Hi friend.
Do you feel like you know me by now? Are you wondering about the woman behind the acne treatment website? Who is she really? What has shaped her into the person she is now?
Well, maybe you don’t care. Even though I am the context for this website, this website is actually about you. You and your skin and how you can get clear.
However, I know that in my experience, if I am taking advice from someone, I want to know about his personal life as well. It’s the same if I watch a movie I enjoy, I tend to want to go find out where the lead actress is from, who she’s dating, and some general fun facts. I just want to somehow bring her to life and feel like I know her.
So here it is: Tracy’s magical life journey split into three parts. Take it or leave it.
I was born on a Sunday in April, 1987 in a town called Powell River, a town approximately 20 thousand rich in residents, and in close-ish proximity to Vancouver, BC, Canada.
While this town is not an island, or on an island, it is enclosed by mountains and inlets and it’s necessary to take two ferries to get there. So we are kind of like an island, but without water on four sides. It’s a gorgeous town in the summer, with the ocean there and the mountains of Vancouver Island in the distances. It is teeming with outdoor activities. The town itself is a glorious mixture of hippies, rednecks, and retired folks. It is the type of place that you can have the time of your life, or the worst times of your life, depending on who you know and the time of year.
My glorious little hometown
It’s a special place to me, as the west coast is. Even with all the rain, there is something that draws me to this magical part of the world, and particularly my hometown. I return to it every summer because I can’t seem to find anywhere else I’d rather be, as much as I’ve tried.
I grew up in a standard nuclear family with my mom, my dad, and my older brother of two years. There was plenty of love; maybe a bit of negativity and stifled emotions on one side of my family… I think I turned out pretty well rounded anyway, but maybe a psychologist might disagree (I’m still trying to dissect my seemingly innocuous childhood to find if there was anything traumatizing I am hiding away from myself in my subconscious).
I was a quiet, well behaved child. I liked drawing and creative projects, as well as studying our picture atlas of the world – my favourite pastime. We lived outside of the town where there weren’t a lot of other kids, so I learned to enjoy my own time. I was also somewhat of a tom boy as well, preferring to climb trees and play Nintendo with my older brother, rather than with Barbies. In school, I did quite well and continued to get good grades all the way through high school.
Rockin the t-shirt vest, age 6
I’ve always been a somewhat strikingly small person (I’m still only 5 foot nothing and weigh less than 90 lbs). Growing up, this meant that I never heard a shortage of the word “cute” being thrown in my direction. It’s not like this is a bad word and I’m sure no one meant it that way, but as a small child trying to prove that I was a person too, I simply did not want to be “cute”. (Note: I’m perfectly cool with being called that now.) At the time, the word felt not like a compliment, but like a word to describe something agreeable but lesser than – like a puppy.
I remember when I was in grade 3, there was this girl in my class named Lecayle. For some reason, this girl decided that she was going to make me her own personal ragdoll. Every single time she saw me, she’d make a huge scene. She would run up to me, pick me up off the ground in a giant hug, and kiss my face all over. Muah muah muah muah muah muah muah. “Tracy, you’re soooooo cuuuuuute. Oh my god. Youuuuu’re soooo cute”. This happened all the time, and every time I ran into her, no matter where we were. I became quite upset with her for treating me like this and began getting verbally angry with her so she would back off and realize I didn’t appreciate it. If I tried to complain though, teachers would never do anything since she was not *technically* being mean to me. Therefore, she was allowed to continue treating me like this, and I had no power over it.
To me it was embarrassing. She was a peer and treating me like I was nothing – just a doll to her. I knew that I was a smart and capable human being.
Standard high school girl party
Needless to say, I developed quite a complex about this. Slowly through my early years, I began to believe that despite my capabilities, I would never be taken seriously if people thought that I was younger than I was.
Either way, I still had a fairly easy going life throughout school – through all the ups, the downs, and the sideways. I had plenty of friends and flew under the radar as we wove our way through boys, classes, and puberty.
Grade 5 was when I got my first pimple. I had a huge one under my nose, and my “best friend” at the time, so kindly pointed it out. I started getting regular acne in grade 7. I ran to the store and bought my first acne face wash – Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash. It never got beyond mild – fairly normal for kids at the time. Of course, having acne never helped when it came to my complex about looking young.
Click here to read Part 2!
mandy says
January 30, 2011 at 12:55 pmHi. I just found your blog yesterday and I love it. I was just about to say something like, “omg you’re so cute I love your blog” but then I read the post and was like, oh damn! I know what you mean though by developing a complex. I have such problem skin I’ve always felt that as long as it was broken out people wouldn’t be able to take ME seriously. I found your site through acne.org and I’m really excited. To me a hollisitic, all natural approach to healing our skin makes so much sense and I’m really pumped about kicking out the processed stuff and working towards food choices more on the all natural side!! I wasn’t created in a lab so why should what I put on and in my body be lab created? Can’t wait to read more!
thelovevitamin says
January 30, 2011 at 1:13 pmHi Mandy!
