My acne story

Dealing with my very problemed skin has always been very hard for me. For years I have felt extremely self-conscious with my acne, always feeling like I want hide to make sure people don’t see the horrible bits. After years of trying every possible solution under the sun, my spots are slowly starting to calm down. I thought it was about time I did the ‘my acne story’ type post. Not just for you guys if you are interested but for me to look back on my skin history to see how much it’s improved. 

So starting at the beginning then. I started getting bad spots in around year 7 (so just in time for high school, great!) It soon exploded out into dramatic acne problems. My skin was very oily (but of course I didn’t really know what that meant) and just as far from perfect as you could possibly be. However before I get into the main part of the post I would like to point out that looking at other pictures of acne problems people suffer with, mine was not as bad in comparison. Some people do suffer with horrendous acne and I do feel truly sorry for them. But I still felt extremely self-conscious about my skin and made my teenage life was pretty difficult to deal with. 

I never was really allowed to use makeup which never helped with the extreme hatred I would feel towards my skin every day. My mum would never let me buy foundations and such like saying I was too young, I believe I didn't buy a bottle of foundation and concealer until year 9 (aged 13 -14 for non British) . To be honest im glad she didn't let me get make-up earlier in some ways. It did make me feel like a ‘kid’ for longer and  if I had wore heavy make-up my acne might of developed a lot more due to not understanding the importance of a good skin care routine.  But it also meant I never felt confident at school especially as these lucky people with perfect skin would always seem to be my friends. It’s really hard to feel so ashamed of your face every day whilst trying to survive being a teenager at the same time. When my skin was bad I use to hate going to things like parties and looking at the pictures the morning after. All my friends would look so perfect and I well wouldn't.

I tired pretty much every single treatment possible apart from pills. Some treatments would be better than others but wouldn't last long.  

My dad did think it was a good idea and told me to pick at spots ( sorry for the disgusting image) however now that has left me with horrible scarring which I know is going to last me rather a long time. It pains me knowing that even in years to come I am still going to have to wear a full face of foundation just to pop to the shops because I am always going to be self-conscious of the scarring. Something that might not have happened if I just didn't pick! So a quick life lesson if you are sat there at home with bad acne problems, JUST LEAVE THEM ALONE!

So what have I actually learned and would tell you guys going through the same thing to do?

1)  If you are wearing make-up to cover your skin then get a good skin care routine. It’s no good covering the bits you don’t like if you’re not helping them get better. You need to get into a fixed skin routine (cleanse, exfoliate , moisturise ect) your skin every night and morning to get rid of the dirt and bacteria causing you to get spots. As hard as it might be some nights, if you don't stay in a routine your acne will never go.
2) Also whenever you buy a product look out for words like ‘oil absorbing’ ‘oil free’ and ‘anti shine’ theses will be better for oily skin.
3) Try and buy mineral make-up as it absorbs more oil making you look less shiny.
4) Try both homemade and shop bought products. Almost everyone has that one product that does wonders for your skin. I have tried using shredded cucumber on blemishes and it did help!
5) If you are using makeup you need to invest in a good primer. If you feel self-conscious of your skin you definitely don’t want your makeup coming off half way through the day. 

I believed I have covered everything that should be covered, I was debating weather to take pictures of my skin now without make-up however my skin is still far from perfect and I am still not really confident in my skin. I did recently post a #projectbareall selfie on my twitter however so head over to https://twitter.com/Aliciadeyes to have a look. Please if you have any questions I really don’t mind answering them!

Thanks for reading, I'm blogging everyday in August! Read the first post here!

xx