Danielle Gronich and Kayleigh Christina on subtracting triggers that clog pores

A workday for Danielle Gronich once meant hours inside an acne only clinic in La Jolla, reading faces pore by pore. Kayleigh Christina first entered that room as a patient with persistent breakouts. Their company, CLEARSTEM, now sells topicals and capsules for people who have both breakouts and signs of aging, and it defines itself largely through a long list of ingredients it refuses to use. The clinical lens matters here because combination skin of this type is often asked to tolerate harsh drying agents or heavy occlusive bases.

Gronich dealt with cystic breakouts for over a decade. She used antibiotics, hormonal birth control and laser procedures, completed three courses of Accutane, and saw lesions return each time. She abandoned a path toward medical school, qualified as a licensed clinical esthetician, and started San Diego Acne Clinic in La Jolla in 2014, a clinic that treats acne exclusively. Her patient Kayleigh Christina, a nutritionist, had previously consulted physicians and dermatologists without improvement. Gronich helped clear her skin in less than two months. The pair launched CLEARSTEM in 2017.

The company now presents itself as an acne brand that connects internal and external care, selling supplements alongside topicals that contain no pore clogging ingredients at any time. The homepage addresses one shopper directly: someone with breakouts and aging concurrently. The business remains self funded. In 2025 BeautyMatter stated that 95 percent of revenue arrived direct to consumer, and the store locator currently shows 611 Target locations in 46 states. The two most recognized items share a price and approach skin from different directions: a moisturizer built on bakuchiol and a once daily capsule.

Many accounts of CLEARSTEM dwell on the clinic meeting and rapid expansion. Our focus settled on a disclosed list. The Standards page identifies twenty categories of ingredients that are never used, spanning parabens and petrochemicals through benzoyl peroxide, the drying agent central to numerous acne ranges. Underneath lies a screening library of over 200 comedogenic ingredients the founders exclude. For a publication that studies ingredient lists, the reminder is useful. Botanical origin and acne safety are separate properties, and the term clean reveals nothing about behavior inside a pore.

Ingredients accepted into a CLEARSTEM formula appear selected both for intended action and for avoidance: bakuchiol absent retinol associated peeling, mandelic acid absent the sting linked with faster acids, sulfur substituted for benzoyl peroxide. During discussion, Gronich speaks in the register of clinician and formulator, Christina in the register of nutritionist and former patient. Both circle one principle. In their account, clear skin begins with removal.

Thanks to you both for taking the time to talk. Kayleigh, you visited the clinic in your twenties, and Danielle cleared your skin in less than two months. What did she try that no one else had tried before

Thanks for inviting us. The medication would never address why I kept breaking out, and no one was searching for that cause. The adverse effects felt severe, my eyesight was declining, and lesions returned right away, exactly as before. That period led me to a view I retain: acne care is poorly served by both the skincare industry and the pharmaceutical industry.

So I resigned from my corporate role and studied genetics and cellular biology. Medical school had been the plan, yet I trained as an esthetician instead, because the role I sought was missing: a genuine acne specialist considering triggers inside and outside the body. So I stepped into that role.

In 2014 I launched San Diego Acne Clinic, which handles only acne. Such narrow focus makes you investigative. You review topical exposures and internal patterns, then eliminate triggers sequentially. And we never advise removing something unless we can suggest a replacement.

Danielle, you were 28 when your third course of Accutane did not work. What did that course show you that the first two had missed

I had sampled each clean skincare option, each home remedy, and each clinical suggestion available. Nothing succeeded. I felt unseen until I met Danielle. I carried several health problems then, and my nutrition training told me much was occurring beneath the surface. No practitioner had treated face and body as a single issue. Danielle assessed everything: diet, topical products, hormonal activity. I was clear in less than two months.

When she started formulating her own range, I joined at once. I contributed nutrition knowledge plus fixation on ingredient quality. She contributed clinical practice plus outcomes. The fit felt exact. Most individuals will never visit a treatment room in La Jolla, and we aimed to extend comparable help to more people who had ceased expecting better skin.

HYDRAGLOW, the top selling skincare product for the brand, centers on bakuchiol, an argan plant stem cell culture and squalane. Danielle, why choose bakuchiol over retinol in a line that also targets aging

Because my own skin showed me what the alternative could do. A widely promoted trend is the white cream form of Retin-A. It is prescribed frequently, though it contains isopropyl myristate, among the most pore clogging base ingredients. Each attempt with that product damaged my skin. Regardless of active performance, the vehicle undermined it.

