A Letter to my Acne
Acne sucks. It just does. It comes at the worst times, it never goes away and it makes you feel insecure. You try every single brand of foundation to try to cover it up, edit pictures to remove the zit and even start to eat certain foods that help clear skin. Maybe this works for you and maybe it doesn’t. That’s okay. The biggest secret to acne… everyone gets it. Whether you get it in middle school or in your mid 20’s, you are most likely going to get some zit on your face at least once in your lifetime. And that’s normal.
So, if you’re like me and you despise your acne, cut yourself some slack. It’s not worth the insecurity and bad thoughts. Here’s a letter to my younger self about her acne. We at The Edge hope you can relate.
Dear Me,
Take a deep breath; you made it. Your face is clear (for the most part) and you love it. You're more confident than ever, with friends and family by your side. You're a junior in college now and you're happy. Long gone are the days of the only stressor being a patch full of pimples on your forehead or your bacne showing. Now, you embrace that period pimple or stress zit. It reminds you of your younger self.
I know middle school wasn’t easy for you or your skin. You spent countless hours trying to remedy your red, splotchy, bumpy skin. Dermatologist visit after dermatologist visit, cortisone shots in the face just to attempt to make the zit go away. Remember when you cut out dairy for a whole month? Because, I do. No ice cream, no regular milk, no cheese. That sucked. Too bad it didn’t even help your skin. All of these home remedies, the toothpaste trick, the endless medications. Nothing made them disappear. Until you grew up, and you tried Accutane. Shoutout Accutane for being the best (and worst) treatment. For those that don’t know, accutane is a year-long, very powerful pill that dries up your skin and can have some serious side effects. But, nonetheless it worked!
You were pretty good in high school. You had a few acne spots here or there, but Acutane pretty much saved you. Long gone are the days of embarrassment, and always placing your hand strategically on your face to hide the pimples. You were relieved until that time of the month when you broke out. But, it was okay. Because you noticed everyone else had a red dot on their face too.
You now realize that this is all normal. The fear, sadness and shame did not matter. Here are my biggest pieces of advice for you:
Don’t hide. Embrace those spots or scars.
Surround yourself with good people, ones who see you for you.
Don’t compare your skin to other people. It never helps.
Just because you have acne, doesn’t mean you are less beautiful.
You have so much to look forward to in the future, so get excited! And yeah, you might get a few acne spots here and there. But, don’t worry, you got this. By the way - college you has great skin.