Chesterfield skin care practitioner draws on own experiences to help acne sufferers face the world with confidence

Acne has affected her life since she was 14 years old. Faye, who grew up in Tupton, said: “I struggled with my skin throughout school but it wasn’t until I got to the age of 20 that it really started to affect my mental health. It’s a feeling of hopelessness because you don’t know why it’s happening. With acne comes comparison, looking at your friends and thinking why have they got clear skin when I’m doing everything. You throw the kitchen sink at it thinking you’re doing everything right but actually you don’t know what you’re targeting because there are so many causations to it.”

Faye was 22 when she started taking the acne drug Roaccutane and hormonal contraception, the latter a requirement due to Roaccutane’s side effect which carries a risk of birth deformities.

Her skin cleared up for a couple of years but when she came off the contraceptive pill, her acne broke out again. Faye said: “I started to work with a naturopath, a holistic doctor to get to the root cause. For me, it was a lack of nutrients, eating the wrong things such as sugary foods and dairy and not eating enough variety of the good things.

"I changed my diet, focused on mindfulness and sleep and paid more attention to the things that I was getting stressed about. It’s like a vicious circle with skin because it’s the acne that stresses you out, you get to a point when it’s clear then if you get a break out you’re stressed again.”

At that time she was in Australia where an initial three-month visit to see her uncle in Sydney had extended to a three-year exploration of the country. Faye worked in hospitality including a bar in the outback, operated a traffic stop-go sign and found a job on a banana farm where she met her partner Will Relf who was from Kent.

Faye, 28, said: “I came back from Australia after three years, knowing that I wanted to train in skin. I qualified in facials and skin care at a training academy in Bolton and did a holistic health and nutrition course online.

"I was doing facials from home one day a week and working in Marks and Spencer on the other days. I live on Chatsworth Road next door to Chesterfield Aesthetics which used to be 360 Wellbeing and one of the rooms in the clinic became available. I thought ‘this is my shot, I’m going at it full time’. As I got busier, the owner kindly let me move into a bigger room which I was able to kit out myself.”

Faye has 300 clients on the books at her Faye K Face Skin Clinic where she offers a bespoke service. She discovers the cause of acne which is specific to the individual, provides solutions and carries out residual scar treatment including microneedling and algae peel which stimulate collagen production.

She said: “I also do online consultations with people who don’t live locally or may be self-conscious about coming into a clinic.

"Acne is such an isolating skin condition but people that do suffer with it aren’t alone. You don’t have to live with it forever, there is a way of healing it and it’s just finding the right person to support you.

"It is so rewarding when I see clients after a few months and not only is their skin clearing but they’re making more eye contact and their head is lifted instead of looking to the floor – they’ve got this confidence and radiance about them. One client in particular hated her job and didn’t have the confidence that she’d be employed by anyone else. Once her skin had cleared she came in and said ‘I’ve quit my job, I’ve applied for another one that I’m really excited about’ and she went and got it..”

Faye has been honoured for her work by the American based skincare brand Circadia who awarded her Top Midlands Solo Skin Practitioner 2024. She said: “I was shocked but really proud.”

To find out more about the treatments available at Faye K Face or to book an appointment, visit the website www.fayekface.com, Facebook site wwwfacebook.com/fayekface or Instagram page https://www.instagram.com/fayekface

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