Bakuchiol serves as a botanical substitute for retinol. It offers the outcomes people seek from retinol, namely smoother appearing texture and softer appearing fine lines, absent sun sensitivity, redness or flaking. Argan stem cells support a look of fullness, and squalane resembles natural skin oils, so it supports barrier function absent heaviness.

I regard it as our Goldilocks option: rich enough to avoid leaving skin dry, light enough to avoid clogging. Apply liberally to clean face, neck and chest twice daily, and allow absorption ahead of sunscreen or makeup.

Danielle, your Standards page starts with a clear statement: Your Skincare Should Not Break You Out. You have said many pore clogging ingredients remain common in clean beauty. For a reader who thinks plant based means gentle, where does that thinking fail

Formulation for us involves both inclusion and exclusion. We omit more than 200 pore clogging ingredients, a large share of which remain widespread in products marketed as clean. An organic formula can still obstruct a pore. Natural describes ingredient origin. It says nothing concerning follicular behavior.

That gap motivated our launch. Adult acne persists through the 20s, 30s and 40s, although standard acne products often strip skin and accentuate an aged look, while standard anti aging products often depend on rich fillers that provoke breakouts. People should not need to pick one concern.

Therefore exclusion comes first, and botanicals receive no exemption. When a plant extract appears on our list, it stays out, no matter how attractive it looks on packaging. We also created the Pore-Clogging Checker enabling anyone to screen any brand ingredient list independently.

Kayleigh, you told BeautyMatter that skincare is not only about the bottle. MINDBODYSKIN, called its top selling daily capsule by the brand, has more than 1,300 reviews on your site. What role does a supplement play in an acne routine, and where are its limits

Skincare extends beyond the bottle. It includes diet, lifestyle, stress, even exercise timing. Breakouts frequently reflect internal drivers: stress, glycemic shifts, digestive function, nutrient gaps, hormones. My nutrition background made that portion impossible to disregard, and Danielle always included it clinically.

MINDBODYSKIN captures that internal portion in capsule form: DIM for hormonal fluctuation support, vitamin A, B5 related to hydration, plus turmeric, milk thistle and dandelion root for support of normal bodily processes. It is intended for oily or acne prone skin seeking greater influence over internal contributors.

Boundaries exist, and we disclose them. It cannot correct breakouts triggered by comedogenic skincare, so topical review remains necessary. It is not for use during pregnancy or lactation. Since 5-HTP may interact with certain drugs, including SSRIs, we offer MINDBODYSKIN 2 formulated absent that component. And we request a three month trial. Skin did not reach this state within a week.

Benzoyl peroxide is on the never use list at CLEARSTEM, with coal tar, triclosan and formaldehyde releasing preservatives. That is a deliberate choice for a brand focused on acne. Kayleigh, what did you plan to use instead of it

Historical spot products were usually harshly drying. They commonly contained benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid, frequently plus denatured alcohol, which may provoke further irritation. The result is a flaking dry spot covering an unresolved lesion, and with age such dryness can resemble aging. So we targeted those shortcomings. Our answer combined sulfur, zinc plus glycolic acid, which feel markedly calmer. Our SULFUR SPOT&MASK contains 5% sulfur.

The timeline is hidden from view. All our launches were postponed, regularly by an extra six weeks, while a formula required rework. From a marketing perspective that proves difficult. Yet delaying release beats selling something that causes breakouts in our community. Their skin is entrusted to us, and that confidence underpins the company.

Adult acne carries on well into our 20s, 30s and 40s, yet most acne products strip the skin and leave it looking older.

Danielle Gronich

WWD quoted you both saying, Education is our first product, and it always will be. Kayleigh, your tagline also came from customers. How did it start?

Customers repeatedly told us, “You changed my life.” We adopted that sentiment as clear skin changes everything. It was not generated in a conference room. Our community voiced it first.

Education stays primary because Danielle used explanation to clear my skin. Once I grasped the mechanisms, independent choices improved. We aim to provide that understanding to all, customers or not. Hence continuous teaching: online plus in person masterclasses across the country, our podcast, the Pore-Clogging Checker, the complete never use list.

We also teach refusal of tradeoffs. Our position remains both concerns together, acne plus aging. We intend to remain in that category and define it. Retail growth has not altered the rule. Each retail setting should mirror the attention established online.

