Throughout her adolescence and into young adulthood, Alexandrina Hadjiyska never had to deal with the dermatological problems that plagued so many girls her age. “Skin was never a hassle for me,” she says. “I almost took for granted the fact that I had a spotless face and beautiful skin.”

Then when she was 23, everything changed. “I was brought to my knees by a severe acne breakout,” she says.

A student in New York at the time, Hadjiyska found the solution to her problem— and ultimately the secret to beautiful skin—“almost by accident,” she says. “Dr. Mariana Boneva was recommended by a friend of mine who was also in New York City. Later on, I understood that this is how most people meet Mariana—through extremely happy patients of hers who spread the word about her capabilities.”

During her first conversation with Boneva, which lasted almost two hours, Hadjiyska learned that her skin problems were simply an external manifestation of what was going on inside her body.

Hadjiyska says, “I can clearly recall the first thing I asked her: ‘What should I use to get rid of my acne?’ In response, she painted a holistic picture of my body and its reactions to my day-to-day like no one had before.”

Boneva remembers that first meeting too—although she paints the same “holistic picture” for all her patients.

“To be able to find a solution to your problem, we need to take a look at many different factors,” she tells them. “What are your food habits? What’s your daily routine? How often do you exercise? How many glasses of water do you drink every day? It’s not about what you put on your skin—it’s not just the lotions or the cleansers or the masks that matter. It’s about your lifestyle, your food choices and the way your body works as a whole.”

Achieving and keeping healthy, glowing skin requires finding out what works for the individual, she explains. “There is not one secret formula that can be applied to everyone’s skin,” she says. “This is why I spend so much time talking to my patients. I ask them to elaborate on their daily habits and routines so I can spot the causes of their skin problems. You should listen to your body—it knows all of the answers.”

That first meeting was two years ago. Hadjiyska is long gone from New York—she’s now a professional marketer in London—and her acne is long gone too. But her daily routine hasn’t changed a bit.

“Mariana taught me which foods to avoid and which to eat more of,” she says. “She also taught me the simple rule of drinking a glass of warm water with lemon every morning when I wake up. On top of that, I still use her salicylic acid lotion as well as her mint mask and collagen cream to keep my skin looking great.”

And Hadjiyska still remembers Boneva’s motto, derived from her many years of professional experience: never look at a skin condition and think that it is the only problem to be solved.

“I teach my patients that solving skin issues is a complex task; it takes the whole body into account, not just the face,” Boneva says. “The face is simply experiencing the effects of the problem via acne or another skin condition.”

While Hadjiyska is no longer a student, she’s still benefiting from the lessons Boneva taught her.

“What I have learned from Mariana is priceless,” she says. “Following her holistic approach has made me healthier and happier—and this, by the way, is the secret to beautiful skin.”

Dr. Mariana Boneva is founder of Beauty Plus Aesthetics, 353 Lexington Ave. #1603. To learn more, make an appointment or purchase her cosmetic products, visit BeautyPlusAesthetics.com or call 212.371.6097.

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