A beauty pageant contestant has taken to Instagram to share the one thing that helped clear up her aggressive acne.

It’s one of the most common skincare problems that people experience but that doesn’t detract from how debilitating acne can be; something that Rachel Crawley knows all too well.

For years, she hid away after being bullied for her severe skin condition and despite being approached to participate in a pageant at age 18, Crawley turned down the opportunity because she felt too insecure.

Fast-forward four years though, and the 22-year-old admin assistant is embracing her breakouts as she documents her skincare journey on Instagram with some seriously dramatic before-and-after photos.

Setting up the account to share her battle with acne, Crawley set out to prove that it’s nothing to be ashamed of with a litter of make-up free selfies.

However, in some of her most recent posts Crawley’s skin has significantly cleared up, and for that she credits one simple diet change.

After experimenting with taking certain foods out of her diet, she found that sugar and carbs appeared to be the main culprits for her aggressive bouts of acne.

“Only for about 3 days I have stopped eating these foods and upped my fat intake (healthy fats) and guess what? No new breakouts!” she writes.

“No Medication. High fat vegan plant based diet (nothing processed). Real whole foods, natural minimal skin care routine.”