.

I work very hard at my clinic to ensure that all of my clients get results. I only stop my check in service with my clients when they have seen results and know how to stop acne naturally. I suppose I will have to get used to negative comments but one thing is for sure, they do not come from my client's.

What a mad couple of weeks!

I have had a really busy last couple of weeks what with a feature in the Sunday Post magazine in Scotland and a mention on the BBC News online on the back of a radio show, I am lucky to have had time to do anything other than work....but I am not complaining.

I have the most delightful clients all with different stories to tell, all with various types of spots appearing on various parts of their body and most having exhausted everything their GP and dermatolgist have had to offer.

One of my clients was told by her dermatoloigist "you just have bad skin, it is as simple as that, you will just have to live with it." Another client was told after visiting 3 different dermatologists "we don't know what is causing your acne." At least they were honest!

I have also had various doctors get in contact with me, one thinking that I was using information that he had written about the link between dairy and spots....nope...sorry you are on a different track altogether than me. He was nice though and is working hard to change things. It was refreshing to be contacted by a dermatologist who really was interested in changing things but he has been trying to do so for a number of years and is constantly up against trying to provide his counterparts with scientific evidence for his theories. Meanwhile, little old (or not quite so old) me will continue clearing skin whilst dermatologists around the world go from conference to conference patting each other on their backs talking endlessly about how to cure acne, trying to raise their profile, when a perfectly natural solution already exists. It truly is a funny old world!!

On another note a delightful friend of mine Arina Gibson got back in touch last week, she was the girl that introduced me to organic skincare products many years ago. She now has her own website and has lots of information on organic make-up. I will do a blog about this later this week. Meanwhile the website address is: http://purenaturalmakeup.com/
This girl really does know her stuff!

A beautiful complexion is like a flourishing garden

'A beautiful complexion is like a flourishing garden', I read recently from a book about how to retain a youthful complexion. It continued 'There isn't a quick-fix cream or a fountain-of-youth fluid that will erase years of abuse; you need to make logical, healthy choices day to day, and each of these choices has obvious consequences.' I couldn't agree more but the problem we have is that skincare companies spend £££$$$ telling us that these creams and fluids do exist.

The book continues 'You'll sleep better, you'll have more energy, your moods will become more consistently elevated, and before you know it, you will see a whole new face looking back at you from the mirror.' Now creams and fluids cannot offer you this hope...but the fact is, to attain a youthful and spotless complexion it takes effort and for many people this can be asking too much; they have been sold the idea of creams,lotions and pills and that is what they want.

At my clinic the majority of my clients come to me looking for immediate results, and if I can see a client before they take all the acne medications and use all the acne lotions, then I can provide immediate results however for other clients whilst I can tell them the cause of their acne, the only way they can change their skin condition is to make deliberate and healthy choices when it comes to eating.

Acne sufferers from day one, are sold the idea that their spots can be eliminated by using creams and lotions, when that fails to work they are told to try pills in the form or antibiotics, contraceptive pill and roaccutane. When these fail to bring about results they are left stranded and start at this point to consider if there is a link between diet and acne. By this time a lot of damage can have occurred and the type of spots may now have changed. There may be other health problems to deal with and this acne sufferer is still looking for an immediate result. When I see a client at this stage, I know that I can reduce their breakouts and clear large spots very quickly but it may take weeks/months at times for my client to see a completely spotless complexion. The original cause of acne may still exist but this is now complicated by additional problems such as a poorly functioning liver or no good bacteria in the intestines.

The book I read continued 'Success comes from nourishing your roots with the right food and activities' Yes, successfully getting rid of acne comes from nourishing the inside by eating the right foods that work well with your body. Clear skin comes from drinking good quality water, exercising, getting the acid/alkaline balance right, eating foods your body can digest, getting sufficient sleep, eating foods that contain essential vitamins and minerals to allow your body to function as it should, consuming probiotics and avoiding all medication that destroys good bacteria.

Quite simply, clear skin can be achieved by everyone but how much effort are you willing to put in?