Age and Pimples and Acne

I started having mild pimples and acne when I was around fourteen years old. At this time, I wasn’t too worried about it. I thought, “This just means I’m a real teenager now—like in the movies!” I didn’t wear makeup, and it didn’t help that I had a mouthful of braces. Still, I wasn’t bothered by my appearance. “This is just a part of growing up,” I thought, “it will pass with age.”

Boys started looking at me when I turned seventeen, my junior year in high school. No braces, long hair, lots of mascara… but still some acne. This is around the time I really started to look at myself in the mirror and care what stared back. “It’s okay,” I thought, “I am still a teenager, and my acne will go away soon enough.”

Today I am a twenty-two years old woman and on the road to graduate from my local community college. I am no longer a teenager, but acne is still a problem. “This was supposed to be going away by now!!” I often think to myself, “Why am I still struggling with acne?!”

Skincare was never a big deal to me growing up. As a young middle-school student the only time I ever washed my face was when I took a shower, and it was with whichever body soap I was using at the moment. No moisturizer, no sunscreen, nothing.  As time went by, I started to care a little more about my features as a young high school girl. I bought cheap drugstore facial cleansers and scrubs, completely naive to what exactly what I was doing.  What’s moisturizer supposed to do? What is toner? What the heck is serum? Nobody ever taught me these things.  I just slathered on whatever I saw at the store onto my face, hoping for the best. I think all this may have even made my acne worse.

As a young adult today, I have never cared more about my skincare, hair care, and my overall health. I took the time to actually research specific ingredients harmful to our skin/bodies. (Ingredients surprisingly in many beauty products sold today.) I have learned it’s not only what you put on your face that matters, but also what you put into your body. Eating the right foods will clean your body from the inside out. Keeping your body balanced is not only good for your beauty, but for your health. Being healthy is beautiful, and it will show. I am still struggling with past scars, but besides that, my skin has never been so healthy because of what I put on and inside my body.

Acne does not correspond with your age.  I’ve learned that no matter how old you are, you can still struggle with acne. The only factors that matter are your hormones, what you are putting inside your body, and what you are putting on your face; age is an irrelevant factor. In fact, just the other day my father had a huge zit on his nose—and he’s 55 years old!  Being aware of what is causing your pimples and acne is the first step to treating it, no matter the age. It will never just “go away with age” if you keep doing the wrong things.