HOW TO UNDERSTAND

HORMONE TRIGGERED ACNE:

A PRACTICAL TOOL
FOR GETTING CLEAR
 HOW TO UNDERSTAND

HORMONE TRIGGERED ACNE

How To Use This Guide:

This guide is designed to serve as a

combination resource, alongside my in
depth video titled
“How To Create A Treatment Plan
That Will Get YOU Clear...Even If
Nothing Has Worked So Far.”
Be sure to watch that video through to
the end BEFORE YOU GO THROUGH THIS
GUIDE, so you can get the most out it.
Concepts in this guide may not make sense
if you haven’t seen the whole video.
Watch the video, and then
review the section in this
guide covering your PRIMARY
TRIGGER.
That section shows you:
●What common characteristic
your primary trigger usually has
What not-so-common
characteristics that trigger can
also have

You can watch the video by The best ways to get results for
clicking here. your primary trigger

Likely landmines you might

We learned that as our clients healed there
were multiple triggers contributing to their
acne- not just one single trigger. While the
quiz reveals one primary trigger, it does not
mean there are not other triggers in addi-
tion to the one identified in the quiz.
experience during your healing
process with that trigger
And common secondary or
hidden causes we often see
related to your primary trigger

Ultimately, your healing process is about

learning to listen to what your body is tell-
ing you. The more information you have to
interpret those signals, the better.

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BASED ON YOUR ANSWERS
TO THE QUIZ QUESTIONS...
YOUR LIKELY PRIMARY ACNE TRIGGER IS:

HORMONES
I know this subject all too well. I suffered
from breakouts that were completely
unpredictable, and uncontrollable,
throughout my 20s. It seems like you
may be all too familiar with this process
(torture) as well. But this was just a few
question quiz you took. So is your
primary acne trigger really
hormonal? Let’s find out:

1. Usually Characterized by:

Location: Breakouts around the mouth,

along jawline, chin and/or back and
shoulders
•• As a female, you will most likely
experience hormonal acne around
the mouth, chin and along the jawline.
So if your acne is not on the chin or
jawline, it is fairly safe to rule out
hormones as your primary trigger.
•• Hormonal acne also tends to
flare-up in the same pore over and
over again. You may feel like your skin
just started to heal from last month’s
breakout and then another pops up
in the same place. Super frustrating,
I know. It feels like the dark mark left
behind is never going away. Thank god
for concealer.

•• If you have acne on your back or

shoulder as a female, most likely
you are on a hormonal IUD, implant
or birth control device of some kind.
There is not enough room to go into
all the details of why this is happen-
ing. But, basically, this is birth control CONTINUE
induced acne. In other words, take out To Next Page
the IUD or implant.

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PRIMARY ACNE TRIGGER:

HORMONES

2. Also Characterized by:

Timing: Breakouts come and go

through the monthly menstrual cycle.
The week prior to your period is when
the most hormonal acne flares up.

•• This is a tricky one, but, if you

are in tune with your body, and you
are able to find a pattern between
your period starting and a breakout,
then you likely have hormonal
acne. There is no specific timeframe
before or after your period that
indicates a breakout is hormonal. It 3. You can see good results by:
really can vary. But as women, we
know our bodies, and you may “just
know” it is hormonal. Naturally rebalancing the body with
herbs and supplements

•• Despite what your doctor tells

you, you can rebalance your
hormones and clear hormonal acne
without birth control pills. Finding
your body’s healthy balance of
estrogen, progesterone and andro-
gens is the key to eliminating acne.
Unlike birth control pills that tell your
hormones exactly what to do, herbs
allow your own body and nature
to achieve its unique equilibrium.
Herbs have the beautiful quality
of allowing your body to natural-
ly rebalance itself with no harmful
side effects. This is a win, win in our
opinion!

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PRIMARY ACNE TRIGGER:

HORMONES

4. Landmines:
Rebalancing your hormones alone will addressing the surface of the skin,
not get rid of your acne you will still have acne for a long
time to come.
•• Acne does not happen in a
vacuum. It is not triggered by just 5. Common Secondary Causes:
one singular event, in most cases.
It was when I started treating my Stress!
acne like the complicated and intri-
cate condition that it is, that I finally •• Yes, stress contributes to
achieved lasting results. Initially, hormonal acne because it produces
I learned how to get myself clear extra androgens (testosterone) and
and then how to do it for clients. If results in flare-ups. This one seems
hormones are your primary acne totally unfair because acne, in and of
trigger, simply “fixing” the hormone itself, causes significant stress. And
imbalance will most likely not be how does one just stop stressing
enough. There are two reasons it is out? Easier said than done, right?
insufficient:

1. Most likely, you have other life-
style factors that also trigger your
acne (i.e. eating acne triggering
foods, prolonged or high stress,
gut issues, and/or make-up and
skincare that is clogging your pores).

