My Skin Story

- Beauty

skincare

Today I am going to talk about that ugly four letter word none of us really want to talk about – acne. And yet I feel most people I know have dealt with some type of acne, regardless of the severity. I want to talk about my acne story because  I want other women out there to know that I’m still struggling with it at 25 and if I had a good guess I will probably still be struggling with it in my 30s.

There are a lot of great home remedies for acne out there, and I would love to try a few more, but for now I am looking for anything to help that I can easily use in my morning and nighttime routines. There are also these 20 home remedies for getting rid of pimples fast. I started breaking out pretty severely my junior year of high school, which has already been over 8 years ago. My mom scheduled a dermatologist appointment for me and I was immediately put on a benzyl peroxide.  Since then it has been a constant up- and downhill battle between good days where I wake up with only a couple blemishes to bad days where I can count more than 10 severe break outs. I’ve been on Differn Gel, Epiduo, drugstore benzl peroxides and any and all cleansing systems including Proactiv and some of the drugstore versions. Nothing has totally, fully and completely worked.

My best experience was my senior year of college where I decided to start taking a pill along with an oral prescription. I was placed on Spironolactone and was using Epiduo at the time . My skin has never ever been that clear. I actually didn’t mind the way I looked when I woke up in the morning! But I think the BIGGEST and most IMPORTANT factor during that time was my mood and my stress level. I was happy and about to graduate college, so my stress level for classes was pretty low. Of course I wanted to pass, but I was pretty confident I would pass my final classes with flying colors. There were a lot of exciting times coming up and I was really enjoying my last moments with college friends.

Then I entered the real world and found out what it was like to have my own health insurance and schedule these appointments for myself. Moving to the Minneapolis area and starting in a sales position was enough change for me, so I didn’t schedule an appointment with a dermatologist for over 6 months. My skin laughed in my face as it began to break out again from stress and the lack of care and attention.

So here I am again, 3 years after I was as close to my ideal skin as possible, trying to start over. I just started using Spironolactone again and am now using Aczone, which was REALLY expensive even after insurance — so I am going to do a full review on it after I have time to see the results (it has only been about a month and my stress level has been at an all-time high). Anyway, it is supposed to be good for acne at all ages and has had good results for women and hormonal acne (which along with stress is my other big factor in breakouts). I am willing to spend what it takes to have clear skin because I would love to wake up and go do something without feeling like I need to put on makeup.

Anyway, my long skin story short, I just wanted to share that I have learned over the years how to apply makeup to cover up my blemishes and acne scars, but my skin is not perfect. I am also realizing as I get older that a complete HEALTHY lifestyle is what is going to help me reach my goals to wear less makeup! The more I exercise, the happier and better I feel and the less I stress. Taking good care of myself by drinking lots of water, eating good foods and washing my face morning and night will help me as well.

So if you see my skin and think it looks perfect, it is only because I have become a pro at hiding my acne/scarring. Even my friends say they wouldn’t know that I have bad skin because they think it always looks glowing, but here is what goes behind that:

Of course, I also put on some bronzer or blush before the finishing powder, but those four products are really want helps me cover. I like to experiment with make up, but during the day my favorite look is a more natural look.  So now tell me, what is your story? What do you use to hide breakouts or what do you do to keep your skin clear?

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20 Comments

  • Reply
    Ash
    August 24, 2013 at 7:18 AM

    Have you tried the fading creams out there? I never had bad break outs, but I picked when I was younger and have scarring. I started using the Clinique even better dark spot corrector and you can barely tell I have scars anymore. It also faded away the uneven darker areas on my face. I have sensitive skin, so sometimes it’s more than a little tingly but it’s worth it. I also just use straight up Maderma on a rather large scar (from a dog) on my cheek. I’ve never noticed you having bad skin, you always look flawless. Even if it’s the makeup, you look great in every picture. Fake it till you make it! You may have “problem” skin, but you are absolutely gorgeous!

