Hormonal acne treated at the root.
Khianna Chapman - Clinical Naturopath
"Chin, jawline, and cycle-linked breakouts aren't a skincare problem. They're a signal from inside your body — and they respond when we listen to them."
Hormonal acne is one of the most common — and most mismanaged — conditions in women's health. If topical treatments, antibiotics, or the pill haven't given you lasting results, it's because the cause was never investigated. That's what Khianna does differently.
Understand your acne
Sound familiar?
Breakouts on your chin, jaw, or lower face
Acne that flares before your period
Skin that never fully clears between cycles
Cystic or deep, painful spots
Topical treatments that worked briefly, then stopped
Being offered the pill as the only solution
Acne that came back after stopping contraception
85%
of adult female acne has a hormonal driver
8–12
weeks to meaningful skin clearing
AUS
wide Telehealth
Understanding hormonal acne
Why your skin is breaking out — and why topical treatments never fully work.
Hormonal acne isn't caused by dirty skin, poor hygiene, or the wrong cleanser. It's driven by internal imbalances — most commonly in your hormones, gut microbiome, and nutritional status — that determine how much oil your skin produces, how much inflammation circulates in your body, and how effectively your hormones are being cleared.
Topical treatments can reduce surface bacteria and inflammation temporarily. But they cannot address androgen excess, oestrogen dominance, gut dysbiosis, or the nutritional deficiencies that drive ongoing breakouts. This is why most women see their acne return as soon as they stop a medication or change their routine.
Addressing hormonal acne properly means investigating the internal environment — through gut microbiome testing, dietary analysis, and nutritional assessment — and treating the actual drivers, not the surface symptoms.
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“I rarely see hormonal acne that is purely hormonal. In almost every case, there is a gut dysbiosis component — an imbalanced microbiome disrupting oestrogen detoxification, driving inflammation, and keeping the skin in a chronic reactive state. When we fix the gut, the skin follows.”
01
Androgen Excess
Elevated testosterone and DHT stimulate sebaceous glands to overproduce oil, creating the environment where acne-causing bacteria thrive. Often driven by insulin resistance, PCOS, or impaired hormone clearance.
02
Gut Dysbiosis & the Oestrobolome
The gut microbiome regulates oestrogen metabolism through specialised bacteria called the oestrobolome. When gut bacteria are imbalanced, oestrogen is poorly detoxified and recirculated — driving hormonal disruption that shows up on the skin.
03
Poor Liver Detoxification
The liver is responsible for breaking down used hormones. If detoxification pathways are sluggish — often due to nutrient deficiencies or gut dysfunction — hormones accumulate and recirculate, fuelling inflammatory acne.
04
Nutritional Deficiencies
Zinc, vitamin A, omega-3 fatty acids, and B vitamins are all critical for skin health, sebum regulation, and inflammation control. Deficiencies in these nutrients — extremely common in women — significantly worsen hormonal acne.
05
Insulin & Blood Sugar Dysregulation
High-glycaemic diets spike insulin, which in turn increases androgen production and IGF-1 — both of which directly stimulate sebum production and increase acne severity. Dietary intervention addressing blood sugar is often a primary treatment pillar.
85%
of adult female acne cases have a hormonal component requiring internal investigation, not just topical management
Journal of Clinical & Aesthetic Dermatology, 2023
76%
of IBS patients with co-existing skin conditions show significant improvement in both when gut dysbiosis is addressed
Frontiers in Microbiology, 2023
38%
of Australian women aged 25–40 report active acne, with the majority finding conventional treatments inadequate long-term
Australasian Journal of Dermatology, 2022
The testing difference
Why Khianna starts with
gut testing for acne.
It might seem counterintuitive to test your gut when your skin is the problem. But the gut-skin axis is well established in the research — and comprehensive gut microbiome testing consistently reveals the hidden drivers that explain why acne persists despite everything you've tried.
The Complete Gut Microbiome Package is the foundation of Khianna's acne investigation. Depending on your symptoms, additional EndoMAP hormone testing or HTMA may be recommended alongside it.
🦠
Gut Microbiome
Testing
A comprehensive stool analysis that maps your gut bacteria, yeasts, inflammation markers, and digestive function — identifying dysbiosis patterns that are driving skin inflammation and disrupting hormone detoxification through the oestrobolome.
