| Rasasara Stories / Tyler Guerin’s Skincare Journey |

Tyler Guerin Portrait for blog post

I spent the majority of my high school years in a slump over my skin. Not only was I insecure about how it made me look, but also the way it killed my confidence and mood when in reality nobody else cared. Above all, it was the constant disappointment I felt each time I attempted to improve my skin with no success. I was hormonal, irrational and ignorant to the complexities of skin health. I expected a trip to the doctors and some antibiotic cream to fix everything, to banish my acne once and for all. If you’ve ever suffered from poor skin health you will know the solution is never that simple. So I did what we all do in the face of defeat; I gave in to the makeup mask and gave up on the dream of obtaining naturally glowing, healthy skin.

That was the cycle of it all. Bad skin, make-up, clogged skin, skin can’t heal…For a long time I applied a sheet of foundation, prohibiting my skin from cleaning or balancing itself. So even if my skin was trying to clear up I was hardly giving it the chance…

At 16 I’d completed the entire skin-fix bucket list. If you’ve ever had issues with your skin you’ll know what I’m talking about. Over time they were each trialled…

  • Dairy free/ Vegan diet
  • Low GI diet
  • Benzac cream
  • Antibiotic- Doxycyclin
  • The pill

The last resort was a harsh drug, Accutane or isotretinoin, initially derived for anti-cancer chemotherapy. It had a 95% success rate for healing severe cases of acne. After monthly blood tests, whole body dryness and many ups and downs I completed a 6 month course. In this time my skin rid itself of all oils, good and bad, until there was no oil left! My skin was unbelievably perfect. It was amazing. But it was unsustainable. 2 months later my acne had resurfaced, and so after much deliberation I was convinced that a second course of the drug would see me through to flawless skin FOREVER…Forever was 3 months…

Soon enough I was back to square one. I was 20 and I hadn’t come out of the ‘hormonal stage’ that had already run a 6 year course, that ‘would soon end.’ I realised when there was nothing else left to try that it was going to take a more alternative approach to rid my skin of acne for good. When it came down to it, it wasn’t just the pimples that were the issue. I had this burning heat, this redness and inflammation that was impossible to cool down. The anxiety and the heat were a package deal, however I knew the worry stemmed from the redness, the heat, the embarrassment of it all.

Nothing could cool me down. Soon after I found out why… I had never heard of Ayurveda before, but I met a woman through my job at a health food store who had a wealth of knowledge on Ayurveda and skin healing, Sonia Lloyd, the founder of Rasasara Skinfood. She could tell just by looking at me that I had a ‘Pitta’ skin type.

In Ayurvedic terms I am of a ‘Pitta’ constitution. My super sensitive and lightly freckled skin, redness and oily t-zone also indicated I had a ‘pitta imbalance’.

Although I had no prior knowledge of Ayurveda, the ancient Indian notion for pacifying pitta was very basic; balance the heat by eating cooling and grounding foods. To name a few, this consisted of cucumbers, celery, apple, fresh herbs, coconut, pears, lots of green vegetables (opposite of red), beans, white meat/protein only, and spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, peppermint, saffron, turmeric and vanilla.

This ensured that my body, which ran hot, wasn’t stimulated by extra heat from foods I was consuming. Drinking plenty of water was also super important! Warm water an hour before or after meals is best. I quit coffee and laid off the red wine for a couple of months. I avoided salty and heating foods, choosing sweet over sour where I could. After just a month I could see and feel the results.

Topically, I used Rasasara Skinfood ‘pitta’ products that are 100% edible, cruelty-free and composed of a minimal ingredient structure. A few weeks and then a month went by and I noticed the heat disappearing. It was crazy how obvious it was when I ate foods with warming properties. I got better at avoiding these because the reward of substituting them for something cooler was immense.

Once the heat was gone, I spent the next couple of months switching to ‘kapha’ skin products to aid with the congestion. I had pimples mainly along the sides of my face and my forehead, and scarring in all different places. The kapha range targeted my congested skin with antibacterial herbs and oils such as Neem, clary sage and lavender. Today, I use a combination of Kapha and Pitta skin products to balance my sensitive & acne prone complexion.

It has been a year since I was introduced to Rasasara Skinfood & an Ayurvedic diet and I have never looked back. I have learnt an incredible amount about myself and my body. I have realised how individual and complex we all are.

Through alternative/natural medicine I have achieved more with my overall health than I ever did through western medicine. More importantly, resolving these issues naturally and from the root of the cause I know that the results are much more permanent.

If I could go back, I would like to take a more holistic approach to my skin. To speak to a health professional who has experience treating skin naturally and to be treated for the longevity of my overall health. My skin success was catalysed by identifying the root cause of my acne, rather than my symptoms. I was eating foods and drinks that were ‘heating’ by nature. I was cleaning my skin with products that weren’t natural and were disrupting the PH of my skin. I was stressed and anxious about the state of my skin and wore makeup to hide it.

I have never been obsessed with a brand until I discovered Rasasara. There’s something about the minimal formulation of these products and the simple magic of pure essential oils that got me. Waking up has never been easier now that I have something so beautiful to put on my skin… & people always tell me how great I smell!

Having glowing skin never gets old, I am grateful every day for the health of my skin, and to have constant support from Rasasara.

Tyler Guerin.