2. Remember; acne is first and

foremost a skin condition. If you are
seeing active breakouts superficially
on the skin, then you must clear out
the damage that is being done here NEXT PAGE
as well. By simply rebalancing the Other Possible Acne Triggers
hormones (which I’ve never expe-
rienced as being simple) and not

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OTHER POSSIBLE ACNE TRIGGERS
Your other possible secondary
or hidden triggers might be:

Stress
Stress is the trickiest of all the possible
triggers as it can show up, at least a little
bit, in just about everyone. Stress induced
breakouts usually occur within 48 hours
of a stressful event, so if you suspect this
trigger, pay close attention to timing.
The best way to approach stress as a
trigger, is to get a clear treatment plan in
place. Just having a plan of attack in place
helps to break the vicious cycle of stressful
situations and will create momentum and
healing.
Gut Imbalance
This trigger is another one who’s tell-tale
sign is the location of your breakouts. Gut
flora refers to all of the microbes inside
of your digestive tract and with gut flora
triggers we tend to see breakouts on the
cheeks and sides of the face (by the ears).
Diet
A lot of people think that a diet high in
sugar and greasy foods is a trigger, but
this is not true. Foods high in iodine and/
or androgens are the most likely triggers.
The approach to this trigger is pretty
straight forward. You just need to iden-
tify which foods your body is responding
to and eliminate them. And don’t dismay,
this doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have
to eliminate those foods permanently. We
often see the body become “ok” with a
triggering food AFTER the healing process
is finished.
OTHER POSSIBLE ACNE
TRIGGERS

A key thing to understand here, is that a continued on the next page

lot of people may have gut issues and not
know it. If your gut is healthy, you should
be having 2 bowel movements a day. Yes,
two! If this isn’t what you’re having, then
you’ll need to explore methods to rebal-
ance your gut health ( ie. a customized reg-
imen including probiotics & fish oil among
others).

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OTHER POSSIBLE ACNE TRIGGERS
(Continued)

Pore Clogging Ingredients

Many acne products claim to be “non
comedogenic” which is just a fancy way of
saying it doesn’t block your pores. But as
you may have experienced, there’s more to
it than that.
In our work with clients, we’ve found that
even products that contain proven acne
fighting ingredients often still contain pore
clogging ingredients— even when they
claim to be non comedogenic!
Worse, it can be tricky to find ones that are
formulated as naturally as possible. The
reality is, you must be able to read “behind
the label” and understand what ingredients
are helpful vs harmful.
This is rarely a primary trigger for people,
but frequently shows up as a secondary
one.

The good news is this trigger is easy to address

by moving to natural skin care products like these.

Continue to the take the self evaluation

on the next page.

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Skin Health

SELF EVALUATION
Use this guide to gain insight into factors
that may be affecting your skin health.

This is a complete understanding of your primary and secondary acne

triggers which are different for everyone – hormones, diet, stress,
gut health, pore-clogging products.

• Diet – substitute or eliminate the specific triggering foods

1. How much and what types of dairy do you eat?

2. Does your diet include multi-vitamins, salty foods and fast /
processed foods high in iodine?
3. Do you eat other acne triggering foods
(and we are not talking about the myths like sugar) ?

• Hormones – sometimes change birth control and/or create custom herbal

regimen to balance your particular hormone imbalance
1. Are you on low dose birth control pill or any other birth control device?
2. Is your period irregular?
3. Do you have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)?

• Stress – High or prolonged moderate stress is a significant acne trigger

1. What are your current and typical stress levels as indicated by
Heart Rate Variability, Cortisol Levels, Blood Pressure, Pulse or self-rating?
2. What are your tools and habits to reduce stress and increase resiliency?
3. Do your stress levels impact the quality and quantity of your sleep?

• Gut Health – create custom supplement protocol depending on whether

the problem is diarrhea, constipation, leaky gut, IBS, or food sensitivities
1. How often do you experience less than one bowel movement a day?
2. Do you experience bloating after meals on a regular or occasional basis?
3. Have you taken antibiotics in the last 2 years?

• Pore-clogging ingredients – perform a thorough analysis of skincare,

haircare, makeup and laundry to determine if there are any of 36 common
ingredients proven to clog pores. We then recommend safer alternatives.
4. Do you wear liquid foundation?
5. Is your detergent fragrance free?
6. Does your facial cleanser or shampoo contain the most acne-triggering sulfates?

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GOING FORWARD
I know this is a lot of information, so let me leave
you with a couple of parting thoughts...
You are at a decision point right now.

PLEASE DON’T JUST DO NOTHING.

Remember acne is just one way of your body telling you something is off.

If you continue to ignore your body’s signals, and don’t address them at the root,
it will just tell your body to crank up the “volume” until it gets your attention.

I see this with clients over and over. The longer you allow acne, the harder it
becomes to undo and you risk permanent scarring.

Above all, the world needs you to square up to this challenge.

It needs you to own your power and let the fullest version of yourself radiate.

If you feel like you need a more personalized approach or even just a
supportive voice who can answer your questions, schedule a “360 Complexion
Analysis” with one of our expert Natural Acne Clinic coaches.

I am offering a 27% discount if you book within the

next 72 hours, to make your decision even easier.

Click here to see what’s included in

the “360 Complexion Analysis.”

I commend you for investing in yourself to get clear,

and look forward to helping you succeed.

Talk soon.

Jessica Gremley
Founder and Director
Natural Acne Clinic

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