I love cheese, but unfortunately my face hates it. Every stamp I earn on my Murray’s Cheese loyalty card is accompanied by a resulting, painful face stamp on my chin in the form of a cyst (an angry, under-the-skin blemish). Every discovery of a new aged Gouda comes with an unwelcome acne surprise at month’s end. When I discovered artisanal Californian cheese maker, CowGirl Creamery, not even my retinoid could handle the strain.
When I work on my night cheese, this anti-cyst treatment from Texan aesthetician Renée Rouleau (Demi Lovato’s favorite) also gets a workout. It’s the only acne spot treatment that specializes in targeting cysts. In an industry where people are constantly knocking each other off or making their competitors feel flattered by imitation, it’s a truly original product that hasn’t spawned any copycats.
Rouleau herself is a little uncertain as to why it works so well. “When I developed this 30 years ago, the only thing you could do for a cyst was go to the dermatologist and get a cortisone shot.” When she first started giving the lactic-acid-based serum to clients, she directed them to use it all over the face, but they reported that it was also successfully treating cysts. After hearing about the unintended side benefits from hundreds of clients, Rouleau re-named the serum. “People get a 50 percent reduction of the bump,” she says.
Over the years, people have tried to dissect the serum’s success in treating one of the toughest acne bumps. (Unlike the pops you see in Pimple Popper videos, cysts are reabsorbed back into the body). “Lactic acid doesn’t do anything for cysts. It’s really a synergistic effect from all of the ingredients.”
Over the years, I’ve given this serum to plenty of friends (including Strategist’s Jason Chen) for all of their various face bumps. Almost immediately afterward, I always get a text raving about how effective it is and how I’ve saved them from priceless cortisone shots or smelly bottles of tea tree oil. It’s a mystery of the beauty world, but it really works.
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