A MODEL and blogger behind a global #freethepimple campaign to encourage body positivity among people battling acne has spoken of her joy after finding a way to clear her facial scarring thanks to a Chester plastic surgeon.
Louisa Northcote says the new vegan Rescue No.One cream made with an active extract of green tea and other natural ingredients has dramatically cleared up the scars caused by her acne.
The cream is made by skin biology experts Science Of Skin, founded by leading UK cosmetic surgeon Douglas McGeorge MBE of Chester.
Louisa Northcote applies the new vegan Rescue No.One cream.
The 22-year-old fashion graduate and former Britain's Next Top Model finalist who lives in London Fields, hit the headlines last year after she launched the #freethepimple campaign on social media, following years of trauma caused by acne.
Louisa has battled acne since the age of 13 and says it has seriously affected her mental health and body image.
It left her with such low self-esteem at times that she didn’t want to leave the house to shop for food, or even leave her bedroom to spend time with her parents, without wearing heavy make-up.
Before and after.
She launched the viral #freethepimple campaign on Instagram where she has over 15,000 followers, in a bid to promote body positivity among people batting acne, and empower people to embrace the skin they are in by sharing photos of their journeys.
Now Louisa says her skin health has been turned around after using Science of Skin’s Rescue No. One cream.
Rescue No.One is made with an active extract of green tea and other natural all vegan ingredients. It is clinically proven to work at a cellular level to reduce the redness and thickness of scars by 20%, increasing hydration and skin elasticity to aid recovery.
It was developed by Science of Skin’s founders, leading UK cosmetic surgeon Douglas McGeorge MBE of Chester and internationally acclaimed skin biologist Dr Ardeshir Bayat, a skin biologist at the University of Manchester. It is manufactured at Surefil in St Helens.
UK cosmetic surgeon Douglas McGeorge MBE of Chester.
Louisa said: "I could cry with how happy I am with my skin". In a video blog chronicling four weeks trialing the cream for Science of Skin, “I never thought this day would happen. I’m super-duper excited!”
With the camera zooming in close up on her face she said: “Look at that, I have clear skin! I never thought this day would happen.
“How insanely ridiculous is that. It’s super duper duper crazy and it’s all thanks to this miracle cream. No joke.”
Mr McGeorge MBE, Medical Director at Science of Skin, is a Senior Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Nuffield Health’s Grosvenor Hospital in Chester and at SPIRE Healthcare in Warrington, and has helped has trained most new plastic surgeons in the North West in the last 20 years.
He is also honorary consultant at the Countess of Chester hospital where he previously launched and lead the cosmetic surgery for a decade.
Louisa explained that she cleared her painful active acne after cutting out gluten and diary with the help of a nutritionist and laser treatment, but was left with scarring with scores of raised red marks all over her face.
She said: “I’ve finally cleared my active acne. The journey has a huge rollercoaster, then I was left with a lot of scarring which was extremely red and pigmented and I was so stuck on how to get rid of it.
“I used the Rescue No. One for four weeks. It was in the third week that I started to notice the redness had really calmed down, and I started getting comments from other people who didn’t even know that I was using the cream, saying that my skin looked much clearer.”
#Freethepimple blogger and model Louisa Northcote
Far from the #freethepimple campaign being over, Louisa says she will continue to campaign for body positivity no matter what the condition of her own skin.
She said: “Even if I end up with completely clear skin I will carry on campaigning for body positivity. I want to help other people understand and feel that you can still be beautiful even if you have spots.
“Even if you are working to clear your skin it still takes time and it is a journey. While you are on that journey you need to be confident and proud of who you are, however long it may take.
“Social media can be a horrible place, with a lot of cyber bulling, but it can also be used as a force for good.
“I use the hashtag #freethepimple so other people can find it, and when they do, they know that they are not alone, they know other people are out there dealing with the same things and you can support each other on your journeys.”
“Acne really affected my mental health a lot. “I didn’t want other people to see m without make up, not even my boyfriend or my mum and dad.
“It got really bad when I was about 16 and I used to cake myself in make-up to go downstairs to see my parents.
“I’m a confident person. I have studied drama and I know how to act, but inside I felt really self-conscious. I felt that everyone was staring at my skin.
“There were times when I thought it was pathetic to put on make-up just to go to the shop to buy food, so I would wait for my boyfriend to come home and ask him to go for me so it affected my eating and how would socialise.
“Even though you know it’s all in your head, it is just skin, but when it is on your face it is hard to be in front of people. Sometimes people would offer advice about how to clear it up without me even mentioning it.
“People don’t realise how much it affects you. There is a lot of pressure in society to be skinny, to be tall, and you see photographs in magazines, even though you know they are photoshopped you still feel pressure to look like that. It gets you down and it eats you up inside.”
Emma Blackman CEO of science of Skin said: “Rescue No.One is our latest breakthrough product, which is clinically proven to visibly reduce scarring.
“Louisa’s story particularly struck a chord with us as we know how psychologically damaging scarring can be. She is an inspiration and we are delighted the cream is working for her.”
Louisa’s video revealing how Science of Skin’s rescue No.One cleared her acne scarring can be viewed on YouTube here.
To find out more visit ScienceofSkin.com
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