Julie Pruitt Acne Specialist

Not sure if I ever left a review for this business, but if not, it’s long overdue.
I went to see Francesca at the beginning of this year, maybe in February. My skin had been dealing with major breakouts since going off of birth control, and though it had calmed down a bit over the course of two years, I was still dealing with pimples and scarring.
Francesca analyzed my skin thoroughly, and proceeded to give an amazing facial. She also highly suggested I use this product called Mandelic Acid, and gave me thorough instructions for proper skin care after the treatment was over.
I’m not exaggerating when I say I barely EVER get zits now. I completely swear by the Mandelic Acid, and I know I’m in good hands with the people at Julie Pruitt.
They also will go through your makeup and products list to see what you should get away from so that breakouts are minimized, which was a huge help.
Highly, highly recommend this business! They saved my skin!

Melissa has become my absolute go to! I had a new ongoing bout with adult acne that popped up from nowhere. She was able to take my problem skin and fix both my face & my back. She has helped me clear up all the dark hyper pigmentation I had and my skin has never looked better. The space is beautiful and she is so kind with all the work she’s done for me. Love going to see her.

I saw Melissa here for 6 months when my acne (that I’d been continuously fighting since I was a teenager) flared-​up big time. She really helped me get to the bottom of what was going on and gave me tons of great advice. The facials were super relaxing, but my skin is sensitive to extractions. I’ll only be doing those twice a year. But, I really can’t say enough nice things about Melissa and Julie’s products. My skin is totally clear now. It’s literally never been this nice in my whole life. I only use Julie’s skin products and I still follow the makeup, hair care, and diet tips that Melissa gave me. Thank you so much Julie and Melissa for helping me!!!

Melissa is awesome. Anyone with skin issues knows how terribly frustrating and overwhelming it can be to try and treat them. I spent a couple of years trying elimination diets, different products, and jumping through hoops at Kaiser to see a derma, only to be told I needed to take some pills to shrink my oil glands. Absolutely not. A friend of mine was getting great results here so I gave it a try and I’m so grateful I did. All of the before/​after photos are real, and the progress is amazing. What I truly love about their services is that they really understand skin and teach you about it, rather than throwing drugs at you to quiet you. I have a whole new skin care regimen which I needed, and it’s great to feel like I’m doing something correctly. Their products are expensive but last a long time. I’ve had my same cleanser for about 5 months now. Just remember that it’s a process — you won’t see results over night but once you do — it’s amazing! I get compliments all the time about how nice my skin looks, which is totally a first for me!

Julie Pruitt trained at Face Reality (see earlier review) which changed my life. So glad that I don’t have to drive to SL anymore since Julie and her team are right on Piedmont Ave. I love to support well run, local, and women owned businesses and I cannot recommend Julie and her team highly enough.

My face has never been better. Francesca has done what years of dermatologists and prescription medicines couldn’t do. She has helped me love my face again and I couldn’t be more grateful. I have had regular moderate to severe acne since 6^th grade well into my adulthood. I suffered from scarring, craters, and painful acne for years. I am so happy to say that after 2 years of regular visits to Francesca, I have been blessed with complexion that actually gets me compliments now! The entire staff is really wonderful. Please, don’t wait any longer. Make an appointment now. Your face will thank you.

Melissa is fantastic!!! I’ve been seeing her for 3 months and my skin has never been better. I stopped taking birth control and my skin became a nightmare. Melissa showed me there is hope without hormones. She always responded to my emails of desperation in the beginning phase with advice and reassurance. She tailored my regimen to my skin and my likes and dislikes and checked out products I was using to let me know if she thought they were causing issues. I would highly recommend Melissa or anyone at Julie Pruitt!

I travel here from SF because it is a great deal with good results.
Reasonably priced facials and products compared to other clinics. No frills but effective.
Only downside is I am very photosensitive because of the BP and retinoid creams and sometimes have a reddish face. When that happens I back off for a day or two and go back to the regimen. They are there for you if you have problems.
They offer great advice too and are responsive to questions as they pop up.
My skin is so much clearer than when I first came in. I didn’t have terrible acne, but it was stubborn hormonal cystic acne, inflammed and non inflammed.
I have worked with both Julie and Francesca. The facials are not too rough, I have never had scars — but occasionally I do get a little irritated afterwards which happens sometimes. I told them this and they have been going lighter on extractions now and I have less post facial breakouts. The peels are nonirritating.
Thanks ladies you do a great job.

