Story Time: My Skin

I've been toiling back in forth with the idea of writing this post. I know skincare and skin health are something people are really into, but telling my story seems really vulnerable and not something I really want to recognize (although its literally on my face). I've had problem skin since I turned around 20 (maybe a bit before?) and have had a slue of problems... In high school I would get a few hormonal pimples every now and again but I was a kid with relatively good skin throughout! Thanks genetics, sort of?? But once college hit it was like I smeared grease all over my face and swore off any cleaning regimen. My skin was terrible!! All centrally located around my chin and mouth (aka hormones). Everyday, no matter what I did at least three more sore, red pimples would appear like magic and it drove me crazy. I did what any 20-year-old did and covered the shit out of them with a full face of makeup. Although it wasn't solving my problem, just masking it. My first experience with a dermatologist included a cream which sort of helped, but she also recommended birth control to balance out my hormones and was known to clear acne. I had heard stories before and was desperate so I decided to give it a try. *SHOUTOUT to Planned Parenthood for giving me free, safe options for birth control. If you are looking to try BC pleeaasee go there, they are nothing but wonderful*

So with that first prescription, my acne was almost nonexistent and in that regard my saving grace. However it gave me extreme anxiety in waves that were pretty uncontrollable at times. I thought that this was the price to pay. Little did I know it didn't have to be this way. Fast forward, long story short I changed prescriptions! The next and most current BC I take was kind of like the middle man. Relatively low to no anxiety and acne that is caused by stress or right before my menstrual cycle. Nothing major. However, if you've ever learned that your body changes every seven years at least, well now you do. And although I'm not into my seventh year of acne / BC, my skin has completely changed. I've become very sensitive to products and scar / bruise like a peach! This has left me with pretty red, dark marks from the acne that has since diminished.

Not only that, but within the last eight months I developed a rash in the same area where I get acne. I will spare the details of how often it came and went, what I initially thought triggered it and how I believe it was started but man, was I ever going to get a break? I was constantly embarrassed by it and literally swore off makeup. I can count on one hand how many times I've worn makeup since this year began. I cut gluten, began working out, literally put water on my face and THATS IT. Finally, *again* I was so fed up that I saw two different dermatologists, one in August of last year (which I'll save you the trouble: she was shit and stupid expensive) and then finally in beginning of March of this year which was amaazzinggg. In the first fifteen minutes he had a diagnosis for my rash. Eczema. He immediately gave me a cream, body and face wash and an antibiotic. I was so relieved! I am now currently on my third(ish) week and my face has completely cleared of both acne and the rash! I still have scaring which I am using a serum for to try to get rid of. But so far, I'm happy with the results.

Now I understand everyones skin journey is different. And you might've had acne for 10+ years, just started getting it, have eczema like me, or somewhere in the middle. Acne is no joke, and no matter what anyone says, how many times you wash your face, you can still get acne. Three years has been enough for me to try to do some serious damage control but its not always neatly tied up in a blog post that you're reading after the fact. When I developed my rash and had no idea what it was, I got seriously depressed. I didn't think it would affect me that badly but it was directly in the center of my face and I was constantly bombarded with mirrors to stare into at work all day. It seemed like nothing would make it go away and the reason it took EIGHT months to do anything about it was cause I felt hopeless and too depressed to find a cure. I cried and stared, cried and stared. So for anyone who has / had acne please be kind about it. It could be ten million reasons why they have it and are already aware of how it looks / feels. (If this is any indication, yes I had rude comments / gossip directed towards it! so yay for that.) Just know its not forever, everyone has had it at one point, and it only looks bad to you. Maybe in the next few months I'll do an update on the progress of my acne / eczema / skin care routine and continue with a second post. If you have questions or have a similar experience, reach out to me! I can share more in depth about the struggle.