This blog post is for the girl who feels too insecure to leave the house without makeup. For the girl who feels that no one will like her because of her skin. For the girl who thinks everyone is staring at her zits and not her. This blog post is to give you hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. My answer might not be the one you need, but it might be. This is how I cleared my severe acne and more importantly, got my confidence back.

My Acne Journey

In high school, I got the occasional zit, but nothing crazy. It wasn’t until college when my face was covered with deep cystic acne without a clear end in sight.

I tried every over the counter product there was, I was prescribed topical treatment and pills, I even tried expensive facial treatments but nothing worked. 

In order to leave the house, I covered my face with a full coverage foundation that made me look like a cake face. I never let any guy see me without a full face of makeup. Even though I covered everything up, you could still tell I was hiding something. 

This went on for about 3 years until I was diagnosed with Celiacs Disease and cut gluten from my diet. After a few months of this diet change, but skin started to look a little better, but it was still really bad. 

After a year after I was diagnosed, I started to eliminate dairy from my diet because of anxiety reasons (that’s a story for another time). This was a pivotal moment, my skin did a 180. My cystic acne went away after about 3 months and didn’t come back! 

At this point, I only suffered from the whiteheads, but they were everywhere. One of my friends reached out to me about Rodan and Fields and their line for adult acne called, Unblemish. I went the entire line and within 2 months, my face was CLEAR! 

I never thought that I would have a clear face again because it was 4.5 years since I didn’t have to pack on the makeup and lather up every Anti-Acne product I could buy at the drugstore. 

The trick to clearing acne is to treat the entire face and create an environment where bacteria and acne won’t grow essentially. Spot treating can work, but you really want to treat it as a whole. 

The rundown of how I cleared my severe acne

The main things that cleared by severe acne were Rodan and Fields Unblemish and cutting out dairy and gluten. This truly has transformed my skin and confidence. Treating the entire face for acne, not just spots.

**If you want to try it too, I am a consultant and you can get a 60-day money-back guarantee, 10% off, free shipping, and more. Comment down below or DM me on Insta! Or if one of your friends or family members is a Rodan and Fields consultant, ask them about it!

Some other small but important things that are a must:

• Clean your makeup brushes
• Don’t touch your face
• If you pick, put Neosporin on it 
• Use a clean pillowcase as often as you can
• Get a silk pillowcase
• Avoid sugar as much as you can
• Exfoliate
• Hydrate

Other things can and do work for other people, but this is what worked for me. 

What causes acne?

Bacteria from oil and dirt clogging your pores cutting off oxygen.

How do you prevent clogged pores?

Exfoliate regularly, use a toner, take off your makeup every night, and extract your pores, by facials or pore extraction tools.

I’m just always oily, how do I regular my oily skin?

I can only really speak to my experience, but my skin was very oily and that was because my skin was dehydrated and clogged pores. 

I had to start exfoliating and using a hydration serum. Oils can be scary if you have oily skin, but I promise you, if you have dehydrated, oily skin this will improve your oil production and your overall look of your skin.

What is the difference between hydration and moisturizer? 

Hydration is what keeps your skin plump and retain water. Moisturizer is what keeps the water in your skin. You need both. I get my hydration in a serum and moisturizer with a lotion.

My acne journey might be relatable to some of you, but others might have a different store, but know that there is a solution for you, you just have to be willing to try and do everything, but most importantly, be patient.

XO, Annie