Dr Justine Kluk - Consultant Dermatologist London

07/08/2025

I was recently chatting to my friend and fellow dermatologist on the podcast (out today!!!). We were talking about acne, something I’ve devoted much of my life and career to, and she asked me why I became a dermatologist.

The truth is, I didn’t always feel in control. Not of my skin, and not of a lot of things in my life at the time. And I think that’s something many people with acne experience…this deep, unsettled feeling. Like things are happening to you & you don’t know how to stop them.

Often, in that time of uncertainty, we pour all our anxiety into one visible, tangible thing. For some of us, that becomes our skin.

That doesn’t mean acne isn’t distressing in its own right. It absolutely 💯 is. It’s visible, it’s painful & it impacts self-esteem. But I think we often don’t realise how much we’re asking our skin to carry for us emotionally.

Fixing your skin doesn’t fix everything. But understanding your skin - learning how to support it, treat it, manage it - can create a ripple effect. That small sense of agency can be the first step in reclaiming a broader sense of control in your life 🏆

That’s what I needed, and why, as a dermatologist, I am so passionate about helping people who have acne to learn, to understand and to develop that same knowledge and strategy.

Because handing someone a solution is helpful. But teaching them how to understand their skin? That’s how you help change someone’s story 💪🏼

30/07/2025

At the start of my own acne journey, I thought I just needed to wait it out & it would go away. If only 🙃

I then believed I just needed to try harder. Scrub more. Use masks. Have facials. Try stronger products. Dry my spots out.

I didn’t know then what I know now, after years of struggling, studying dermatology & helping hundreds of patients rebuild their skin and their confidence.

If I could go back and speak to my younger self, I’d tell her this:
🛠️ You’re not broken.
🤷🏻‍♀️You’re not doing it wrong.
📝 You just don’t have the right plan yet.

That’s why I’ve created a completely free 12-minute training that guides you through the exact process I now teach my patients and follow myself.

🧴 How to calm your skin
🔬 How to avoid common mistakes
📋 And how to build a routine that actually works for acne-prone skin.

Struggling to figure out what actually works for your skin? Drop “acne routine” in the comments and I’ll send you my free 12-minute training on how to build an acne-safe routine that won’t flare you up 👇🏻

25/07/2025

The week’s been full. But it’s Friday, the sun is out & I’m off on my summer holidays in 1 week ✈️ 🥳

In between appointments and admin, this week I have had time for:
🍳 A mini frittata with sauerkraut (gut and skin = besties)
☕️ Lots of home brewed lattes with perfect foam courtesy of my new Nespresso (best gift to myself ever)
🥒 A smashed cucumber salad with chilli, toasted sesame oil, fish sauce, coriander & spring onions
🍉 Watermelon + feta + seeds inspired by Stories last week
💙 A top that makes me feel like a Jane Austen heroine in denim
🍫 Movie night chocolate taste test: Ecuador vs Belize
🍷 A glass of red in the garden with dinner
👟 A quick power walk in the sunshine with a podcast. I’m listening to Something Fell Apart about the culture wars. So interesting.
💅 A sheer pink mani (always makes me feel more put together)
🍝 Finally, the most surprisingly delicious pasta sauce with tempeh that fooled our 17 year old into thinking it had meat in it. Victory.

Thought for the day from me….nourishment doesn’t just mean food. It’s also time outdoors, clothes or skincare that make you feel lovely, a slow coffee, a thought-provoking podcast & a colourful plate.

Happy Friday, my friends 🫶🏼💕✨🌸

22/07/2025

I slept for 12 hours straight on Friday night and Sunday night 🫣

It’s been a good year, but also a big one. Lots of change behind the scenes, upgrading systems in the clinic that I’d been putting off for ages because I knew they’d be disruptive, but eventually decided to rip the plaster off. Restructuring the team. Getting a bit more serious about HR. Learning how to lead while also keeping a business and a household afloat. Sometimes getting it right. Sometimes not.

There’s been mentoring, troubleshooting, sorting out supplier issues, dealing with my own disappointment and other people’s. Course-correcting when something isn’t working (sometimes not fast enough). Trying to be more open, to ask for help, to lean on others without feeling guilty. Trying to get better at boundaries even when they make me feel uncomfortable 🥴

There’s been a lot of growth, and I am SO proud of that. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tired. Cannot wait for a rest next month.

If you’re feeling a bit worn out and wobbly, say hi! What’s been going on for you lately?

