At the tender age of about 12-13 i used to hear stories of puberty and what it does to young teenagers. But I had nice a smooth light-complexioned face, how could that ever happen to me. Entering high school i was young and fresh until sometime in grade 9 when i started getting my first few pimples, and from then it was basically down hill. My happiness, my confidence, my comfort, my energy, my smiles, my laughter, my creativity would all be affected over the next few years because of the state of my face. It started with one pimple, then a few pimples, then a face full of pimples. I had tried face wash after face wash, with some of them either giving the illusion of progress and others just making every thing worse.. It was a battle that would carry on for about the next 7 years with fluctuating degrees of intensity.
In high school there were weeks at hostel where i literally would not look in the mirror the whole week. If i did look in the mirror i would make sure that there was minimum light entering the room, even if this meant switching off the lights and looking in the mirror at an angle. I had figured that if i couldn't see how bad i looked then i wouldn't feel as bad... But this would all change when i would have conversations with people because as they talked to me or listened to me speak there eyes would wander all across my face, and this made me feel oh so uncomfortable. To the extend that i stopped looking into peoples eyes during conversations, i just couldn't handle it. They were ruining the deluded world that i had built up through denial and darkness... I could handle feeling bad about myself but it was not easy having to go out into the public and have other people feel bad for you as well. Even teachers would ask me on occasion what was 'wrong'..i had it bad for a while...real bad....
And this is the stage in life where everyone is trying to be a coool kid, how can you be a cool kid if you have acne all over your face, it just made me dive deeper into the books. Something that i did not have to be pretty to do well....study.
I got into the habit, the very bad habit of drinking and smoking as a teenager, and this didn't help at all...i'm not sure to what extend it contributes to the well being of your skin, but i don't think it helped me at all...then again nothing could have helped me at this stage, nothing besides patience. Over the years i have learned to try and understand my skin and treat it appropriately. Washing it aggressively multiple times a day is not the solution. Putting face masks on every night and changing products in quick succession is not the answer either. I have realized that i was probably 70% of the reason that my skin got so bad, i was not treating it properly at all. I was so scared of bad skin that i made me skin much much worse than it should have been. Now as i am much older and have seen many more people in similar situations have i seen the folly of my way.
What is the solution...?
1. Vitamins...i have recently started taking vitamins and they work wonders, because all along i was treating the problem from the outside in, when i should have also been treating it from the inside out. Vitamins have helped a lot. and when they run out i can see the difference and i get paranoid when i even miss a single day :/
2. Moisture..moisture is essential because your face needs moisture and when it is deprived of external moisture it compensates by producing its own...which results in clogged pores and pimples...:|
3. Face wash- when it comes to face wash we each have different skin types so i would say use whatever face-wash you want. I have literally tried more than 10-15 distinct products : Oxy, Clearasel, Young solution, Oatmeal, Ambi, Bio-Nike...etc etc. The most importan aspect is to find out what
type of skin you have. Then choosing a face wash accordingly, this is very important..and with skin i do not think there is a one answer for all type solution.
4. A spot removal gel- I always thought that these things would be bad for my skin because they would burn me or something. But the truth is that if i had started using these things much earlier on, i would have prevented a lot of unnecessary damage. These spot instant gels/creams dry out your pimple much faster than usual and using this is a million times better than popping a pimple! And on this note remember the following
ONLY POP A PIMPLE WHEN IT IS READY! There is no need for premature popping, it really only makes things worse, re-infecting the surrounding skin
5. These are optional (because i am no skin specialist by qualification...only by revelation) but i think that they should be deemed mandatory:
- A scrub which you use frequently, that can exfoliate your skin and a face mask that can remove dead skin cells.
6. Healthy diet - I have focused on my diet a lot, to the point where i got so paranoid that i stopped eating a lot of things. No chocolate, no cheese, reduced alcohol(i have stopped drinking entirely many many times because of my face...), no more smoking(idk what effects this has on skin), no creamy things, no mayo, no sweets, nothing high in sugar....etc etc ....and
A LOT of water.
You basically have to understand your skin and try your best to take care of it. I realized that puberty was a phase and all phases end as long as you work with it and not against it.. i would not want to wish this upon anyone, not even my greatest enemy. Your face is your representation to the world, people look at you and their first judgement is based on what you look like. Having a beautiful face will help with many things in life like confidence and acceptance and it even helps you get laid :P Please take care of yourselves and don't think its the end of the world- also see a dermatologist if needs be...there is a solution to most problems..you just have to find it.
T4aM
Ps: Vitamins that should be taken (A, E, B, C, Zinc are the core vitamins that should be taken daily...)