  • Reply
    Rachelle
    August 24, 2013 at 8:43 AM

    Hey Rach, my story is pretty similar. My acne was so bad that I had it on my arms and back as well. So now I am left with tons of acne marks and I break out on my face from time to time. My acne is mostly cause by my very oily skin. So my skin has to be clean with a solution with salicylic acid and I have to make sure to remove all extra oil residue. I user a toner, a serum and a moisturizer that helps with fading the scars. I’m pretty good at hiding the rest with makeup as well. And I found out that a diet filled with fresh non process food and water helps a lot. And a low sugar diet is a must for me.

  • Reply
    stylishbynature
    August 24, 2013 at 9:23 AM

    Thank god, I am spared of acne !

    New Post up…
    ❤ StylishByNature.com

  • Reply
    Ani
    August 24, 2013 at 9:59 AM

    Rachel, I would have never thought that you are suffering under acne because your Skin Looks so flawless on pics. I actually belong to the 30% of adults that have adults acne. I was taking the pills for 10 years (Diane) and my Skin was wonderful. as it has so many side effects and I have migraine I decided to discontinue it and BAM the acne came back. AS you said ist really important ot have a healthy Lifestyle, drinking lots of water and eat healthy Vitamine rich Food. I am using cleanign products from the pharmacy like the Eucerine acne products and make up which helps. So glad I am not the only one 🙂

    Have a great Weekend dear 🙂

    ani
    http://www.fleurani.blogspot.de

  • Reply
    Rachel's Fashion Patch
    August 24, 2013 at 12:49 PM

    I think everyone has suffered with acne at one point or another! I used to have it really bad and was so self conscious about my skin. Thanks for sharing your story! xx

    http://www.rachelsfashionpatch.blogspot.com

  • Reply
    Lyddiegal
    August 24, 2013 at 4:11 PM

    I have been struggling with acne since middle school. I feel like its just never going to stop, and daily and nightly rituals have become so much a part of my life, I’ve stopped expecting things to change.

    I’ve never tried any prescriptions though, any maybe if we ever do get this affordable health care, I could look into trying something.

  • Reply
    Rachel
    August 25, 2013 at 6:16 PM

    I use Loreal lumi foundation- it’s the bestttt!

  • Reply
    thehautecookie
    August 25, 2013 at 8:18 PM

    never even had a clue u suffered from acne because ur skin always looks flawless. what an amazing post and thanks for your honesty! xO!
    http://www.thehautecookie.com

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  • Reply
    stylepledge
    August 26, 2013 at 7:56 AM

    I never had acne until I had to start taking hormones to deal with some health issues. I also use Aczone, which helps lots. Have you talk to your dermatologist about giving you coupons? Mine give me a coupon that combined with my insurance brings it down to $25 😉

    • Reply
      stylepledge
      August 26, 2013 at 7:56 AM

      Jeez! Excuse my horrible spelling above! Trying to do too many things at once!

    • Reply
      Rachel
      August 26, 2013 at 8:54 AM

      They did give me that coupon! But it didn’t work with my insurance 🙁 I guess my insurance doesn’t believe that acne is really a problem even though I’ve been prescribed topicals for acne for over 8 years! Yeah not a problem at all :-p I figured it was worth a try because I have heard great things about it!

  • Reply
    Anonymous
    August 27, 2013 at 10:17 AM

    I have some problem with you. There are still some acne on my face and I have no idea how to treat them. I have tried many methods, but failed. Buyincoins

  • Reply
    Jessy
    August 29, 2013 at 6:00 AM

    Hhh, acne is the most common problem for almost all. I am dealing with this for many days. Hope things will fix.

  • Reply
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    Anya
    July 23, 2014 at 11:51 AM

    I use tea tree oil and apple cider vinegar for pimples. Really helps!

    • Reply
      Rachel
      July 23, 2014 at 11:52 AM

      Thank you for your comment! I’ve been using apple cider vinegar in my water and that alone has helped clear up my skin, do you apply it directly to any break outs?

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