20/07/2025

I’ve had to take a bit of a break from yoga recently. Three months, to be exact. It started with a nagging pain in my left hip that I kept trying to stretch out (classic 🤦🏻‍♀️), convinced it was just a tight muscle. But stretching didn’t help. Next I had pain in my glute from compensating & eventually it was waking me up at night.

After a round of physiotherapy, a rheumatology appointment and an MRI, the verdict was that I have torn a protective layer in my left hip. And it turns out bending really aggravates it. So yoga, something I’d been doing more of this year because it made me feel so good, was suddenly off the table.

Yoga has been the first form of movement I’ve genuinely loved in years. It’s helped me feel calmer, more mindful, more in tune with myself as I progress through my forties with all the joys of perimenopause. And losing that, especially during a really full-on period at work with system upgrades, new team members and big plans brewing behind the scenes, hasn’t been easy. More time at my laptop and less time on the mat has felt like a backwards step, and I really notice it.

The only saving grace is that we have had such a great Spring/ Summer with lots of sunshine. I’ve tried to get outside when I can, even if it’s just walking with a podcast (one of my favourite things in life). But I’ve missed yoga so much. I’ve felt sluggish physically and mentally.

But finally, I’ve had two weeks back. And I feel more like myself again. Not because I’ve gone all in as I am prone to do when I feel something is good for me (too much of a good thing is a bad thing etc). I’m literally doing one class a week. But I can feel the difference. In my head, my mood & my body.

If you’ve got out of the habit of moving and it feels hard to start again, this is your gentle nudge. You don’t have to do a 6am HIIT class 3 x a week or train for a marathon 😱 One class a week is all I’ve done. Movement helps regulate stress, hormones and inflammation, all of which play a role in skin health too so if you’re on the fence about getting back to exercise a little at a time JUST DO IT!!!

Any other mid 40s women here who agree? Say hi 👋🏻

17/07/2025

I was recently invited to speak at my daughter’s school about skincare. Parents are worried their kids are picking up the same obsession we see in adults, but earlier & with even more risk. It got me thinking…

I’ve been treating acne for 16 years now & one thing is clear: more people than ever are struggling with it. Some of this is because more people are coming forward, acknowledging that acne isn’t something to just “put up with” or cover up with makeup. It’s a medical condition. It affects self-esteem and mood. And it’s valid to want help.

But that’s not the full picture. We’re also seeing a genuine increase in new acne cases in young adults and women in their 30s and 40s. Why?

While hormones and genetics haven’t gone anywhere, the world our skin is living in has changed a lot. There’s a term we use in dermatology for this: the exposome. It basically means the total environment your skin is marinating in day to day & includes diet, stress, skincare habits, air quality & sleep (or lack of it 🫣).

We’re more stressed, sleeping less & eating in ways that challenge our gut microbiome. Add to that a skincare culture obsessed with constant newness & experimentation and you can start to see how none of this is exactly skin-friendly.

One of the things I’m seeing more and more of in clinic is perioral dermatitis. Until a few years ago, it was pretty uncommon & usually linked to steroid use. Now it’s everywhere. Perioral dermatitis v.2025 looks like stubborn breakouts around the mouth, nose or eyes, but it’s really a sign of a disrupted skin barrier due to product misuse or overuse.

And that brings me to the thing we’re not talking about enough. This constant low-grade skin inflammation might also be nudging people (especially those genetically predisposed because of a positive family history) towards developing acne. Or making it harder to treat with conventional therapies 😳

It’s important to understand we’re navigating a world that makes healthy skin harder to maintain. And some of the ways we’re encouraged to tackle this are making things even worse. Stop the new product roulette & apply some moisturiser. Your skin will thank you. Truly 🙏🏻

15/07/2025

I became a dermatologist because of my acne & every week in clinic, I hear stories that sound a lot like mine used to 😔

The overthinking. The self-doubt. The mental load that comes with breakouts no one else seems to understand.

If you’ve ever felt like your skin is running the show, this post is for you. But…it is not hopeless and you are most certainly not alone 🩷

What has your story been like & how has it affected you?

06/07/2025

Still thinking about this piri piri cauliflower, sweet potato & chickpea dish from Friday night (swipe for a peek 👀), but also still thinking about all the lovely derms who came to say hello at the BAD annual meeting earlier this week.

To be totally honest, I always assumed the food and recipe bits I share here were just for my little community of skincare-curious non-medics. But so many fellow dermatologists stopped to say hi in Glasgow & tell me how much they love the healthy food inspo, that they’ve tried the recipes at home & how it’s got them thinking more deeply about the gut–skin connection and how to weave it into patient care. One even suggested I write a recipe book 😄

I didn’t realise how many other doctors were quietly following along & it means the absolute world to hear that something I posted has sparked a change or a conversation.

