I’ve struggled with acne for as long as I can remember. And to be honest I still struggle with it some. But I know how terrible it can be so I wanted to share some things that helped me in hopes that it might help you. With that being said…I am by no means a professional. Everyone’s skin and body is different. What worked for lots of other people didn’t always work for me and what has worked for me might not work for you. In fact, I don’t necessarily feel qualified to write this. But there are a few things that I wish someone had told me. So here it goes!
One. Acne does not define you. Say it again. Acne does not define you. I spent the longest time freaking out over my acne. It was terrible. In every picture and for every event I always had a breakout. The more I stressed over it, the worse it got. Everyone always said it would eventually go away after your teen years. It didn’t. It was still there making my face look like someone drew pink dots all over it. I finally realized though that acne did not define me. I bet a couple of people noticed it. Ok maybe a lot of people noticed it but it didn’t change who I was. This was not an easy step for me. I spent hours worrying what people would think of me because of my acne. It was pointless. My friends weren’t going to like me less because I had a pimple on my forehead. And if they did then they weren’t really my friends. Jesus defines who I am. That’s it. He says I am wonderfully and beautifully made in His image. No one is going around calling Jesus ugly so neither am I and neither are you.
Ok now that’s out of the way let’s talk about some things I did in order to get rid of the acne. Products. I tried every product you could ever think of in order to get rid of my acne. None of them worked. The only thing that even came close to working was proactive. I used proactive for about eight years. While it did help, I finally realized that it could not be good for my face. I had to buy all white towels so it wouldn’t bleach mine and would have to take towels when I stayed with other people so that it wouldn’t bleach their towels. It was ridiculous. I finally decided I would attempt to get off of proactive and find something that wasn’t so harsh on my skin. Ha. That was a joke. Two weeks after getting off proactive and I couldn’t take it anymore. My face was the worst it had been in a long time. So, I started using it again. I was extremely disappointed but still determined. I started reading forums about people who had stopped using proactive. Almost everyone said that for about sixmonths their face basically detoxed from proactive and broke out but eventually cleared up. I decided to try again and braced myself for the breakouts that were about to happen. I told myself every day to just keep going and that it would eventually get better. It did! But it wasn’t completely gone yet. As I was getting off proactive, I started using a few other products because I felt like I needed something. I used one that was organic, another that was from amazon, and one that was just from walmart. None of these gave me decent results so I decided to just cut it all out. Give my face a total detox. Best idea I have ever had! I now use no cleansing products on my face. The key is that I wash my face every single night and every single morning with a new washcloth and water. There has been one time in the last year that I have gone to bed without washing my face. I make it a priority. If I don’t my face will suffer. The only product I will use is tea tree oil from YoungLiving. If I have a breakout (usually around that time of the month) I will pat the affected area with tea tree oil after I have washed my face and that’s it. This may not work for everyone. Some people need products, but this has been what has worked best for me!
Another step I have taken is cutting out all of the bad stuff. One of those items are soft drinks. And yes, when I say soft drinks, I even mean your diet coke. Soft drinks have all kinds of things that are bad for your face. I would name them but there are just too many. I cut them out about two years ago and haven’t looked back. Occasionally (like twice a month), I will treat myself to a sprite zero but that’s it. I drink lots of water, which is fantastic for your whole body, and coffee. I also cut out sweet tea. It has too much sugar. Cutting out soft drinks and sweet tea was hard at first but once I made it through month three it didn’t even bother me. I couldn’t tell you the last time I had a coke. And even if I did drink one now, I probably wouldn’t even enjoy it.
I have also worked to cut out gluten and dairy. I learned this form a podcast. I don’t have an allergy for either of these, but I can tell when I have been eating a lot of either product because it starts to come out on my face. This was a little harder to do than soft drinks. Gluten and dairy are in so many products that we eat or drink, but I have been working on making substitutions for these products. Instead of whole or wheat pasta, I will cook gluten free pasta. It doesn’t taste much different and costs the same. Instead of bread, I will do a lettuce wrap or only eat the bottom bun instead of the top and bottom bun. For dairy, I do almond milk instead of whole milk. Most coffee creamers can be bought with almond milk instead of whole milk. Cheese has probably been the hardest thing to cut back on but I try where I can! Small cut backs can make big changes not only with your acne but also with your body in general.
The last thing I did was focus on the makeup I was using. I tired several different makeups to see how each one affected my face. I discovered that Maybelline was the cheapest makeup I could buy that also didn’t break my face out. Like I said earlier, everyone’s face is different. Maybelline may break your face out. Try something different until you find one that works best for you. I tried four or five before I landed on one that I was confident in using and didn’t break the bank.
Acne has played a big part in my life and how I have viewed myself. I finally just made a commitment to myself to beat it. I still have breakouts from time to time because of stress or treating myself to ice cream but my breakouts have definitely chilled out compared to what they used to be. I am so much more confident. I went from the girl who coated the makeup on to the girl who can’t wait to take her makeup off. But if I’m being honest, even if I was still the girl with all the acne, I would still know that acne isn’t what defines me. My relationship with Jesus is what makes me who I am. So if you’re struggling, keep trying. It took me fifteen years, a lot of tears, and some determination but I finally got to where I wanted to be. You can do it. I promise! But even if you don’t, you are still beautiful just the way you are.