CLEARITY, the serum the brand calls the Blackhead Dissolver, combines 8 percent mandelic acid with pyruvic acid and turmeric, and the directions say to leave it undisturbed on skin for at least ten minutes. Danielle, why mandelic acid here, and why the waiting period

Mandelic is a reliable choice among acids for acne prone skin. It exfoliates absent the irritation often anticipated from acids, so it fits barriers already under stress. Pyruvic acid smooths, while turmeric supports brightness and calm. Combined they address visible congestion and texture.

Ten minutes is relevant. Apply three pumps at night to clean dry skin, massage across face, neck and chest, then pause. Do not rinse. The formula requires solitary time for absorption. Afterward layer CELLRENEW or BOUNCEBACK.

I am candid about initial use. With sensitive skin, or barrier impairment from long term harsh products, start on alternate nights. Certain users begin nightly immediately, notice worsening ahead of improvement, then struggle to distinguish purging from irritation. Gradual introduction prevents much of that. And avoid direct eye area contact.

Danielle, you told BeautyMatter that you intentionally delayed outside funding to retain control of your formulas, and you have said those formulas receive clinical testing with a follicular biopsy. What does that control give you in practice

We deliberately declined outside investment. We sought to retain authority over formulations and community communication. No external party can demand a less costly emollient or an accelerated launch for financial targets.

Such autonomy shapes our testing approach. Formulas pass extensive clinical assessment involving follicular biopsy to verify non-comedogenic plus non-acnegenic status. These assess separate outcomes: pore obstruction, and induction of inflamed lesions. Our community requires evidence on both. Stronger support would mean larger controlled samples and longer follow up with published counts.

Specificity follows for the same reason. Phenoxyethanol appears on our never use list over 1%. At lower levels, it assists our natural preservation system, allows parabens to be avoided, and has demonstrated safety for sensitive skin. Every water based product needs protection, and I prefer stating the method plainly. When people find CLEARSTEM, we want the response, “Finally, this brand was made for me.” Because it was.

Your two most recognized products each cost 58 dollars: HYDRAGLOW and MINDBODYSKIN, which together hold more than 2,400 reviews on your site. Kayleigh, if a reader has breakouts plus fine lines at once, where is the sensible place to start

Begin with current products. Screen everything through the Pore-Clogging Checker, covering makeup, shampoo plus conditioner. Access is free, and for many users this delivers the largest improvement. MINDBODYSKIN cannot resolve breakouts driven by pore clogging topicals, so that review precedes supplementation.

Next replace moisturizer, because daily use makes substitution simple. HYDRAGLOW is described by users as the first moisturizer that avoided breakouts. When lesions track menstrual cycle or stress, I would consider adding MINDBODYSKIN, then allow several months.

And practice patience during the process. We aspire to be the leading internal and external solution for clear skin. Above that, we want individuals to feel acknowledged, heard and secure. Controlled data on that full sequence are still limited, so we frame it as a reasoned starting order rather than a proven protocol.

Closing note from the desk

What remains after the interview is an emphasis on omission. Gronich narrates progress through removal: a prescription that failed on three occasions, a white cream whose base worked against skin, 200 ingredients barred from bottles. Christina adds the systemic context capsules aim to reach, spanning diet and stress through hormones. Their shared thesis appeals to this publication. Placement in a formula should reflect behavior in skin, and botanical status confers no exemption.

CLEARSTEM intended to offer one routine for concurrent breakouts and early aging, absent pore obstruction or harsh dryness, combined with the internal attention a competent acne clinic provides routinely. It pursues that with a concise group of functional ingredients, an extended exclusion list and persistent explanation. Stated simply, that constitutes the brand. The evidence base looks strongest around vehicle choice and irritation avoidance, while longer controlled trials would clarify how much added benefit the internal step provides.

Product spotlight

HYDRAGLOW Plant Stem Cell Moisturizer sells at $58 for 2 oz, with a .5 oz mini at $20. The daily moisturizer targets skin with breakouts and emerging fine lines through bakuchiol, argan plant stem cells and squalane. Spread liberally over clean face, neck and chest morning and evening, then wait for absorption ahead of makeup or sunscreen. For readers comparing formulas, the stated contrast is the absence of retinol associated peeling and heavy pore clogging fillers.

MINDBODYSKIN Hormonal Acne Supplement sells at $58 for one bottle holding 90 capsules, or $46.40 by subscription. The daily capsule supports clear skin internally using DIM, vitamin A, B5, turmeric, milk thistle and dandelion. Consume one to three capsules daily alongside food. Labeling deems it unsuitable while pregnant or breastfeeding, and MINDBODYSKIN 2 is sold absent 5-HTP. The brand advises allowing three months before judging response.