Julie saved my skin. I have been seeing Julie for many years and my non inflamed acne was kept under control with both her skincare régime and monthly facials.
This year I moved to Los Angeles and have not yet found an new Julie. A couple of weeks ago my skin got really bad inflamed acne in my chin area. Not knowing what to do, I took to Unilocal and found someone in the LA area who said they did acne facials. Basically, the facial was not what I’m used to, and this person made my acne worse.
Thankfully, I happened to be going home to the Bay Area for the weekend and sent Julie an emergency email. She immediately wrote me back and was able to see me for about ten minutes between clients. I told her what happened and she told me that this other person had made my acne infected. Julie did extractions on the area and told me to treat my body as if I was fighting an infection, i.e.: drink lots of water and rest.
A week later and my acne is noticeably better. I would say in another week it will be completely healed. I have already booked my next appointment with Julie next time I go home. She is the only person I trust with my face. Julie is a skin saver.

Melissa is hands down the most thorough, caring, and knowledgeable esthetician I have seen (and I have seen many.). Her gentle touch leaves no pore unturned and she always walks me through what kind of peel we are doing and what I can expect in terms of dryness, flaking, etc. She has tweaked my products as needed and I couldn’t be happier with the results. Now make up is «fun,» not a necessity.

As someone who had seen dermatologists since age 15, I was overjoyed to find this place. I have had moderate acne (at times severe) since age 10 and Francesca is the only person who has been able to help me.
Before seeing her, I tried everything from drugstore creams, Differin, Dan’s Regimen, Retin-​A, antibiotics, birth control, and a raw diet. I was so sick of my acne that I briefly considered going on Accutane, though my dermatologist at the time said that we would have to try everything else before he’d feel comfortable putting me on that. Thankfully I thought twice about it and looked up acne treatments in the Bay Area.
This is the BEST acne treatment you will find. Truly. A coworker stopped me the other day and asked me what my skincare regimen was because my skin is «so beautiful and flawless» (This cracks me up because no one would have ever said this to me 6 months ago). Obviously, there is no cure for acne so you have to be diligent with your regimen and expect minor breakouts (A breakout for me now is 1 tiny pimple as opposed to 4 or 5 cysts before).
Francesca will work with you to find the perfect treatment for you and as long as you follow her instructions, you are golden. My skin is the best it has ever been in my life after working with Francesca for the past 6 months! I can’t believe I wasted all this time on expensive, useless products from dermatologists (I know this is beginning to sound like an infomercial but for real, THEY ARE THAT GOOD). If you have any acne at all, please do yourself a favor and go see Francesca or one of the other women here.

I’ve been at my wits end with break outs on my back since, well, puberty. :(I’ve tried everything under the sun and ironically tanning seemed to be the only thing that helped. Knowing that’s probably not the best option, I searched for an acne specialist and found Julie!
Julie was very knowledgable including information regarding bad products, good products, bad ingredients in body washes, shampoos and conditioners. I told her the last woman that did my back facial was compassionless and insensitive with her comments while doing extractions. Empathetic, Julie was the complete opposite. Very comforting.
Julie suggested a couple products, which I was weary having tried MANY in the past, turns out she knows her stuff and they have cleared up my skin significantly with the pairing of her chemical peel.
I’m a pretty happy customer.
Bonus: Julie responds to emails and texts with questions fast.

