My Struggles With Acne
(Annette's Story)

‘Necessity is the mother of Invention’. Looking back at my life, I see this quote fit perfectly. Let me tell you my story and how I got here. So here it goes. It started with a problem. Something I thought I could never beat. When I was in my mid 20’s, I started noticing that there were frequent breakouts on my face. At first, I thought that it was just because of an allergy but I was proved wrong pretty quickly. I would get the acne continuously. I would wake up and my face would be full of pimples. It made extremely stressed, so I decided to do just what any other girl would. I visited the best dermatologists in town, purchased medicines regardless of how expensive they were and even changed my diet because all I wanted was for my face to get back to how it was. I used to look at my old pictures and cry because I missed my clear skin. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to be working and I was at the verge of giving up.

I was at the peak of my modeling career and as a model, the last thing you want is acne. It would show in my photos and I was devastated every time. Eventually, I ended my international modeling career of 10 years because of my bad skin.

I had given up all hope after fighting for a long time. A few years had gone by and just when I thought that my face is going to be like this forever, a rather intriguing question popped into my mind. What if all this acne comes from my makeup applicators? I had always been REALLY bad at making sure they were clean. This single thought at that time was like opening up a gate of possibilities. I researched day and night and after consultation with various experts, I gathered a ton of information about how makeup brushes hold onto the residue that contains acne-causing bacteria. This bacteria is almost impossible to get out of the bristles completely. When I came to know about this I was mad I wasted so much time depressed about my bad skin. When this question crossed my mind, I never let it go. I spent even more time reading and that’s when I discovered that acne is contagious. It can turn your skin from bad to worse if you don’t stop and fix the root of the problem.

All the research made me realize that I could have been causing my skin to break out repeatedly because of the bacteria that was in my makeup brushes! If I even had one zit, that contagious bacteria would spread all over my face when I put on makeup with my brushes. Not only does the bacteria from makeup brushes cause acne but studies have shown that it can also cause staph infections and cause your skin to age prematurely because of the oxidative stress from free radicals, which causes a breakdown of collagen and elastin – the two most important elements to keep a youthful face.I searched to see if I could find any antimicrobial brushes but couldn’t find anything. When I couldn’t find anything, I decided to take the matter into my own hands. I didn’t want other girls to go through what I did. A simple mistake had cost me a good portion of my career and I was not letting my story repeat itself. So my husband and I worked closely with a lab for over a year until we came up with a solution that would help everyone – we successfully developed the antimicrobial makeup brush. At first, we were skeptical if it was going to work so I tried it on myself and I was surprised by the results! I tested the product and documented everything to make sure that it was working and guess what? It was a success!I could slowly see my acne disappearing. It was not spreading anymore and that was a huge relief. I was finally able to enjoy my skin and leave the house without any make upon. I was comfortable in my skin once again. I do admit that it took a lot of time to put the pieces together but in the end, it was worth it. So I encourage all those girls out there who are dealing with acne to stop and try FREY’A brushes and see if they make any difference with your skin!