Many struggles come with the difficulty of being a teenager. Out of the seemingly endless stream of problems that adolescence brings, acne can reign the worst of them all. Just one year ago my skin was riddled with blemishes that rocked my self esteem, and made me feel even worse than being the already moderately troubled teenager that I was. Without getting into the gory details of what exactly acne is, I should just say that it is caused by bacteria trying to escape through pores on the surface of the skin. With this in mind, I am sure many people know that it can be the most infuriating thing when some bacteria from an unknown origin has the power to completely destroy your self confidence. But through the trial’s and error’s of finding clear skin I have finally reached the point where my acne no longer burdens me. I am not trying to say that I have cracked the code for getting rid of the hardships of acne, but just in case I have, I figured sharing my process of finding clear skin could at the least save someone else the time and pain of what I went through.

During the time that I had awful acne I would heavily succumb to the endless propaganda of skin care products that promised me skin with adjectives such as "healthy," "flawless," and "radiant." Being desperate I would constantly buy into new products hoping that they would be the miracle cure for my face, however every time I was disappointed with my results. This brings me to my first tip to achieve clear skin- simplify. It took dozens upon dozens of products for me to realize that the chemicals I was layering onto my skin were clearly not working. So I stopped. And instead of going through a complicated regiment of cleanse, exfoliate, moisturize, etc., I simply washed my face with warm water until it felt clean. The simplest and purest way to wash your face, and for years it never occurred to me. I stopped using the overbearing and deceitfully harmful products on my face, and now every morning and night all I do is wash with water, and moisturize. This was a groundbreaking step in my quest to clear skin.

Another step I took in order to rid my face of acne was to work from the inside-out. What I mean by this is that I took care of myself. I started eating right, eating less junk food and more of what the health world considers "clean." I eliminated dairy from my life, as it is a highly acne-promoting food group, and I stopped eating so much excessive salt and sugar on the regular. Once I started eating better, exercising some, and just generally looking out for my health, I realized that skin is a reflection of health. Being good to your body attacks the root of the problem, and changing the way you treat yourself can change your skin for good.

Simplifying and working from the inside-out were the two most influential changes that affected my skin positively. However there are some smaller steps that helped me get there along the way. First, think of your face like a canvas- you’re never supposed to touch the art. That means no attacking at pimples because it only makes it worse in the long run. Second, be as kind to your face as you can. Don’t slather it with aggressive chemicals and makeup products; if you are going to use products make sure they are natural and gentle. This next tip is slightly gender specific, but for the girls who are planning to go on birth control the pill can do wonders for acne for some people. Lastly, focus on happiness. It can be hard to do such a thing when you are thinking about your impurities, but try to stop stressing, notice the positive around you, and let yourself be happy.