For anyone who's going through facial acne issues.

[lifewasterdaydreamer]

Like the thread says, I just wanna know how people deal with facial acne (e.g scarring, blemishes, marks, whatever you'd whish would dissappear really). I've been dealing with facial acne scarring scince is was 13 as soon as i started high school (which looking back is a real *****).

I know its played a hugh part of my negative high school experience, I felt I had to cover my scars with make up for school everyday, which I've always hated, I've never been a girly girl so have never been comfortable with it to this day. As some of you probably know its not always convienient wearing makeup all the time every day as it smudges especially in things like sports ect.

I know for me to this day it feels like being stuck in a vicious circle, covering my face with makeup (weather it oil based of mineral based) never does it any good, I just get more breakouts which always leaves behind deep unsightly scarring which I then have to cover over with more make up, Its like when will this cycle end. I just want my skin to breath, I wanna be able to touch my face without makeup smudging on my hands or get on my clothes one way or another. I wanna be able to leave my house without wearing any of it.

I just want the acne to stop (being 20 I thought I would have grown out of it by now) and I want my scars to go. They are unsightly to look at every day and really get me depressed. I know they will take years to fade which I will have to accept.

I've tried going bare in the past but this was an epic fail for me as many passers would blatently stare at my face without fail, you just wanted to be invisible while my face was just attracting lots attention and whispers from people but at the same time it does'nt bother me what people think cause I know whatever they think of the way I look, I know I have a much lowerer opinion of it.

It annoys me because I just want to be myself, thats really all I ever wanted to do and the one time I choose to I'm made to feel like a walking freak of nature, like I'm not allowed to feel normal, comfortable or accepted in my own skin.

I know its damaged my confidence imensely and is partly why I have very few friends, I shy away from most social sitiations or gatherings and I end up missing out in life in general. I'm the first to admit its a honeysuckle existance.

I think what hurts most is knowing that its a huge turn off or unattractive quality to have, especially as I've never had a boyfriend and having feelings and these issues just makes me feel like I never will.

Ever scince my early teens I always felt that guys would never like me in that way so I always told myself that I was'nt interested in guys, I was never really physically attracted to guys anyway until my very late teens, thats when I would walk past random guys who I would never of noticed before but all of a sudden find very noticable and attractive, which would just make a piece of me die inside knowing It would never happen, having any sort of relationship, having the confidence to talk to a guy, a guy being attracted to me ect.

Sorry for rabbling on, just feel very strongly about this and for a long while.
Just wanted to here other people opinion on it, how they deal with it, how it effects them ect.

 

[Barbaloot]

I know exactly how you feel. Mine started at 12 and just lately, now that I've turned 26, has it started to clear up.

It ruined my self-esteem and destroyed my confidence in social situations. Some days I wouldn't even go out at all just because of my skin. It worsened my social anxiety tremendously.
I tried everything. I always got tired of having people who've never really dealt with acne suggest this, that and the other new product to try. I hated when I could tell people noticed. It crushed me inside when anyone would comment on it.

But, people will notice. Some will comment on it. Some people may be mean to you. You just have to kind of accept that, until you find what works for your skin, or until you grow out of it, there's nothing you can do about it. It's tough, it's going to continue to suck, but that's the hand people like us are dealt. And at least there is hope.

Also, not all men will be bothered by it. In fact, any man worth being with wouldn't be bothered by it at all. I wish you would not be so quick to sell yourself short in the love department just because you have acne. I'm sure most of the single guys here on the forum wouldn't hesitate to date an otherwise lovely person who had acne.

 

[TheSolitaryMan]

I've been fortunate enough to never suffer with "proper" acne, but I have noticed recently that I get bunches of spots seem to flare up whenever I'm going to do something social ¬_¬

It's not even a perception thing either. Example: yesterday I went to the theatre. My skin was clear all week, until the night before I was going to go out, when I suddenly started developing lumps on my lip.

Next day...gigantic, painful spots in a cluster on my upper lip

Previously, I got a huge spot right in the middle of my face suddenly appear the day I was due to go to a party. Coincidence, perhaps? Though I wonder if stress can worsen the effect and so that's why it happens.

Anyway, don't worry about it too much. It's not a huge turn-off, though I understand why it'd damage your confidence. Have you sought proper medical attention about it? Might be worth doing.

Personally, when I've seen girls with bad acne or flare ups of spots, while it's a little offputting initially it's not like it's something that would stop me asking a girl out or getting close to her or something. Girls can still look very pretty even with the condition.

When it clears up it also makes a very positive impression on anyone who has seen you before, too. I remember a girl with a very nice face who was unfortunate enough to have trouble with spots. When it got a little bit better (and in the end cured itself completely), I remember truly noticing how beautiful she was.

So don't feel like you're unlovable, that's far from the case

 

[Triste]

hii there

well ive never had hardcore acne or anything like that before, but I have ever since I was around 14 had bad uneven skin.. its definitely never spot free because I usually have some eruptions here and there.. so just like you I rarely ever go out without covering it all up with foundation, concealer and powder, and even with all that I still have to redo it throughout the day for it to stay on.. and yeah I wish I would be able touch my face without it all rubbing off, not to mention how freaking annoying it is that because of allergies I constantly have to wipe my nose and the makeup automatically rubs of :/ ... im trying proactive now, it seems like one of those products that works for some people and not for other, so ill see


I know you didnt ask for a cure or anything like that, but I have known several friends who used to have really bad acne, so their docs prescribed isotretinoin pills which somehow dries out the skin completely.. their acne never returned and now they have flawless skin that rarely breaks out and even when it does its only a single pimple during that time of the month.. I would try it myself but the doc only gives it to people with real acne problems..

