Love Letter About Primal Life Organics, by Erin Carlson

I confess… I am a huge fan of love stories and love letters.  I am a romantic at heart. Every morning, my husband and I write each other little notes.  Not quite “love letters” per se- but with our busy household- a little love note goes a long way!  I cannot sit thru a romantic movie- even sappy girly movies, without swelling in tears!  Yes, rolling tears are my trademark!  

I also confess that I LOVE receiving letters from Primal Life Organics clients!  Erin made her first Primal Life Organics purchase May 07, 2012.  She has made several purchases since.  I received the following letter from Erin on Tuesday, October 09, 2012 at 12:55pm.  Tears were rolling down my cheeks like a child that just lost their favorite toy!   I am turning the rest of this article over to Erin.  Thank you Erin for sending me this Love Letter.

 Love Letter About Primal Life Organics

Just warning you up front that this may get long and gushy, but for anyone who has struggled with acne for over 15 years will understand .

 I started breaking out at the ripe old age of 12. It just so happened to coincide with the start of my vegan/vegetarian phase, but as everyone knows, not eating any animal products is the healthiest way to eat. *end sarcasm* From birth I had struggled with the skin condition Atopic Dermatitis and this only made treating the acne more difficult. Each year, the acne would increase in frequency and severity and nothing I did would ever make it go away. My very well-meaning nurse practitioner mom took me to dermatologists, wrote me prescriptions for every antibiotic and topical treatment on the market and I personally purchased any and all over the counter product that told me it could make me pretty. Neutrogena, Clearasil, Proactiv….I’ve lost count over the years.

Hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars and hours and hours and hours of my time devoted to fixing my face and nothing worked. Ever. The antibiotics would help for a month before they started making me violently ill (and of course I would keep taking them), but my skin was never clear. Every topical product would either tear up my face, dry it out and/or make the acne worse through all the weird chemicals.

Nearly 3 years ago I ran across a paper by Loren Cordain, et al, that correlated the consumption of dairy products with the occurrence of facial acne. It was the first I had ever heard of that connection, even though I was being treated at the world class Mayo clinic for my skin conditions. I cut out my beloved milk, cream and cheese and in two weeks, my skin started clearing. It was more than any antibiotic had ever done for me without any side effects. More research into this guy led me to Paleo, which has turned into going down the “rabbit hole” of clean eating and eliminating the chemicals in my daily body and household use.

Although my skin was the clearest it has ever been eating paleo, it was never actually clear. I still had frequent eruptions as well as the usual blackheads and hormonal pop-ups. During this journey, I stopped using commercial body and face products and started making my own. I did the oil cleansing method and tried the microfiber cleansing cloths. I created my own facial scrubs and masks. They all worked as well as the chemical concoctions I had used before, but I still had problems.

I turned to my internal healing process – squeaky clean paleo, fermented cod liver oil, bone broth, vitamin d, fermented foods, no coffee, no sugar, no fruit, no nuts, no nightshades, etc, etc, etc. Improvements, but nothing was it.

Enter Trina with Primal Life Organics. She had a feature on one of my favorite blogs (theprimalparent.com) and I loved the ingredient lists as well as the products available. I had attempted to duplicate pretty much everything she created before I knew about her and everything of mine turned out ho hum. Going back to my “I’ll try anything if it promises to fix my face” mentality, I ordered the Infinity package. The price initially made me hesitate, but I know how much those individual oils cost, especially the high quality ones. Plus, it looked like they were meant to last for more than two weeks. I had the worse skin combination to treat – dry, uber sensitive, acne-prone. It was love at first wash. The cleanser made my face feel squeaky clean without being drying and the toner was incredibly refreshing. But it was the serum that put me over the moon. FINALLY! A moisturizer that actually moisturizes without leaving residue or creating dry spots or oily patches and makes my skin feel good. And, wonder of wonders, my skin started clearing. Noticeably clearing. I was hooked.

Five months later my skin is clear! I get a few little bumps on the jaw line once a month, but that’s all. No more massive eruptions on my chin, no more “third eye” on my forehead right before a big meeting at work and no more layers of makeup required for leaving the house. If that’s not wonderful enough, the humungous pores on my cheeks are shrinking AND scars from years of picking and popping are fading fast. This wasn’t an overnight process and I can’t credit one particular product for the transformation (I’ve used the Infinity package, the Earth and Ocean washes, the Banished and Carrot Seed serums and various toners), but they all work and they work well. The Primal Body Butter and Torn Up Primal Skin Repair have been the only things I’ve ever tried (including some nasty steroid creams) that actually reversed the spread of atopic dermatitis on my hands whenever a flare-up comes along. I don’t have to worry about shaking clients’ hands in the middle of winter or wearing Band-Aids for weeks on end just to cover up lesions anymore!

Trina is a master mixologist and nothing I have thrown together has ever held a candle to what she’s able to create. Thanks to her, I’m more comfortable and confident during jiu jitsu (where my partner is literally inches from my face) and I can show up to Saturday morning CrossFit without having to worry about make-up.

Thank you for doing what you do Trina! After 16 years of struggles my face, I’m finally able to be happy with what I have. I finally feel pretty.

~Erin Carlson

Thank you Erin- I am all TORN UP!!