The title to this blog post says it all. I’m so tired of being embarassed by my skin condition. For me, this is the worst part of getting acne, the embarrassment that goes with it.
I don’t understand why acne is the number one disease that causes so much of this feeling of embarrassement. Is it because it’s considered a teenage condition that’s linked to hormones and puberty? It can’t be the fact that it’s on our faces because then we’d also be embarrassed by freckles and moles and mosquito bites on our face but we’re not ..well I’m not anyway. I have a lot of freckles and a couple of moles on my face and I’m not embarassed about either of those. I even have a larger than average nose for a girl and that doesn’t bother me at all. Nor does my big teeth or my eyebrows if I’ve forgotten to shape them. There’s just something about acne that causes so much embarassment.
I go through stages of not caring about what I or other people think, and I stop wearing makup. I love these moments of consciousness because it gives me some freedom to stop focusing on my skin and to start focusing on whatever life brings me in the present moment. I don’t know what knocks me back into being shy and embarassed about my skin again, but I wish I could remain in those consious moments and stop making such a big deal about a few spots.
Lately I’ve noticed a pattern with Mondays. For some reason I feel particuarly bad about my complexion on Mondays - I have no idea why. So this morning when I woke up and stumbled into the bathroom and peered at the mirror only to let out another groan and a big sigh that my spots hadn’t miraculously disappeared in my sleep overnight, I reminded myself that it was Monday and I’m always down about my skin on Mondays.
I would love to stop this pattern and to remain fully in those conscious moments where I don’t care. I have had advice from a select frew of very wise people who have told me that in order to fully recover from a condition, I need to stop empowering it by giving it my full attention. I need to stop constantly thinking about my acne and staring at it and willing it to go away, and start filling my mind with thoughts of wellbeing and well …anything that does not define ‘Fran’ as ‘Fran with acne’.
Imagine having the freedom to get on with your life without worrying about your acne right now.
Think about it. Most acne treatments take weeks, sometimes even months to work effectively. I’m seeing a dermatologist tomorrow and I know for a fact that any treatment they give me is going to take a full three months to maybe work at clearing my mild acne. I don’t want to define my happiness with how well my skin is doing, and wish those three months away so I can be at the other end with clear skin. I want to be happy and consioius
So what am I going to do about it? I’m going to shake off my usual pattern of feeling down about my skin on Mondays, and every time I start to think about my own skin and acne, i’m going to stop those thoughts in their tracks and still my mind or devert it elsewhere. I’m going to stop dreaming about the future and the moment where my skin is 100% clear, and start focusing on being happy in the present moment. Because when all of this is over, I’m going to look back on this time and I won’t even remember what it was like to have acne, and I’ll be laughing at myself and thinking how silly it was to define my happiness with how well my skin was doing.
I’m going to try. It will be hard, but I’m going to put all my effort into it because I’m tired of my life revolving around my acne and I’m soooooooo ready to move on. Writing this article has made me realize how ridiculous my actions are, and how I’m wasting my life away spending so much of my energy being depressed and embarassed about my skin.
I truly believe that beauty radiates from within, and whether you’re male or female you are beautiful no matter how bad your acne is. I have seen both men and women that I’ve considered to be absolutely stunningly beautiful, and they have had acne! What makes them beautiful is how strongly I could feel their inner beauty and their confidence which literaly radiates from within. I’m going to work towards being like that 
Fran
Fran Kerr is the founding editor of High on Health. To cure your acne, sign up to Fran's FREE acne cure mini-course or download her latest how to guide, Eat Away Your Acne.
12 responses ↓
Wow! You described it perfectly! I so TOTALLY define my happiness by how my skin is doing! I even catch myself being somewhat “happy,” and then I look in the mirror when I go to the restroom, and my spirit immediately plummets.
Sometimes it’s hard to ignore my acne or focus on something else because it physically HURTS; I can’t just ignore or forget about that. And I judge myself as a bad person who is getting punished or something. It would be lovely to spend my energy in a different way. Thanks for writing about this, Fran!
Hi Chrystine, I did a video in YouTube to refer people to this article. In the video I talked about how I got my hair cut yesterday and I really enjoyed being pampered (I go to a funky hair dresser that gives detox teas and head massages) ..and it took all the focus off my skin. And I felt so great after it.
It made me realize that, well maybe just us girls, can go off and get our hair or nails or something done, and remind ourselves that we’re beautiful and we’re not just a few spots on our face
Very true about the happiness level being directly related to the condition of my face. I don’t agree, however, about people being perfectly beautiful with acne- not to say we aren’t beautiful, but acne is just the annoying little something, the “but” of it all- as in, “She’s pretty…she’s slender….she’s got a great smile….but she has acne.” I just feel I’m not the best version of me with acne.
