1. This Too Shall Pass.
Acne is not forever. It may feel like it has taken over your life but when you are feeling down about fresh break-outs, try to remember that this is just a phase and it will eventually go. Most women grow out of acne by late teens. It’s true that a small percentage of women continue to get acne into later life, but it’s rarely ever as bad as in your teenage years. So whilst today it may feel like it’s never going to end, there’s a very strong chance it will end and you’ll be acne-free for most of your life.
2. Focus On Other Areas
Everyone has something beautiful about them. It may be that they have beautiful hair, beautiful eyes, beautiful nails, beautiful legs or beautiful skin in another part of their body. Remember that you can focus on what is good about your body and be grateful for having those good parts. It’s very easy to focus constantly on the negative areas but remember that there are some parts to feel good about even if your face is not one of them right now. You could even make the most of them and take the attention away from your face if you are confident enough to give this a go.
3. Your Body Is Working Well
OK, this is again is about feeling grateful for what we have already, but those break-outs are a sign that you have hormones whizzing around inside you and your body is working well. So the hormones are a little too out of control right now but in time they will settle and your skin will too. They may need a helping hand (either medically or through some skin products) but one way or another, the break-outs show your body is producing hormones and you’re all woman! My husband even laughs these days when I get a spot and says he likes the fact that I’m still ‘hormonal’ like a teenager. I think he almost sees it as a sign of virility and youth!
4. Try Not To Strive For Perfection
We are bombarded constantly by images of perfect women, perfect faces, perfect bodies, perfect hands, perfect teeth, lips, hair, the list goes on and on and on. Women feel the need to be perfect these days. We feel if we have break-outs, we feel less than this ideal and then feel down about it. But is this really real? We frequently see celebrities with break-outs, with problem skin yet we don’t think any less of them. If anything, me personally, I think they are very brave to be out there and carry on. What they are showing is that they are still worthy as a person, even with spots and they don’t expect to be treated any differently. We need to just get on with life. And so should you. Which brings me to my next point:
5. Don’t Let Break-Outs Diminish Your Self-Worth
This is linked to perfectionism. Bad acne over time can really diminish a person’s self-worth because we believe that if we are less than perfect we are somehow less of a person. But is this really fair to ourselves? Do we become less of a person if we don’t have perfect skin? Are we less valuable to our families, our friends, or acquaintances simply because our skin is bad right now? Did we suddenly find they stopped loving us? Or wanted to spend less time with us? No. Inside, you are still the same person and they know that. You must remember it too.
Think about the fact that 100 years ago, very few people had mirrors. We could not know what we looked like. We did not strive for perfection or define our value or self-worth by what we looked like, like we do now. We were simply oblivious to all of this because we didn’t know what we looked like. Remember we live in a very modern complex age where it’s good to sometimes reconnect with who you are, what you want, what you stand for and what you will tolerate. Say no to perfectionism and living by modern societies rules and free yourself up a little. It may help you feel better.
6. Things Could Always Be Worse
Oops, another ‘be grateful’ one but it is a biggie because it’s true. Things could always be worse. Sometimes we just don’t know how good we’ve got it until something happens that turns our world upside down. Be happy today with all the good things in your life and try to forget about those break-outs!
7. Most People See Past Break-Outs
Though you may find you often think of nothing else when you have acne, and feel very self-conscious about break-outs, the big news here is that most people just don’t notice them. If a person hasn’t met you before, sure, it will be something they notice of but my boyfriends when I was younger would talk about it if I brought it up, but none of them ever made me feel bad or ever wanted to talk about them. Boys, men, the males of this species, they don’t really seem that bothered by pimples. They see a whole lot else going on about a woman, but her skin doesn’t really seem to be even close to a deal-breaker. And the other good news is if someone does notice your break-outs, we usually instantly feel a memory of when we had a break-out like that and just feel empathy. Nobody enjoys having spots.
So I hope this helped in making someone feel better here. If you have ways that have helped you feel better about having acne, please feel free to share it down below in the Comments box. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
And if you liked this article you could have a look at my top list of Best Cleansers For Oily Skin.