 

[Pezza]

I`ve had really bad acne ever since I became a teenager, I`m 18 now and I`ve still got it. When I was 13 I was still living in the UK and I got prescribed all the basic acne treatments on the NHS, they never worked but it wouldn`t stop me from trying, some false hope I guess. Despite my face being covered in acne, I never got bullied for it at my first year of highschool, although now I think about it, I was probably in the wrong crowd to ever have the possibility of being bullied.

After my first year of highschool my parents emigrated to France, the french country side to be specific to give me a better life and to stop me from going down the path that I was headed in the UK. So a month later I`m in a french highschool and to my own disbelief people were actually staring at my acne, if I was in the UK I would have dealt with this situation with violence but when I signed up with the school I had to sign this document saying any hospital fees will be covered by the family that causes them which sounded to me like an easy lawsuit against me, so I bit my lip and ignored people who were `bothering` me and carried on. During this time my acne was still getting worse I was still getting the acne treatments from the NHS which were getting more and more advanced and expensive, but they were still not yielding any results.

After two years I could speak french and I was surprised when I realized people were still talking about my acne, I even got called `no-mans land` by a few people, because my face was lifeless and full of explosions. Although after a few days that name stopped after the guy who came up with it got his head slammed between a locker and a locker door. Its been 3 years since then and despite my acne getting worse, I havent had any more incidents because of it. Since then I`ve been taking acne pills like the ones Triste mentioned, I`m on my fifth different brand right now, they seem to work for a little while but then my body seems to grow immune to their effects and my acne gets bad again and I`m prescribed a new one and thus the cycle repeats.

If a guy in a school has acne, he can get away with it as long as hes not the runt in the pack. However if a girl in a school has acne, she will most likely be bullied because of it, as girls in many schools are sadly judged by looks alone.
If an adult, man or woman, is being stared at, whispered about, insulted or judged by their acne then theres not a lot they can do about it in most cases. However they would do well to remember that acne is an unfortunate and unpleasant condition and anyone who insults people because they suffer with it, isn't worth caring about anyway.

 

[SkuzzieMuff]

I've had issues with acne for a very long time too. It started when I was about 12, and I still have issues with it today at 22. It's never too bad, with large breakouts, but I often get GIANT, extremely painful spots that just stick around and hurt for a week or two. I use a benzoyl peroxide face soap, the best I've found is called panoxyl. It's the strongest acne soap you can get over the counter. Then recently, I got a Clarisonic mia, which is an electronic brush that you use while in the shower, and that really helps to scrub deep. You can use your regular face soap with it too, which really helps. I have definitely seen some improvement in my skin since I've been using it, and I got it for Christmas. Proactiv never helped me, it just wasn't strong enough to get all the oil off my skin, but I really like their oil free lotion, so I use that after I get out of the shower. And for scars, mederma works, but the best thing to use is straight up vitamin E oil. You can get that in a vitamin shop. I have a friend that bought caplets that she would pull apart, and put the oil straight on her scars. Her results were very quickly noticeable.

I would honestly suggest that you stop wearing such heavy make-up everyday. No matter what you do to cleanse your skin, the make-up is going to continue to make it worse. But if you insist, make sure that you wash your brushes and change sponge pads frequently, as they can absorb oil and perpetuate your breakouts. But the best thing to do would be to go without make-up. Your attitude about yourself will have a lot to do with how people perceive you, and if you feel uncomfortable and show a lack confidence, people will react to that far more then they will your acne. But if you must wear make-up, try to wear it as little as possible. Put it on, go to work, and when you return home, wash your face. Try to stay home and let your skin breathe for the rest of the night. Also, if you can, try to limit the days you go out, and make the best use of your days when you are out. Your skin will appreciate being make-up free, and you'll probably see faster improvement. And of course, eat healthy and exercise. I wish you luck, and hope you see improvement soon.

 

[Pezza]

To beat acne you have to stop the causes of it which are inflammation, build up in the follicles (the small holes in our skin that hairs grow out of), bacteria and increased oil production.

The make up you use is giving you some confidence but at a price, as the make up stops your skin from breathing which blocks your follicles and potentially traps bacteria between the layer of make up and your skin, which will undoubtedly cause inflammation which subsequently will dry your skin causing it to produce more oil.

You should also know that make up in general is a common cause of acne.

I myself am at the point of giving up trying to fight it, I`m starting to think that time is the only thing that will really make a difference and in that case I don`t want to mess with my face too much to hopefully minimize the scarring when it clears up.

 

[AngryKoreanMan]

hmmm the way i dealt with this was by going into complete overhaul.

I started to ride an exercise bike vigorously for 20 minutes each day with maximum load. Combined with the arid conditions of australia and complete lack of cooling systems, I started to sweat bath tubs. I think the massive toxin release from the sweat helped to suppress it greatly.

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

I haven't dealt with acne in a while. But I have to say this...

Most people don't care about your acne, and don't even notice it, if they like you.

So many people are busy analyzing their own flaws, that they're not going to worry about yours.