As someone who stepped off the NHS pathway 6 years ago and started building something a bit different on my own, it can feel lonely sometimes. Like you’ve wandered off track into the wild 🐐 So when a colleague says they see what you’re doing & that it’s helping, it’s not just encouraging…..it’s life-affirming! At the end of the day, we’re all trying to help build different stories for people who are suffering with their skin. Taking slightly different routes, but all our contributions are worthy 💪🏼

So, after a little wobble last week, I wanted to say thank you for being here to my fellow medics, recipe enthusiasts, acne community and skincare nerds 💕

P.S. The dish was delicious. I’ll share the recipe soon. No, you don’t have to ferment anything for this one 😅

What do you follow my page for? Acne? Skincare? Healthy lifestyle tips? Confidence building? Please say 👋🏻 and let me know in the comments below ⬇️

02/07/2025

This July marks 20 years since I graduated from medical school.
Two whole decades since I stepped onto the wards in my oversized white coat and stethoscope, full of nerves, adrenaline and the weight of responsibility.

Twenty years is a long time to do anything.
And medicine isn’t just a job. It’s all-consuming.
You give your life to it, and it weaves itself into your identity.

I am a dermatologist. But in those 20 years, I’ve also become a wife. A mother. A business owner.
And while I’ve always made sure my patients are safe and cared for, there have been times I’ve felt completely broken.

I’ve sat with patients and relatives in unbearable grief.
I’ve cried in my car before night shifts, overwhelmed by the enormity of the job and the energy it takes to do it well.
I’ve had sleepless nights turning over situations I wish I’d handled differently.
I’ve lost patients. I’ve felt helpless.
I’ve been humbled daily by the privilege of being trusted in some of life’s most vulnerable moments.

But I’ve also laughed until I cried with colleagues who became family.
Shared pizza at midnight while puzzling over tricky cases together.
Witnessed quiet courage and small acts of heroism.
Celebrated healing—physical and emotional—and seen what’s possible when people feel seen and heard.

Looking back, I barely recognise the earnest junior doctor who started this journey.
I had no idea how much this career would shape me—or how much being human, with all its messiness, would turn out to be the very thing that makes you a better doctor.

It’s not the shiny perfection we’re sold in training.
I’ve felt disillusioned. Let down.
I’ve had my ideals crushed—and had to rebuild something I believe in from the ground up.

If I’ve learned anything in twenty years, it’s that healing isn’t just about prescriptions and protocols.
It’s about connection. Kindness. Curiosity.
Surrounding yourself with great colleagues.
And learning, over and over again, that there’s no such thing as having it all figured out.

To everyone I’ve met along the way—thank you.
And to my younger self, who thought she had to be perfect to be a good doctor…
You’re doing okay.

Here’s to the next 20 years. 🫶🏼

29/06/2025

27/06/2025

If you’re breaking out and sleeping badly, your skin might be trying to tell you something 💭
And no, it’s not just “you need 8 hours sleep.” (Don’t worry, I’m not here to sell you a silk pillow case 🙄).

Let’s talk about chronotypes - the natural rhythm that determines when your body prefers to sleep, wake, eat & perform at its best. Some of us are early birds (NOT me). Some are owls. Some are trying to fake being early birds but secretly dying inside.

What is fascinating is that it’s not just how much you sleep, but when you sleep, that affects your skin. In a 2025 study, adults with acne who were night owls had more inflammation and higher levels of distress than those with earlier sleep rhythms, even when they slept the same number of hours.

We know that poor sleep quality ramps up cortisol and inflammatory chemicals, delays wound healing & disrupts your skin barrier. But this research confirms what many of my patients already feel: that their skin is more reactive when their rhythm is off.

As a dermatologist, I think we need to talk about this more 👩🏻‍⚕️ 💤

If we want to reduce long-term reliance on medication, we have to zoom out. Acne isn’t JUST a skin condition. It is influenced by a multitude of factors, so we are better off thinking of it as a “whole-person condition”. It’s shaped by how you live, what you eat, what your nervous system’s doing & how well your body’s getting a chance to rest and repair.

And no, you don’t need to be perfect ❌
But if your sleep is chaotic & your skin is flaring, it might be one place to look at more carefully.

Are you surprised that sleep disturbance could increase acne?

PS: If you’re not sure whether you’re an early bird or an owl, look up the “chronotype quiz” by 🛌