🥗
Nutritional Medicine
& Targeted Supplements
Personalised supplementation addressing identified deficiencies — commonly zinc, vitamin A, omega-3s, and B vitamins — alongside targeted herbal medicines that support androgen balance, liver detoxification, and skin healing.
🌿
Dietary & Lifestyle
Protocols
Anti-inflammatory dietary changes that address blood sugar, reduce androgen-stimulating foods, and support liver detoxification — integrated into your actual lifestyle, not a restrictive protocol that's impossible to maintain.
The naturopathic approach
How hormonal acne is treated
at Tommi Rose.
Every treatment plan starts with understanding your specific drivers — because two women with the same-looking acne can have completely different root causes. Khianna's approach always begins with investigation before intervention.
What gut testing reveals for acne
✓ Dysbiosis patterns disrupting oestrogen metabolism via the oestrobolome
✓ Pathogenic bacteria and yeast overgrowth driving systemic inflammation
✓ Leaky gut (intestinal permeability) fuelling skin reactivity
✓ Digestive enzyme insufficiency affecting nutrient absorption
✓ Inflammatory markers (calprotectin) elevated in the gut lining
✓ Immune activation patterns driving chronic skin inflammation
✓ Secretory IgA status revealing gut immune defence capacity
Questions answered
Everything you want to know about hormonal acne
Honest, evidence-informed answers from Khianna's clinical experience treating women with hormonal acne across Australia.
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Hormonal acne in women is most commonly driven by androgen excess (testosterone and DHT), oestrogen dominance, poor hormone detoxification through the liver and gut, gut dysbiosis disrupting the oestrobolome, nutrient deficiencies (particularly zinc, vitamin A, and omega-3s), and elevated insulin. These imbalances cause increased sebum production, inflammation, and disrupted skin cell turnover — resulting in the characteristic breakouts on the chin, jawline, and lower face that worsen around ovulation and before menstruation.
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Yes. A naturopath specialising in hormonal acne, like Khianna at Tommi Rose Natural Health, uses gut microbiome testing, nutritional medicine, herbal therapy, and dietary changes to investigate and address the root causes. Rather than suppressing symptoms with topical treatments or the pill, the naturopathic approach identifies why the acne is occurring — whether the driver is gut dysbiosis, androgen excess, poor detoxification, or nutrient deficiency — and addresses it directly. Most clients see meaningful improvement within 8–12 weeks of consistent treatment.
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Pre-menstrual acne flares are driven by the hormonal shift in the luteal phase — progesterone rises after ovulation and can stimulate sebaceous glands, while oestrogen drops in the days before menstruation, reducing its anti-inflammatory effects. If androgen levels are elevated or oestrogen detoxification is impaired, these fluctuations are amplified. Gut dysbiosis worsens this by interfering with the oestrobolome — the gut bacteria responsible for regulating oestrogen metabolism and preventing oestrogen from being reactivated and recirculated.
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The gut and skin are closely connected through what researchers call the gut-skin axis. An imbalanced gut microbiome drives systemic inflammation that manifests in the skin, and disrupts oestrogen metabolism through the oestrobolome. When gut bacteria are imbalanced, oestrogen is poorly detoxified and recirculated, contributing to hormonal acne. Gut microbiome testing at Tommi Rose Natural Health frequently identifies these imbalances — explaining why skin issues haven't responded to topical treatments alone, and providing a clear target for treatment.
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Most women notice initial improvements within 4–6 weeks. Meaningful skin clearing typically occurs within 8–12 weeks as dietary changes and targeted protocols take effect. Because the skin cell cycle runs on approximately 28-day intervals, internal changes take at least one to two full cycles to show up visibly on the skin. Complex or long-standing hormonal acne may require 3–6 months for complete resolution, though improvements are usually visible well before that.
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Foods most commonly associated with hormonal acne include high-glycaemic foods (which spike insulin and increase androgen production), conventional dairy (which contains IGF-1 and may stimulate sebum production), processed seed oils (which promote inflammatory pathways in the skin), and alcohol (which impairs liver detoxification of oestrogen). However, food triggers are individual — gut microbiome testing helps identify whether specific dietary factors are driving dysbiosis and inflammation in your particular case.
Available online · Australia-wide telehealth
Ready to find out what's
actually driving your acne?
Book a free 15-minute clarity call with Khianna. Talk through your skin history, understand the naturopathic approach, and find out what investigation could reveal for you.