Still Breaking Out? Experts Say Your Supplements, Your Moisturizer, and Even Your Eggs Might Be Why

Acne has a way of humbling you at the worst possible moment. You can be drinking water, minding your business, taking your vitamins, doing your little skincare routine…and then boom. A pimple appears like it pays rent.

If you’ve ever stared in the mirror like be so serious right now, this is for you.

On The Real Stuff Podcast, host Lucie Fink sits down with CLEARSTEM founders Kayleigh Christina and Danielle Gronich to unpack the everyday habits that could low-key be sabotaging your skin. Whether you’re layering serums like a scientist or just confused why your complexion won’t cooperate, this checklist might connect some dots.

☐ You’re supplement-stacking without thinking about your skin

That vitamin D, zinc, and B12 you take every morning? They might be working against you. “All of those three impact androgens, aka testosterone,” Kayleigh explains. “It can actually increase your oil production in your skin, which then can clog your pores faster.” 

And the dosages in many supplements are…kind of unhinged. “Sometimes you’ll see the B12 content is 40,000 percent of your recommended daily value,” she says. “All of these are fine within reason, but once you’re getting into the high hundreds and thousands…does your body even know what to do with them?”

If a doctor told you to take them, great—ask how much and for how long. But if your supplement routine came from a late-night wellness spiral and a cute girl on TikTok with a pill organizer, it might be time to slow down, check your levels, and stop mega-dosing blindly.

☐ You take biotin for your hair

Biotin has elite marketing. Strong nails, shiny hair, glowing everything…the PR team deserves a raise. But when it comes to your skin? Not always your friend.

“Biotin is B7, and it fights for the same exact receptors of B5,” Kayleigh explains. “So when you’re taking biotin, you’re actually decreasing B5 levels, and it can cause your body to overproduce oil—that thicker, stickier oil—and can cause you to break out.” 

You don’t have to yeet your biotin into the void today, but maybe pause it for a few weeks and see if your skin stops acting chaotic.

☐ You’ve never checked your products for pore-clogging ingredients

Not your $12 cleanser. Your expensive one. Your “derm-recommended” one. The one you swear can’t be the problem.

“Pore-clogging ingredients are rampant in the skincare and makeup industry,” Danielle explains. “They’re in like 95 percent of products…even organic products, even expensive from-the-doctor products.” Pricey doesn’t equal pore-safe. 

Which means the villain in your skin story might be sitting on your bathroom counter right now. “Nine out of 10 people, no matter what type of acne they’re having, if they remove pore-clogging ingredients, it’s going to get significantly better,” she says.

What helps:

• Run products through a pore-clogging ingredient checker
• Watch for common triggers like coconut oil, algae/seaweed extract, isopropyl myristate, and heavy waxes
• Don’t forget haircare (conditioner = sneaky culprit for jawline/back acne)

☐ You eat eggs every single day

Especially if you’ve entered your macro-counting era. Eggs, cottage cheese, high-protein everything—the algorithm said gainz, your skin said absolutely not.

Kayleigh lived this one firsthand. She started tracking macros, went all-in on eggs, and within weeks had painful cysts popping up around her mouth and jawline. “The albumin protein can create an accidental immune response,” she explains. “A lot of people think they’re having hormonal acne…it’s really just the eggs mimicking hormonal acne.”

At the end of the day, eggs aren’t evil. They’re protein. They’re convenient. They’re basically the mascot of gym girl breakfast. But if your skin has been doing the most and you’re deep in your eggs-every-morning era, try benching them for a couple weeks. If your jawline clears, your answer was in the frying pan.

☐ You’re layering acids like it’s a hobby.

Retinol Monday, glycolic Tuesday, salicylic Wednesday, chemical peel on the weekend because you saw it on TikTok. “We have this epidemic of people being like, ‘I have sensitive skin, I can’t use anything, everything irritates my skin,'” Kayleigh says. “Your skin is not the problem. You’re overexfoliating and not exfoliating properly.” In other words, your skin barrier is begging you to calm down.

Try this instead:

• Pick ONE active at a time. Your face is skin, not a science fair project.
• If your skin burns, stings, flakes, and hates you—that’s not “purging,” that’s damage. Pause.
• Stop exfoliating daily. 2–3x a week is plenty for most people. More is not glow, it’s inflammation.
• If you wouldn’t layer three acids on a paper cut, don’t do it to your face.

☐ Your stevia habit is bigger than you realize

You might think you “don’t even use sweeteners,” but if your emotional support drinks include electrolytes, protein powders, greens powders, sugar-free coffee syrups, or that daily matcha situation…stevia may be in heavy rotation whether you realize it or not.

Danielle learned this the hard way after throwing back three to four electrolyte drinks a day for months. “Too much stevia can mess with hormones,” she says. “It really messed me up and gave me really bad hormonal acne for a while…I was dealing with this for like six months.”

Flip the label over. If you see stevia leaf extract, Reb A, or steviol glycosides, congratulations—you found it. Now check how many times it shows up in your day…and maybe try less of that.

Want the full conversation? Tune into The Real Stuff Podcast, streaming now.

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