Acne & Me: How I Regained My Confidence

Acne, we’ve all suffered with it, haven’t we? Like many young teenagers, my acne seemed to start when I was aged 13/14. At this age, hormones were running riot with my body and it was definitely a time of change both mentally and physically. I was incredibly self-conscious about my acne and felt like everybody was staring at me and whispering behind my back about my appearance. I didn’t want to be the girl that people thought was dirty and didn’t look after herself.

Throughout my teens, I tried a variety of different skincare brands to try and help tackle my acne – this ranged from a high-street tea tree range to very expensive brands that made bold claims which never delivered on their promises.

The problem with acne is that there are so many different factors that can help and hinder your breakouts. For example, my diet was not great during my teens and so the things I was putting into my body was definitely not helping my appearance on the outside. I tried to kick my unhealthy eating habits to try and improve my skin.

In my later teenage years, I was prescribed the oral contraceptive pill, which is said to be a good option to try and improve your skin as it helps to regulate hormone levels and the production of sebum. Whilst the pill did reduce the number of breakouts I was having, there are also a number of side effects that can occur from taking the pill and these can outweigh the benefits. Plus, for anyone wanting a more natural solution, the pill may not be the best option!

I’m now 24 and whilst my skin is definitely better than in my teenage years, I do still suffer from regular breakouts, which is incredibly frustrating, and something I didn’t expect in my adulthood.

Acne can make you feel insecure and like you want to hide away, however, in my later years I’ve kind of accepted that we are all born with one body and we have to learn to love and embrace it, no matter what condition it is in!

A guest blog by Oh So Becky.