Flaunt your zits fearlessly

Body-shaming was one thing, but now people are onto shaming you and making fun of you when your face might have a small zit or if you are going through acne.

Recently Kendal Jenner posted a picture of her acne face along with the beautiful dress she wore for the Golden Globes 2018 with the caption, “Never let that shi*t stop you”. And many other celebs also tweeted and spoke out about their acne experiences as well.

Youngsters comment on how how they deal with it. Twenty-year-old architect student, Shwetha Perumal tells us about her experience with acne, “It is bad enough a problem when you have acne but people coming and touching your skin and asking you to drink more water and use this or that to treat it is just frustrating. I went through a rough patch with my skin last year, and it does really kill your self-esteem, you become more conscious about how you look or whether people are staring at your face or not.”

Getting acne at an early age may seem fine until it actually follows you through your adulthood which can make your life miserable.

Something similar happened to Sinta Sunny, an entrepreneur who began getting breakouts when she was in 10th grade. “I started getting uninvited pimples on several areas on my face. It definitely made me uncomfortable but what made me feel worse was the people around me who made it too obvious. Some people tried to help me out with it but some, who were my relatives, made me feel like this is the end of my youth. They would just directly say it on my face — ‘What happened to your face? This acne looks so ugly!’ Or ‘Why aren’t the medicines affecting?’ On hearing that, I would just want to shove my face in the ground and never look up again.”

But she says what helped her was when, “I started accepting myself as I am, ignored all the voices in the background  and just believed in myself. I went for all the required treatments and focused on my well-being, and I have a better skin today!”

Another 23-year-old, Onga Oduyou, who went through a similar experience, tells us she had Cystic acne, but it took a long time for her to figure that out. “I was so done and tired of all the questions and suggestions that I faced, and without knowing the cause people try to act like they are doctors. To hide my scars and to those ridiculous questions and suggestions I resorted to make-up; but it didn't stop there, people had to say that it’s because I wear a lot of makeup that I get so much breakouts. I then realised no matter what, it’s useless and time consuming to get bothered by what people say and think,” she says.

Talking about how outward appearance and what people comment on it can affect us psychologically. counsellor Anitha SJ says, “It definitely plays a very important role and does mess with one’s self-esteem. But you can train your mind to not get affected by it because words can harm you only if you let it.”

Dr Rasya Dixit, a dermatologist, gives tips on what to do if you have major acne problem:
Before we used to think that acne only appears for teenagers but now it’s become quite chronic because of the change in lifestyle. But one should never go through a negative self-image because they can get rid of it easily if treated well.

Some tips before you get started

Evaluate your hormones and lifestyles.

• Do a derma gene test, which will give you an idea about your acne and recommend you on what kind of food you should eat.
• Oral medicines recommended by your
• doctor.
• Chemical peel (a medicine applied to the skin to reduce the acne) or a laser treatment.