How I Cleared My Cystic Acne

Cystic Acne. Acne in general is just very difficult to deal with. It crushes your confidence, it stresses you out, it kills your self-esteem. It’s very hard to get rid of when you don’t know the direct cause as to why it’s happening. Maybe it’s your diet, maybe it’s hormones, maybe it’s the products you’re using, or maybe it’s something you have no idea about.

Let me lay this out for you. I started developing what I thought were clogged pores around my cheeks when I started hot yoga July of 2017. I figured the hot yoga was doing some cleansing and that’s why I was kind of breaking out with these “clogged pores.” Then they weren’t going away but actually getting worse. Thinking yoga was the cause, I stopped yoga at the beginning of October, hoping the acne would clear up. & nothing. Again, it was getting worse.

The pictures you’re about to see, are from February of 2018. My skin was bad here but not as bad as it had ever been. The pictures are in no way edited.

Where I Went Wrong

 I wasn’t helping the situation. Picking my face became an obsession, an every night ordeal. I’d even put makeup on and see there was this raised bump around my cheek area so I’d pick it and pick it, & if it wouldn’t pop, I’d find a different bump to pick at. Like I said, I was obsessing. The areas I picked, which were on my cheeks and around my cheek bone, would become so inflamed and they would take forever to heal. The worse part was that they kept reappearing after becoming healed and I didn’t know why. So I’d pick some more. It was horrible.

I remember going home to MN for Christmas and I was embarrassed to be around friends and not have makeup on. I never wear makeup, so the fact that I felt like I couldn’t even let my friends see me without makeup was so discouraging. I’d be like mom, what is going on with my face. Her & Zach both would catch me picking my face in the mirror and they’d scold me and tell me to stop. For whatever reason, I couldn’t make myself stop. But I HATED the way it made my face look after I picked it, so why did I continue to do it!? I still don’t know. I honestly think my acne became so much worse because I couldn’t stop picking, couldn’t stop obsessing looking at my face & pointing out my flaws.

What I Did Right

After having acne over NYE and feeling so self conscious about it, I was like fuck this, this needs to get figured out. I made an appointment to have a free consultation at a medical spa called Facial Aesthetics. We concluded after doing a VISIA complexion analysis (this was so great) that my acne isn’t from bacteria on the face, it’s coming from under the surface. Also, my face suffers from bad inflammation, hyperpigmentation, & sun damage, but I luckily have relatively small pores.

My esthetician had me buy their green tea moisturizer and this serum. They were expensive but it was worth it to me. A month later, I had a hydra facial done by her. It was heavenly! If you want to know more about hydra facials, I can do a post about them?

During all this time, I was still trying to figure out where this acne was originating. A doctor appointment was made to switch my birth control. I was going to get on the IUD, but it didn’t work so that didn’t happen. Cutting out coffee was another thing I tried because coffee is dehydrating so it’s really bad for your skin. My sugar and dairy intake was cut in half. There I was reading books about how your diet can contribute to your skin. I had my mom get me a Clarisonic that I was using daily. I switched facial cleansers and started new serums that had vitamin C & hyaluronic acid in them.

When I really started to see a transformation, it was around the month of April. I had taken on a complete vegan diet & stopped picking my skin all together. I was going to Coachella at the end of April and did NOT want to have acne. & I swear to you, my skin was completely acne free, I was so happy.

What Came Out of This

I started to learn so much about skincare. Skincare became more important to me than ever before. I started to listen to podcasts about skincare and (to this day) take down a plethora of notes in my phone that’s labeled “skincare.” I refer back to the notes all the time to make sure I’m doing things right.

I’m always on the lookout for new products to try to enhance my skincare regimen! I feel like I’ve learned so much but there’s still so much more I need to learn. Developing acne gave me a new perspective on skin. It also made me appreciate having clear skin on a completely different level. Now I can really empathize with someone who suffers from acne, & all I want to do is be able to help and provide those people with useful information.

My face isn’t always clear, I still get hormonal breakouts and I will catch myself picking. Overall, my face has made a complete transformation. There’s no way to pinpoint exactly how I cleared my acne, & I don’t think there is only one way I cleared my acne. What I can say is that I stopped picking my face on the daily, I started using this cleanser & this serum (which I believe really helped me). You can read about why I love this Vitamin C serum from Insta Natural here. One thing I have noticed is that my skin will breakout after I’ve worn makeup. Which isn’t always fun to deal with, but the best thing I can do is to NOT pick it.

I have pictures that were taken today, 10/19/18, of where my skin is at, posted below. My skin isn’t perfect, I still have acne scarring. I still have minor breakouts. But I do know my skin has done a 180 from where it was at the beginning of 2018. It has taken roughly 10 months to get to this point.

If you have any additional questions, please let me know. I’d be more than happy to help. & again, these pictures are not edited in any way & I have zero makeup on.

xx, Aubrianna