#also for me… i got a lot of forehead acne right after my hysto !

[hotsugarbyglassanimals]

So I stopped bothering to treat my acne even though the treatment I was using worked. I saw significantly clear skin for the first time in years. But the reason I stopped is cause… I didn’t actually feel much better about my face. In fact, I kept obsessing over other aspects of my skin. The fact that there’s was still redness in some areas, for example.

I only started that treatment to spite my mom who wouldn’t listen to me when I said acne is far more complex to treat than practicing basic hygiene. She wouldn’t get off my ass for my acne either. I talked about an insecurity of mine irt not knowing how to talk to new people and she blamed it on my acne and it tells people i’m not confident??? (This was an internal struggle, people are nothing but kind to me)

It was just frustrating to me that I essentially opened up a pandora’s box of developing an obsession/insecurity over something that’s fucking harmless. The wash I was using worked, but that required dealing with my face burning even with the gentlest wash possible. It’s absolutely insane to willingly subject myself to pain for that

And I told my mom that I would have to use treatment methods that actually work like OTC creams or washes with salicylic acid. And 1. she indicated that she knew those existed but never bothered telling me about them (I had no idea they were a thing) 2. She told me that just washing my face every day (“without those Chemicals”) should be enough to get rid of my acne, ignoring the fact that my skin cleared up periodically regardless of whether or not I washed my face. Then of course she shifted the goal posts. Washed my face every day with water and that didn’t make a difference? I have to use more products. I used face wash products (without salicylic acid) in the past and I didn’t see a difference? I’ll need to use them longer than 2 weeks if I want results. Of course I’m welcome to waste money on something when I could just be doing it for free… 🙄

My mom doesn’t have acne by the way, and never really had much in her teen years. If you read studies on what causes acne, there’s quite a lot of mention of hair follicles. I have hair on my face, my mom doesn’t. She barely has body hair in general, she straight up doesn’t have any on her arms and legs. So I am just prone to developing acne while she isn’t, but she believes that she must be doing something right while I’m not.

So I used the wash out of spite, and saw results. But it didn’t feel worth it for the reasons I outlined before. I didn’t gain a better appreciation for my face, instead I kept trying to “fix” more and more because it wasn’t enough. If you desperately search for problems, you’ll find some. that’s why the beauty industry makes so much money, and I’ve always been against that. I think I’d prefer if I didn’t have acne since I keep picking my skin, however I see it more as a neutral trait that I don’t necessarily like but can live with. I can’t even really imagine having a clear face and I don’t even want to look “perfect” either. It’s just how I look. Who cares