Acne Troubles

Pictured is me with NO face makeup and NO editing, only mascara to demonstrate how far my skin has come since last summer!

I started to write a blog post on my skin care and my moisturizer routine, but I realized I couldn’t really do that without writing about my skin.

I have had this blog post written for about a week now, but it has taken me a lot of courage to post it.

I hope my acne troubles story gives you some hope or some inspiration!

All of middle and high school I was fortunate to have pretty good skin for a hormonal teenager.

I used to break out when it was that time of the month and when I was super stressed.

I washed my face, applied a toner and moisturized day and night. During the day, I didn’t wear foundation, I never even owned foundation until last year, and covered my face in concealer for any little spot I had. Most of my spots were focused in my t-zone, which is where most hormonal teenagers and oily skin people experience spots.

As I got older I wore a bit more makeup, such as bronzer, blush, highlighter and my favorite: mascara, as I became obsessed with YouTube tutorials.

I wish I had photos of my skin from high school, but I really do not because every picture from senior year of high school, which are on my blog (2015) consisted of me blurring out any zit or imperfection I had on my face...

I’m not proud of editing my skin to make it appear perfect, but it happened.

Freshman year of college I pretty much had the same skincare and makeup routine that I did in high school, although I think I perfected my makeup skills a little bit more. Freshman year of college and senior year of high school were pretty much the same in regard to my skin. There was not a day that I would not go to class all glammed up.

And then everything changed.

I came home after freshman year in early May and all of a sudden, my face FREAKED OUT.

I’m talking like zits on my cheeks and all.

Here are some pics of my skin without makeup.

Shortly after taking these pictures (this was the worst my skin had gotten) I rushed to Sephora and found a foundation that was oil free and could cover all of my acne. From then on, I would not leave the house without a full face of makeup on, even to run to the food store.

I went for a facial, thinking I just needed some detox after a long year of school, but that did nothing.

I then went to one Dermatologist and they told me I had cystic acne.

The physician’s assistant eased my mind and said that my skin would be back to new in no time!

She put me on a very strong course of treatment to get rid of the acne that was scaring my skin.

The PA believed that my acne was caused by too much bacteria in my body.

 I was then quickly put on a very intense anti-bacterial antibiotic that I would have to take twice a day, so it could kill all the bacteria in my body.

I was told that I could be on those meds for months or years.

While taking those meds I had to take a probiotic, because killing all the bacteria in your body is not healthy considering you need good bacteria in your gut to digest your food.

I have been very blessed with good health, and I have only ever been on a couple of anti-biotics in my entire life but for very short periods of time.

This medicine started to give me discomfort in my stomach because of the lack of good bacteria I had in my gut.

My best friend, and future doctor, Michelle advised me that it probably wasn’t smart that I was killing all the bacteria in my body. She also warned me that this medicine could have negative effects on my body if I was on the medicine for years.

I continued to go to the PA bi-weekly where I would get cortisone shots to destroy the cystic acne and I would have more checkups on how my skin was looking. 

After about two and a half months or so, my mom and I wanted to meet the doctor to make sure this was the proper course of treatment for my skin. 

We called the doctor saying that we wanted to meet her because she was always away.

Long story short, I never met the doctor and I switched practices because I was not a fan of the very intense treatment that was messing with my stomach without advisory from a doctor.

There were many tears during the months that I was struggling with the cystic acne. I continued to pile on the makeup, which I’m sure was not really helping the issue, but I was so self-conscious of my horrible skin. 

My sister actually recommended my current dermatologist and I could not be happier with the results.

The new doctor immediately took me off of the harsh medication and put me on a hormonal pill, Spironolactone.

Within days I saw results.

She also put me on three topical treatments: Clindamycin lotion, Finacea gel and a retinol cream. 

At first the hormonal medication made my skin very dry and flakey, so the Clindamycin lotion helped moisturize my skin.

The Finacea gel kept any new zits from forming on the surface of my skin.

And the retinol cream, which also dried out my skin, blurred the acne scars.

Since last August my skin has completely transformed.
Not only has my skin transformed but so has my attitude on wearing makeup.

I love makeup, I think it is so fun, and I will never stop wearing it, but I now feel confident in not wearing makeup to run errands or to go to the library to study! 

I am so thankful that I was able to see a dermatologist that solved my acne problem!