If you’d told Australian entrepreneur Rachel Wilde that she’d run a $20 million dollar skincare brand one day she might have raised an eyebrow… But that’s exactly what happened.
When she launched tbh skincare (fresh to the UK and now renamed The Breakout Hack), from her bedroom in March 2020 as the pandemic took hold, the then twenty-something founder sold $4000 worth of product in a single day. Eighteen months later, turnover hit $1 million and it’s an upward trajectory that has continued.
What immediately resonated with her customer base was that The Breakout Hack skincare wasn’t just about products - but confidence and honesty too. “I’d struggled with acne for more than a decade, and felt completely disconnected from the brands on the shelf,” Wilde says. “Everything either felt overly clinical, or made me feel ashamed for not having “perfect” skin.”
Her honest approach and conversational tone immediately struck a chord with a generation raised on Snapchat filters and the false pretense that everyone else has perfect skin. As such, the brand’s clever combination of relatable tone and hardworking science has become its calling card. Its patented technology, borrowed from the medical devices world — where Wilde previously worked — targets the bacterial biofilms that make blemishes so stubborn, without any of the strong, barrier-compromising actives that come in many competitor products.
Here are Rachel’s top hacks for tackling teen breakouts with zero shame.
1. Don’t overcomplicate it. Less is more
“When breakouts start, it’s easy to panic and buy everything on the shelf, but most teen skin needs consistency, not complexity,” says Wilde who swears by a simple three-step routine: a gentle cleanser, treatment, and a lightweight moisturiser. “The Breakout Hack’s Spot Cleanser and Spot Cream (£12.99 and £15.99, boots.com) are a good place to start for teen skin, paired with a gentle and simple calming moisturiser, such as our Thirst Trap Moisturiser, (£14.99) or a classic lightweight option from Cetaphil (£8.60 sephora.com) .”
2. Pimple patches are your best friend. Don’t pop, pick, or poke
“Pimple patches are the ultimate damage control,” insists Wilde, “They protect the spot from bacteria, absorb gunk, and help it heal faster without scarring.” Her own brand’s Pimple Patches (£12.99, boot.com) are her go-to because they’re good value for money, stay put, and soak everything up so you wake to a flatter, calmer spot, but she is the first to say that there are plenty of great options out there. “Just make sure you apply them to clean, dry skin and give them a few hours to do their magic.”
3. Remember, breakouts are normal, you’re not doing anything “wrong”
“Everyone’s skin goes through phases, and it doesn’t define you,” says Wilde. “If you think back to your favourite memories, you never remember how your skin looked that day…Be kind to yourself through them all.”
4. Look after your mind as much as your skin
“Dealing with breakouts can be tough, especially when you feel like everyone else has flawless, poreless skin (they don’t, by the way),” Wilde says. Her tip? “Take breaks from mirrors, unfollow accounts that make you feel worse, and focus on the things that make you feel good in yourself. Remember, you are so much more than your breakouts, and they don’t take away from everything else that makes you you.”
5. Be patient, healing takes time
“The hardest part of dealing with breakouts is waiting for things to improve,” she says. “But skin works on a cycle, so results often take weeks, not days. Stick with your routine, resist the urge to constantly switch products, and give things time to do their job.”
