Danielle's Skin Laundry Story

Danielle Maddox, 36. Skin Concern: Acne, Acne Scarring and Redness.

Protocol: Signature Laser & Resurfacing Facial.

I’m Danielle and I am an actor. I started getting really bad cystic acne after going off birth control. I’d never had it before and my entire face was full of red, angry, terrible blemishes. It was a really hard time as being on camera is my job and it’s my passion. I was also getting married, so I had a lot of things I was dealing with. Emotionally, it was difficult because I had no confidence. I hated leaving the house. I felt so ugly and I couldn’t work because no one wants to hire a model or an actor that has a crazy skin problem. I felt like my career was over.

My entire face was full of red, angry, terrible blemishes. I hated leaving the house.

I had truly tried everything. I had gone the dermatologist route. I tried different topicals and used pharmaceutical products like Clindamycin that made my skin worse. Hydrafacials, red light therapy, high frequency—I don’t want to list them all because it’s exhausting. My dermatologist said that it was going to get worse before it got better, but it never got better. I felt hopeless and out of options, but then I got an ad from Skin Laundry. There was one right by my house, so I gave it a shot.

“My dermatologist said that it was going to get worse before it got better, but it never got better.”

I didn’t put a lot of hope into it because I had tried so much, but everyone at Skin Laundry was so welcoming, from the front desk to the nurses. No one looked down on me or made me feel self-conscious about my skin. Everyone was knowledgeable and helped me feel good about the process and what to expect. Talking to the nurse and discussing my history was a good learning experience to understand how the lasers help target and get rid of acne.

Everyone at Skin Laundry was so welcoming and no one made me feel self-conscious about my skin.

I started Skin Laundry about eight months before my wedding with a Signature Laser Facial twice a month to see how my skin reacted. Then, I moved on to the Resurfacing Facial twice a month. I saw results within a month. I noticed the redness reduced pretty significantly, my cystic acne started to clear up after about four weeks and I noticed less breakouts. Three months in, I really started noticing that the redness was reduced and I wasn’t getting any more blemishes.

"I saw results within a month when my cystic acne started to clear up."

On your wedding day, you want to look your best, you want to be perfect so it was exciting to see my results leading up to my wedding. I was so fortunate that when I got married, my skin was clear. I didn’t have any breakouts and I only had mild scarring left on my cheeks. I had peace of mind and I felt more beautiful because of it. I got married in Mexico, where we stayed on for two weeks afterwards, and I didn’t wear makeup the entire time. That was a huge for me and it’s all thanks to Skin Laundry.

“When I got married, my skin was clear. I didn’t have any breakouts.”

It’s hard to fully express how I feel. I’ve been a model and an actor for 20-plus years and being in front of the camera, my face is everything. That period when my skin was so bad brought me to such a dark place. I did not feel like me. I felt so uncomfortable. My last treatment was in December and my skin has been amazing ever since. It’s clear, smooth, I don’t break out, and my redness is minimal. I’m so grateful for the entire experience and how transformational it has been. I feel amazing....like a new person.

“I feel amazing, like a new person.”

Lastly, I really loved the open communication with the nurses. I felt like they understood what my goals were and they gave me specific protocols that made sense. We would assess each time I was in how my skin reacted at the last appointment and would adjust based on that. I appreciated that because it can be a lot to think about and they took that stress away. My advice is to be consistent, trust the process and stick with the routine. Sometimes, people give up too quickly before seeing results, but consistency is key.

To find out more about the causes of acne and treatments, head here.