Hahaha, it’s okay! Not to worry, now that I’m all grown up, I take it in a different light when people say I’m cute, I definitely take it as a compliment! But back then, it just felt demeaning somehow to my small insignificant child self trying to prove I’m a person too!
I’m so happy you like my site! The natural way is definitely the way to go once you realize what our bodies are and what BS society and the medical system and money hunger teaches us… good luck with changing your life! And thanks again for stopping by and leaving a comment!
Jen G. says
January 30, 2011 at 6:03 pmI just stumbled across your blog the other day and I find it very interesting! I had bad acne growing up, bow, at 27 it’s more mild, but I’m never 100% clear. I’ve been reading a lot about vitamins and natural approaches. I’d love to hear about your regimen!
thelovevitamin says
January 31, 2011 at 9:53 amGreat! Well keep reading the website, Jen! More information is on its way
grace says
February 1, 2011 at 1:59 pmyour head/hairband is really pretty 🙂
Angel says
February 4, 2011 at 11:29 pmHi,
Whoa, we weigh and are the same height!! Petite people 😛
Omg when I read about the part where you said you had a friend that picked you up and etc. The SAME thing happened to me in highschool! I’ve alway’s taken cute as a compliment (and I like looking younger than my age…even though I am only 22. 😛 )
But this girl would swing me around like a ragdoll and it totally pissed me off. It was just overwhelming and was really strange. O_o
Bruno says
April 5, 2011 at 3:12 amI read you use raw honey to wash yourself. I’ve been putting raw honey on my skin for a long time, but it was always kinda messy. How do you wash with it?
Tracy says
April 5, 2011 at 7:34 amI’ve never found it too messy to wash my face with. Just like using a normal cleanser…. only thing is that very small amounts of its seem to run down my arm to my elbow as I’m washing, but I just splash it off with water afterwards. That probably happens with normal cleanser, but you just don’t notice because it’s not sticky.
But I’ve heard people saying they put honey on and leave it overnight and I don’t know on earth they do that without making a huge mess.
Bruno says
April 5, 2011 at 7:43 amI actually did it all the time. As I sleep on my back (I used to sleep on my stomach, which probably caused some acne too, due to lack of good breathing, but now I learned to sleep like this). I have quite long hair, so it does run into my hair during the night, sometimes on the cushion. The good thing is that it completely stops breakouts if everything goes right. Last time I ate 99% dark chocolate (you’re supposed to eat a tiny tiny bit and put it on your tongue, but I ate the whole bar at once as I didn’t read the instructions), got a caffeine overdose (never consumed caffeine before that), got a huge stress attack, then I went to sleep with lots of honey everywhere, it dripped everywhere :D, but for some reason I slept on my right side, so I got 2 zits on my right cheek, and another zit on my right jawline. Nothing on the left side :P. If only someone would invent a mask that you can fill with honey, that still allows you to breath normally, and you would never wake up with a pimple 😀
Kim says
April 7, 2011 at 7:40 pmHi Tracy! I just found your videos and website today and I think you are fabulous! You are such a beautiful woman…such clear skin! I am 43 and in the last year have had a horrible acne break out. I had some acne as a teenager, but not like this. Mostly on my jawline and chin, some on my neck by my hairline. I have tried several facial products and feel like I am scraping my skin off. I am so ready to try this all natural way. I ordered the organic raw honey, AO Aloe Vera, and the Jojoba oil tonite on Amazon. Can’t wait to get them and get started.
You are such a BIG influence. Thank you!
Keep up the awesome videos….
kim
Tracy says
April 8, 2011 at 8:35 amHey way to go Kim! Congrats on choosing the natural approach, if you’ve been feeling like acne products are scraping your skin off, you’re gonna love it! Let me know how things go ! ♥
Kristian says
June 2, 2011 at 10:32 amHey!
I found your youtube video two days ago where you told not to take Accutane. And it really gave me power to say NO to Isotretnoin (Accutane). It was the evening I should take my first drug. And felt so terrible whole day. I didnt know what to do. I wrote a mail to my mom and she said I shuld throw it right away! I said its the only possibilty to get rid over back acne. But than I saw your video and knowed, You can make it without Accutane. My mom described it as “silent killer” wehen I told her about side effects.
I read about you life story and its great. It reminded me a little bit bout my life. I also like to travel and get to know other people. Sorry my English is not so good but you can understand.
