My Bare Face, Entry 1: My acne story and how it can help you (no matter what your flaws are)
The most common phrase I hear about my face/skin is ‘It’s really not that bad, Hannah’. If only you knew! And that is exactly why I’ve decided to write this public diary.
Today is a big day. After years of battling adult acne, I’ve decided to share my journey through treatments and diet, to find confidence and hopefully clear skin for my own self-confidence and to help others (you) to accept and improve your skin/flaws too.
Many of you, my friends, family and clients, will be wondering why I’m doing this (even I’m wondering why I am putting my bare face out here to the big wide world, when I can’t even go to the shop without anxiety eating away at me!!) but here it is...my face, as of this morning, completely natural. Because what I’ve come to learn is that we should be grateful for our flaws - Yes, grateful!! But it’s really not that easy, as I’m sure you’ll agree. Just look at how bad my natural face is in the photo below. It’s hard for me to even look at myself like this, never mind be grateful for it, but I’m trying and I’ll explain more…
If you know me, you know I’ve suffered with my skin for years and it’s affected a lot of social events I should’ve been at. Regardless of how ‘ugly’ I felt or thoughts that people wouldn’t see me and simply just stare at my bad skin; I should have been there. Friends will know I’m not the best person to get ready with before going out. I get very conscious about how ‘bumpy’ my skin is, making it hard to cover, and the pressure of being a Makeup Artist means people instantly look at my makeup and my face. It’s hard to look at yourself in the mirror and it’s a real mental struggle to see past your own reflection. If you don’t know me, my skin has reduced me to some pretty low places; usually to tears and the ‘why me?’ pity party I have with myself...can you relate in any way?!
If this photo offends you in any way or makes you think mean things about my face; this diary isn’t for you. If you relate to it or these words in anyway, if they give you some form of confidence to be braver about baring your face/flaws and/or makes you feel curious to know more; then stick with me, as this diary is most certainly for you!
My acne started after I’d had my first son and my hormones went WILD. It got progressively worse and worse into open wound type sores (really painful for me and unsightly for others!), and I would often get the look of sympathy from people. Someone with an innocent comment of ‘Oh, that looks sore’ or ‘it’s really not that bad’ but every comment on ‘it’, as much as I know they would’ve come from a good place, they cut like a knife. Skip forward to now, 6 years on, and it’s better. Much better, actually! I’ve been through the Roaccutane treatment (the main treatment for severe acne in the UK) and tried everything the GP has thrown at me...nothing worked. Well, Roaccutane did, but I’m one of the many you may have read about where it came back after 6 months. Even worse than having bad skin, is getting it clear, and it then coming back to haunt you - And it’s so, so common!
As I was about to start my 2nd round on Roaccutane (scared of the side affects and ‘will it even stay away this time’ thoughts) and I happened to meet my lovely private dermatologist, Amy. She is like a real life angel! And so my journey with her has begun.
Amy is a specialist in the Environ products/techniques and along with these has given me a diet plan and supplements to take, which I am starting today. I want you all to share this journey with me, as I will share all of the information, highs and lows with you in the hope to help at least just one other! Amy has changed my whole mindset about my acne and taught me to really focus on being grateful for everything, being beautiful inside first. And I want to pass that on to you. Not only is stress a big driver of acne breakouts, acne also isn’t life threatening, so I’m grateful that I otherwise have a healthy and happy life...food for thought, eh?! And when you start to think like that, things really start to look a lot better!
I will share makeup and coverup advice with you too, as it’s actually very easy to cover up acne when you know what products to use and how to use them. This has taken every part of me to put out here and I will give as much back to you as I can.
If you’ve liked reading, please show some support in the comments below and keep an eye on my Instagram for updates https://www.instagram.com/bare_face_diaries/
Always beautiful from the inside out,
Hannah x