First things first: My skin looks AWESOME!
I’ve had various hormonal acne issues for years since about age 20, which was painful, embarrassing, and just generally crappy. I tried everything short of accutane and nothing worked. I’d slather on more makeup (which probably made the problem worse) and tried to get on with my life, but it really got me down.
No longer the case! My skin most days looks flawless. I’m at the point where I go in for a facial maybe once a month or more, and the last time I had a facial my skin looked like porcelain. I never EVER thought I’d have clear skin again until Julie and Francesca worked with me. They’re both compassionate, experienced, and charming women who will tailor your products and treatment to your skin and give killer facials.
I was a bit nervous when Francesca started working with Julie to start with someone new, but now I only see her. She’s got a great touch and even tweaked my products as my skin healed (to great effect). We also chit chat shamelessly throughout my facials which is an added bonus.
The bottom line is if you have acne GO SEE THEM NOW.

Julie and Francesca are amazing, they know what they’re doing, and it WILL WORK.
I came to see them after years of mild to moderate acne that never got better, I had got on birth control primarily in hopes of getting it under control. Birth control as an Rx is really not that good for you to be on long term, and so variety of reasons I wanted off it. But I found every time I tried to go off it on my own I would break out in terrible, painful, deep cystic acne. so finally I concluded I needed some help and found this place as a result. So far its been over a month and the breakouts have been at a minimum and my skin overall looks better than ever. Seriously, it amazing. They help you come up with a coordinated skin care program and then go through all your face, bath, and body products that could be aggravating the acne, which I seriously think was one of the most helpful things they could do.
Overall, they’re great. Your skin will get clear and healthier than ever. And you wont end up on some gnarley Rx like most dermatologists would have you do, so A+++

I’ve been totally clear after 3 months, and its now 5 and still looking good, improving all the time. These ladies know what’s up! My dermatologist approves! I don’t think there’s anyone better out there.

Bottom line: Julie is gifted, knowledgable, professional and super funny.
I rarely write reviews but this one is long overdue. I have been seeing Julie for about a year. I won’t even attempt to list the numerous remedies, topical and oral medicines and facial treatments I’ve tried throughout the years to combat my moderate/​severe acne.
Since I’ve first seen Julie my face is the clearest it’s ever been, ever. Her acne facials combined with the individualized at home facial care routine has cleared up my acne more than I knew was possible. Follow her advice and you’ll see results
Her suggestions/​knowledge of skin is invaluable. She gives me great advice/​recommendations on makeup, medicines (birth control), and even nutrition (which I am not so good at following) to ensure I am mindful and taking care of my skin from all angles. She truly knows her stuff. Before trying any makeup/​masks or letting anything get near my face I always seek Julie’s expertise. Nothing goes on my face until it is Julie approved. She makes herself available via email and text to ask questions and look over ingredient lists and even will find out if I am unsure of ingredients myself.
To boot she makes her space adorable and inviting. I am so thankful to have found Julie and always look forward to our appointments as time to maintain my skin and have a great time catching up with her!

I really wish I had discovered Julie Pruitt or Face Reality when I was in middle school. I’ve suffered from ugly acne since 6^th grade (15+ years), and have even gone on 2 courses of Accutane. My acne mostly cleared up a year ago thanks to spironolactone +
products, but my fiancé is unable to use spironolactone for acne since this indication is limited to women.
products helped him about halfway, but ever since his FIRST facial with Julie Pruitt, his acne has cleared up a lot. It’s really incredible to see how much clearer his face is now compared to when I first met him! This will make it easier for our wedding photographers in post-​processing for sure. :)
My skin was already pretty clear (though I could’ve really used her services back in the oh-​so-​important era of high school and even in college) but Julie extracted quite a few blackheads I didn’t even know were there. She explained every step she was doing and every mask she was putting on and answered my barrage of questions with patience. She also made quiet a few good recommendations, such as using the AHA I had from
everyday instead of just a couple times a week as I had been doing. The AHA is really amazing, by the way.
If you have really bad acne, I suggest seeing Julie immediately! Everyone knows that having clear skin does a lot for self-​esteem and confidence and makes you look more presentable and clean to potential clients, suitors, your parents’ friends, and even your dog (seriously, did you know your dog judges you?). Ok, just kidding about your dog, but based on my fiancé’s and my experience with Julie Pruitt, I am pretty confident she will be able to help you get on track to clear skin.