The silver lining here is that having acne has forced me to change my diet and the products I use to more healthy and natural, which is beneficial in a lot of ways..
Hmm, yeah it’s a strange one. My closes friend (is a boy), and he just doesn’t notice acne. We bumped into a friend of his the other day at the markets which he has a huge crush on, and she was just gorgeous. She had long wavy blond hair, and was wearing a long hippie skirt and a black tshirt. AND no makeup.
Anyway, she had red spots all over her face, I’d say mild-moderate acne. And guess what!!?? When I mentioned this to my friend later, I said …I had drawn inspiration from her because she was so confident and didn’t seem to care about the spots on her face. And he was like ..’what spots?’. He did not even see them. So strange ..and this is the same with everyone, he just doesn’t see acne on people unless it’s REALLY bad.
And I remember what it was like before I had problems with acne, I never noticed anybody’s skin so I never even thought it was a problem for adults. Now because of what I do I look at EVERYBODYS skin and I’ve noticed that 1 in 3 adult women have acne. How did I not notice this before? Because I didn’t even see it in people.
It’s so strange, I guess we’re so obsessed with skin that we can’t help but notice it ..
And you’re totally right - there is a silver lining and I’m so much healthier for it too
Hi Fran I just wanted to thank you for writing this post it makes me feel better to know that there are people out there who are feeling the same insecurities as I am. I just wanted to let you know that I have adopted my own philosophy about acne as well. I feel that if we do not give it so much attention (but still take care of our body as a whole! exercise, eating right, low stress, having fun, and lots of sleep) and we constantly see our own inner beauty and stop obsessing about our acne.. the acne WILL go away… By ignoring our flaws and keeping focused on loving ourselves our problems will disappear… I hope that made sense =) anyway thanks again for the post!
Hi Susie, I LOVE your philosophy …and I think you’ve described it perfectly
Thank you so much for this! It makes me feel so good inside. I’ve said it before, I love reading your articles and watching your movies. It’s really nice to be able to hear from someone who is into this with me. Thank you so much and good luck finding yourself!
Hi Fran! I just found your videos on youtube and have practically watched EVERY one of them! You have no idea what kind of support you are giving so many people! You described me and my skin perfectly in the article. I still can’t believe there are people out there who feel the exact same way as me. My life has been completely controlled by acne, as I am still a teenager, I haven’t been sleeping over at friends houses, in fear of not being able to wash my face by missing a treatment. Or avoiding photographs, because I’m afraid of how they will turn out, and also avoiding being around people in general. This article has helped so much! Thank you for all your videos and posts.
Hi Fran! Yes, I’ve gone through the same U_U It’s most freaking when you seeeem to have finally achieved clear skin and then you realize that the one before left something or the next day you get another one and starts all over again. You told me I could send you my picture.. well I’ve just taken a pair! :$ Just wondered where to send it?? also I heard on a local radio (I live in Perú) about a all natural dermatological treatment and I’m soooo going to see him! take a look http://www.homeoderma.info/
All the roads lead to Roma they say! Choose the best 
It’s in spanish though hehe but it seems really neat, hard to find here! In my country there are so many herbs and stuff that with the big wave of natural curing there have been many “health” stores opening in the past two years!!
I’m also going to try some sort of classes to relax myself from university stress. I was thinking of belly dance… hehe! Well good luck with the treatment and don’t feel guilty, you just want to really feel good with yourself
Hi Fiorella, if you go to my ‘ask a question’ page (follow the link in the top nav bar), then there’s a support email address you can send to that goes straight to me.
I love that you took the time to write about something so many of us are feeling.
I feel into the same pattern.. on friday night when everyone was going out I would look at myself knowing the other girls would be stunning and flawless. I would be bumpy and embarrased.
It took me a while to get my head in the right clouds when it came to my skin. My father asked me one day why I looked so down and I commented that I had another break out. He smiled and said “then fight it by cheering up… whack back at your hormones”.
At first I thought he was nuts, but it turns out the same hormones that cause depression can cause your acne to flare up. So I do my best to stay posetive and not to worry much about my skin (in any condition)
“If you feel pretty you are pretty” means something totally different to me now. =)
Thank you for your videos I really enjoy them.
Fran,
I’ve been trying not to focus so much on how my face looks.. but it just doesn’t work out for me.Before I wasn’t really depressed as I am now and I’ve had acne for about 4 years.I always imagine how life would be if I didn’t have acne and it really makes me depressed.All of my friends have clear skin and they always ask me why I don’t take care of my skin, and they just don’t understand how much work it actually takes to do it. Whenever I go to the mall and we go into some make-up store, I get so uncomfortable because I hate looking at myself in the mirror.It’s so hard to not concentrate on my face.. I think about it 24/7 and it hurts a lot.Sometimes I cry myself to sleep at night.I don’t want my life to be this way anymore, I’m tired of it.
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