Why I Started Intrinsic Skincare — A Mother, A Mission, and A Promise That Has Never Changed

The Skin That Started Everything — Why I Built Intrinsic Skincare From Scratch

My son was 14 when his cystic acne began. For three years it was persistent, painful and severe. By the time he was 17 he was badly scarred. I had run out of conventional answers — so I made my own. What happened next set me wondering. And that wondering became Intrinsic Skincare.

There is a particular helplessness that comes with watching your teenager struggle with their skin. Cystic acne is not ordinary teenage acne. It is deep, painful, and relentless — the kind that leaves its mark long after each breakout clears. And for three years, through Covid lockdown and everything that came with it — no dermatologists, no in-person care, limited options — we tried everything available to us.

Some things helped a little. Nothing helped enough.

By the time my son was 17, the acne had left him badly scarred. Three years of cystic breakouts had taken their toll — not just on his skin, but on his confidence, his sense of himself, the way he moved through the world.

I was not willing to accept that this was simply how things were.

The formulation that changed everything

I am not a woman who gives up easily. With access to medical care severely limited during lockdown, I turned to research. I read everything I could find. I looked at ingredients, at natural remedies, at what the science actually said about skin healing — not what the marketing said.

I blended a treatment using carefully chosen essential and carrier oils, each one selected for its skin-healing properties, each one something I was completely comfortable putting on my own child's skin.

The change was gradual. Over approximately six months, his skin transformed.

I will never forget the moment people who knew him started noticing. Friends, family — genuinely astounded. Asking him what on earth he had done differently. What products he was using. How his skin had changed so dramatically after three years of struggle.

Watching a young man rediscover his confidence — watching the scarring fade, watching him stand differently — is not something a mother forgets.

But it also set me wondering.

If I could get rid of my son's cystic acne scarring — what else was possible? Could I get rid of my own wrinkles?

That question changed everything.

What my son's skin taught me

That experience sent me down a path I have never left. I began to look more closely at what was actually in the products we had been using on his skin for three years. What I found alarmed me. Harsh chemicals. Unnecessary irritants. Ingredients included for texture, shelf life, or cost — not for the health of the person wearing them.

And it wasn't just skincare. The more I looked, the more I found — in our food, in medications being routinely prescribed when they didn't need to be, in the everyday products we had all simply accepted as normal.

It was my son's experience that led me to study Naturopathic Medicine. Not the other way around. His skin opened my eyes to a world I couldn't unsee — and gave me the determination to do something about it.

From one treatment to over twenty products and still growing!

What started in my kitchen has grown into a range of over 20 products, with customers across the UK, USA and South Africa. And my son — now 20 — uses almost all of them. The Spot and Scar Treatment that started everything. The Niacinamide Moisturiser. The Charcoal Soap. The Hair Growth Shampoo Bar. The Deodorant.

He is also, without question, my biggest cheerleader. Which feels like the best possible outcome of a very difficult three years.

As for the wrinkles? I'll let our customers answer that one.

The promise that has never changed

Every product I formulate must meet the same standard I set in that first kitchen blend — 100% harmless, gentle on skin, and genuinely effective. No fillers. No ingredients I wouldn't put on my son's skin. No compromise between what is safe and what works.

Because that was never a compromise I was willing to make.

Three years of watching someone you love struggle will do that to you. It makes you uncompromising in the best possible way.

Skincare should heal, not harm. That was true when my son was 17. It is still true now.

Nicky Hughes, Founder — Intrinsic Skincare