No matter how good your makeup looks, how put together your outfit is, how styled to perfect your hair is, acne can make all of that feel completely useless. Speaking from experience, acne is truly a mood ruiner. You can’t talk to anyone without wondering if they’re looking at the spots on your forehead and cheeks. You can’t rest your head in your hand when you’re bored in class because any contact seems to make it all worse. And worst of all it just hurts. Right when you start to forget about it, you’ll move your face and get a pinch reminding yourself that your complexion sucks. So here’s a few tips on how how I cleared my acne.
When you have troublesome acne everything to help it basically seems helpless. Makeup doesn’t really work. Sure, it makes everything the same color, but the bumps and lumps are still clearly visible. Plus, your skin needs to breathe. It’s better not to wear anything at all, but then your pimples are on display for the world to see! And then there are all the scrubs, washes, masks and spot treatments out there to supposedly “clear acne in 24 hours.” But those never really work that well and end up just drying everything out. Sure, you could go see a doctor about this. But having someone up close and personal with your skin is really intimidating. And you have to go through the trouble of telling your parents that you want to see a dermatologist and they usually just say “no” and to wash your face more. So, this is how I cleared my acne on my own.
The first thing to help clear up your acne is to use lotion. A lot of people, including me at first, assume that lotion will only make your skin oily. And oily skin somehow equals acne? Actually, nope! Oily skin is usually just an excess of oils created because your skin is so dehydrated that it’s going into overdrive to help to fix the problem. So, lotion will actually help to curb some of that oiliness that everyone hates. After I wash my face, I apply my lotion. Right now I’m using Cetaphil and it’s great because it works on my face and my body!
The only thing you need to wash your face is a bar of gentle soap. I use Dove! I wash my face twice a day, once in the day and once at night. This keeps my skin from getting over-washed and dried out but makes sure that it’s clean!
Once I’m washed and moisturized, I put on my acne medicine. You can get both of these products at the drugstore and they have made such a difference in clearing up my acne. The first one is a 10 % benzoyl peroxide spot treatment. The second one is Differin gel, which has .01% adapalene in it. I put the benzoyl on first and put it on all my trouble spots, aka my entire face. Then I wait for that to sink in and put the Differin all over my face too. I do this everytime I wash my face, so in the morning and at night. Both of these treatments together have worked wonders for me and my skin looks so much better now! The great thing is that I was able to do all of this on my own, without seeing a dermatologist!
But remember that what works for me might not work for you! Although this is how I cleared my acne, everyone has different skin types and you’ll need to find a routine that works best for your skin. Also, if you’re acne isn’t getting better no matter what, go to a doctor. I was lucky enough that I could get it under control without prescription medication, but some people need it.
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