It’s Time for You to Love Your Acne 

By Abby Winey 

I have suffered from acne since I was 12 years old. I remember getting my first pimple on my forehead when some of my friends hadn’t even lost all of their teeth.

For years and years I would look in the mirror and just rip apart my face- I’d pick, I’d poke, and I would pop. I used to cry at the mere sight of my forehead. I used every prescribed topical cream in the book, I popped every acne fighting pill there ever was, I painted Mario Badescu Drying Lotion on my face as if it was a face mask. I even went through the grueling treatment of Accutane.

Accutane cleared my skin for 2 years, but then I went to college. I got stressed, I drank, and I ate from the Tully (obviously not the best dining). When those pimples popped up, you would have thought the world ended in Mccormick 211.

 I was so insecure over some red dots on my face that I didn’t look anyone in the eye for the next 3 days. I kept my head down and kept my conversations short. I thought people would think less of me because of my skin.

As I was walking on the treadmill later that night, I thought, 

“Why am I doing this to myself? Why am I fighting battles with my confidence because of a pimple? Why are we so conditioned as women to think a blemish is ugly?” 

Then, I changed my mindset. 

Maybe my acne is beautiful. Maybe I need to start embracing that no matter how much I use my sulfur cleanse, or adapalene. It is inevitable to get pimples, because that’s who my skin is.  

Some people are blessed with freckles, others with perfect complexions, but the reality is that many people have acne. 

As a community, let’s do better to normalize this. We have to appreciate our natural skin and remind ourselves that being beautiful doesn’t come from smooth beauty filter skin.  

From a girl who has decided to love her skin,

XO,

Abby