WE’VE PROBABLY ALL know the stress of having such a bad-skin day that you jokingly text your friends that only solution available to you is to leave the house with a paper bag?
But what if your job is to literally be in the public eye? And what if your skin is bad, all day, every day?
Celebrities, from the outside, look like they have it all. But here are 4 celebrities who’ve suffered from the anxiety and stress that comes with acne and have some comforting words.
1. Chloë Grace Moretz
Having done all her growing up in the public eye, Moretz was very aware of her acne, explaining that it was an obsession that she lost herself in:
I think what people don’t talk about is the psychological element to having skin problems, and that was the hardest thing for me. It strips your self-confidence in a lot of ways; you know you can’t hide from it at all, and you lose a little piece of yourself.
When I was younger, I lost a piece of myself by being so self-obsessed with my skin blemishes or what people thought about them.
However, as she got older, she realised that she found freedom in not caring about what others thought:
I realized that half the battle was myself, and my own self-infliction of what I thought “beauty” and “perfect” was. But then, you realize there’s no such thing as perfect, and your skin will go through ups and downs. All you can do is try and be as self-accepting as possible.
2. SZA
Refreshingly candid about her skin, SZA talked at length about her skin troubles since beginning to tour:
Touring f**ked my skin up on a whole ‘nother level, 200 meet-and-greets a day. Cheek to cheek. Sweating, hair on my face, mic on my face.
She also gave some insight into her existential day-after-tomorrow crisis whilst explaining her skin care routine:
I have this weird feeling that the apocalypse is upon us…
Honestly, same!
…so I have to choose products that I can find in nature. I have cystic acne, so I use a Manuka honey mask to combat it and hemp oil to smooth out the surface of my skin. I also use a Vitamin C serum and black soap, and that’s it.
SZA explained that she used to work at the skin-care department of Sephora, which gave her peace of mind that everyone’s skin is different.
As well as being candid about her skin and fears, SZA is also upfront about her emotional insecurities, showing us how relatable she is:
I love looking at pictures of beautiful women. But I think, for any human being, if you start to look at it too long it’ll make you look at yourself a little weird.
Good reminder! I should set this quotes as my screen saver.
It really depends on what mood I’m in. For instance, if I have a crazy-ass breakout and I look at really pretty, smooth-skin women on Instagram, I might be a little sad about my face that day. But tomorrow I might be able to not give a fuck at all
3. Lorde
The singer has been very outspoken about her acne and even posted an instagram story this year on the subject of her ‘years and years’ long struggle with it:
Lorde says she hates being asked ‘Do you wash your face?’
Ehh..rude much?
Her response?
Yes, I wash my face, I’m just genetically cursed!
She says she also hates when, after having acne for most of her teenage life and has tried everything, that people give her unhelpful, common advice:
You know what worked for me? Moisturizing! Make a mask out of honey, greek yogurt and avocado. All you need to do is buy an apricot scrub! Coconut oil – the secret is coconut oil!
She finished her story by giving hope to other sufferers for the future:
For anyone out there who has bad skin – and actual bad skin, not the bad skin that you can use a fancy cream for a few days and it will better – I feel your pain. We’ll get there. We will. I promise.
4. Mandy Moore
After being blessed with radiant skin all through her teenage years, Moore was devastated at the age of 22 to develop adult acne.
People were always very complimentary about my skin. But that made it all the more traumatizing when I hit 22 or 23, and out of nowhere, my skin started breaking out literally overnight.
She saw many dermatologists, tried several expensive and cheap products, and went to an allergist to try to get to the bottom of it.
Finally a friend recommended Proactiv, which is a brand of skin care products, and ended up being the only thing that worked on her skin.
Mandy has real empathy for anyone suffering:
Nobody’s perfect, we all suffer from one thing or another, and bad skin really sucks. It’s a crappy thing to have to deal with on a daily basis.
It’s great that these celebrities have spoken out to make others feel less alone in their skin struggles.
The incessant images bombarded on our social media feeds of celebrities sporting glowing, radiant faces can make us feel that they never have an off-day, but many times, these images are photoshopped and heavily filtered.
Whilst it’s an incredibly frustrating problem to experience, know that, like most things in life, it’s swings-and-roundabouts.
If you suffer from acne now as a teenager or young adult, take hope in the fact that oily skin means you’re less likely to have wrinkles, or to have as many, when you’re older.
