How do I know this, you ask? Because without blowing my own trumpet, I feel confident in saying that I know a lot more about skin and skincare than most. And, when my typically clear, glowing complexion started showing signs of acne over a year ago, I simply didn’t know what to do. I tried every tip and trick that I had learned. I tried acids, I tried no acids, I tried retinol, I tried no retinol, I tried countless different cleansers, as well as stripping my routine back to basics. And despite actioning everything I thought I knew to work, nothing helped.
In the grand scheme of things, my acne isn’t terrible. However, as someone who totally skipped the teenage breakout phase, breaking out in painful, cystic acne in my twenties didn’t make me feel great. The spots themselves were based predominantly on my chin, around my jaw, and were often so painful that I couldn’t talk or leave the house.
Knowing that acne on the jawline is often linked to hormonal imbalances, I even came off my contraceptive pill in an attempt to start from scratch. At first, coming off my pill seemed to help and my breakouts died down a little, but six months later they were back and worse than ever. I knew that I needed medical guidance, but trying to see a dermatologist for acne on the NHS is no mean feat at the best of times, let alone during a pandemic.
Tagged: skin