Thats for now,
greetings from Germany
Kristian (22)
Tracy says
June 2, 2011 at 8:26 pmHi Kristian! I`m so happy to hear you found the strength to say no to Accutane… you really can beat acne without it! And you`ll be better off in the end… it may be a journey to get to the other side but you will come out a better person for certain 🙂 Peace and love to you xoxox
Jaclyn says
June 8, 2011 at 5:24 pmHaha wow, we both used the same Neutrogena product as our first acne wash. Man that takes me back. I know exactly what you mean with the “cute” thing. I myself am 100 lbs and 5′ 3″. Back then, people would always call me cute when I wanted to be “gorgeous” or “beautiful”, but now I embrace cute these days! I guess I saw it more as a label then, and I also wanted to be taken more seriously (as a person) when I was younger.
Tracy says
June 9, 2011 at 11:13 amHaha totally, you nailed it! We grow up with these “ideals” that we want to be, but no one is really the “ideal”… we all just need to stop taking ourselves so seriously I guess! 😀
Amber says
June 20, 2011 at 10:58 amAfter going through your blog posts for the first time, I laugh at how similar we are! I am also 5′ tall and worry (not that often) about being taken seriously. I’m 20 but sometimes people treat me like I’m 13. I’ve been fighting acne holistically for a few months now and its going well! I love your website and how so many things you say I’ve either found to be true already or an currently learning about. I recently read a book, Nourishing Traditions, that changed my life. It is basically about eating the way our ancestors would eat, but it adds lots of evidence against modern “nutrition” and it is also a full cookbook with many recipes. If you haven’t read it already, it would probably be a good addition to your already superb compilation of knowledge that contributes to our health.
Tracy says
June 22, 2011 at 11:18 amHi Amber… Nourishing Traditions is great! I am a fan of the Weston Price foundation for sure.. it seems to be a nice bridge between paleo and other modern healthy diets… anyway… thanks for the comment, and enjoy the blog!!
valen says
April 2, 2012 at 7:33 pmI can sooooooooooo relate to this, but because of my passive personality the way i was treated in school had a major negative effect on me. I’m small too, 5 feet nothing, i was 32lbs i remember in grade school. I was constantly picked up, tickled, called cute, just physically and verbally abused by students and teachers. anyway, i was on youtube today when i found one of your videos, which led me to your video about Cheri Huber’s book, which led me to her website, and to a meditation group close to where i live. im so thankful i found all this out today. i have a feeling Cheri Hubert’s books will be very helpful.
I plan on working full time on my psyche this year, especially with the non traditional things like meditation, and EFT.
anyway, I really love reading and listening to you because I can relate with it all, I feel I’m not alone. Which is always good to know. for example, your facebook post, its poison to my self esteem!
oh and ive been makeup free for 6 months now.
Lola says
October 30, 2012 at 3:27 pmI have been reading your blog for a while. It had helped clear up my skin before one of the biggest photo days of my life (I just got married two months ago).
I had a similar experience with being hard-of-hearing. A girl in my chemistry class in high school would always whisper/hiss my name during class. She would laugh when I would not respond. At the end of class she would always tell me what she did and then laugh again about it. I was always felt like what the heck?
Also, I started getting skin issues in college. I tried birth control because I wasn’t getting my periods (too thin). It backfired. Shortly after the birth control, I decided I wanted braces. My boyfriend at the time (husband now) told me jokingly, “Hey, you are just like a little kid now. Braces and acne.” Even though he didn’t mean it maliciously, I still wanted to kick him in the head.
Tracy says
October 31, 2012 at 10:21 amhahaha.. I literally LOL’d about the “I still wanted to kick him in the head”. I would have wanted to too!!
Reza says
October 31, 2012 at 11:51 amHi Tracy,
I have severe cystic acne. I developed it at 18 and now I’m 23. I am trying to have your ebook emailed to me, but it is not being sent. Would you be able to help me with this? I would really appreciate your help.
Tracy says
October 31, 2012 at 3:29 pmHi Lovely – are you referring to the free one, “Roadmap to Clear Skin” ?
Becky says
August 20, 2013 at 4:48 pmHi Tracy!! I love reading your stories!!! :)) I was just wondering how long it took you to finally reach a clear stage of your acne after your breakout in 2010?!
Tracy says
August 21, 2013 at 10:36 amHi Becky, it took about three months. Then I kind of had mild hormonal acne that would come and go.. had that for about two years trying to figure out what the heck, but a supplement called Estroblock has cleared that up!! (check out my recent articles)
ayesha says
January 13, 2015 at 3:38 amHi Tracy,
I am Ayesha, from India.
First of all let me tell you that your blog looks amazing! It really looks that you have put all your heart in it 🙂
Secondly touchwood but I do not have any severe acne problem (thankfully) except for few pimples here and there (for which I will surely read your blog). I read about your story while surfing through Blog Mastermind link. Can’t believe your success story! Is it true??
As you rightly said sometimes the worst things can turn out to be the best things!
All the best!
Tracy Raftl says
January 13, 2015 at 6:01 pmIt is true 🙂 Thanks Ayesha!