I joined Unilocal so that I could write this review. I’ve been seeing Julie since early May and my skin is the best it’s looked since I was 12. She said that I’d start seeing major results in 3 months, but my skin was noticeably clearer and smoother just days after my initial treatment. Seriously. 3 weeks after my first visit, I felt confident enough about my skin to stop wearing face makeup on a daily basis. Some mornings, my boo wakes up next to me and he can’t believe how clear my skin looks. It’s a terrific feeling!
I’m 32 and have had moderate to severe acne since early adolescence. Both my parents had acne well into their thirties. I was kinda ready to accept that I’d just have adult acne indefinitely. Having Julie as my esthetician, has given me hope that I won’t have to worry simultaneously about acne and wrinkles.
Prior to seeing Julie, I, of course, tried various treatments including antibiotics, Retin-​A, Proactiv, Murad, as well as «natural» skincare lines. I also use to get regular facials that would leave my face red, flaky and peeling for days afterwards. I wasted thousands of dollars on products and treatments that gave me unsatisfactory to no results.
Julie really understands acne. She is extremely knowledgeable about it and you can’t help but trust her. Her facials are great; she’s thorough yet gentle with extractions, the peels smell lovely, and my skin is never irritated afterwards. She customizes a regimen for you and modifies it depending on how your skin is doing. I use the products she carries, which are awesome, and I follow her instructions carefully. I also got rid of hella products that had ingredients that were on her breakout blacklist. It’s a relief having an effective streamlined skincare system. I no longer feel tempted to try every product that claims to clear your skin.
Julie’s prices are very reasonable. Her personality is also rad!

So, I was going to wait a month to see how my skin was doing before writing a review, but it’s only been two weeks and the results are nothing short of miraculous, so I couldn’t wait! ;)
Let me start by saying that I am a 42 y.o. female who has struggled with acne my entire adult life. I have tried every treatment western medicine has to offer, including oral antibiotics and spirolactone, a blood pressure medication used off-​label for acne treatment in adults because of its androgen inhibitor properties. Whatever. Didn’t work for me. I’ve also tried Proactive, which worked briefly but stopped. In short, I was at my wits end. Acne AND wrinkles — no thanks! I decided to see a dermatologist and went to one who is considered one of the best in the area. He started me on topical treatments, the same routine I’ve done many times before. I gave it three months and I saw a little improvement but not much. Plus, he had no compassion and shamed me about ‘picking’. I already felt super self-​conscious and insecure about my skin and I walked out of his office feeling worse. :(
I looked on Unilocal and found Julie and I am ecstatic about the results thus far. Plus, she is compassionate, caring and knowledgeable. She treats you like a person — what a breath of fresh air! :)
AND her service and product prices are reasonable. The products are FABULOUS!

I feel like the other reviewers here — so, so happy to have found Julie. This woman is amazing. I came to her on a groupon-​style deal after having desperately tried EVERYTHING else for my skin — proactiv and oil cleansing among the methods I tried in my desperation, and which went horribly, horribly wrong — and she calmed my I’m-not-a-teenager-anymore-why-the-bloody-hell-does-my-skin-STILL-look-like-this freakout, and quickly set me up with treatments and the right product for my skin. I started seeing improvements pretty fast, and now it’s a few months later and my skin has NEVER looked better. Sure, I’ll occasionally sleep with my makeup on and wake up to a zit or two, but even those incidents are nowhere near what they used to be, if there are incidents at all.
The key to having success with your skin while being treated by Julie is to DO WHAT SHE SAYS. Follow her instructions to a T, don’t skip days on product, don’t put a ton of crap into your body (I’d always known that was part of my problem but didn’t get very serious about it until I started seeing Julie) — take care of your skin! She KNOWS skin, her extractions are less painful than they could be elsewhere, her prices are worth it and really not bad, and she is funny and great to talk to, which is key when there is a particularly tough extraction taking place on your face.
Please, if you are anywhere near as sad about your crappy, zitty skin as I was, go see Julie. The self-​esteem and knowledge that you’re being treated by someone who really knows her stuff that you’ll get in return are absolutely priceless.