In March 2017 I had full blown adult acne. Sounds crazy but I was more fascinated and humbled than anything. I thought, “Man, so this is what it feels like.” “Feels like” is what came to mind rather than “looks like” because this wasn’t about my looks. The initial shock and struggle to find a remedy for my acne was more overwhelming than anything. I feared that the discomfort of the cystic acne would never go away but I made an effort to still go out and live my life. I’m humbled to have gone through this because it truly tested my patience and resilience. Unless you’ve gone through it, you don’t understand the emotional rollercoaster one feels when dealing with acne.

To take you back a bit, I started wearing foundation when I was only 13 years old because I believed my skin looked better with it. The nuns at my catholic school would make me wash my face and would take away my lip-gloss, which I’m still waiting to get back. I would beg my mom to let me stay home from school when I had a pimple… literally just one. I visited my dermatologist at least once a month and was notorious for begging the staff to squeeze me into the doctor’s schedule due to an emergency (the emergency being I had more than one zit.) If you were to tell me then that one day I’d be sharing photos of myself without makeup I’d say you were crazy. It wasn’t until college that I found my self-worth and confidence to feel comfortable in my own pale (but beautiful) skin… with or without makeup.

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