anything goes with emma chamberlain - acne

Episode Date: March 4, 2021

Acne is something a lot of us have dealt with or are dealing with currently. For some, it can be really difficult. Emma has had her own well-documented journey with acne, but it took a really serious toll on her both physically and mentally. She shares her entire story, from dealing with a ton of confidence issues, to depression, to all of the frustrations of treatments that weren’t working, and finally overcoming it. She shares tips on managing acne, how to get through it, and how to stay confident with it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello everybody, welcome back to Anything Goes. I'm Emma Chamberlain your host and your Bestie. I think that's going to be my new official intro. Let me know what you think. Before we get into the episode topic today because I do have a topic, I need to fill you in on a few things. There's actually two things. Number one, y'all, I have no social cues anymore. I have to tell you this story. Quarantine ruined me socially. I used to think of myself as being very socially savvy.

I felt like I could talk to anybody. There was never an awkward moment with me. Like I used to be, you know, solid socially. I could have a conversation with a brick wall and it wouldn't even be awkward. Like there was nothing that would make me feel awkward socially. That's not necessarily true. Like, I think that might be a little bit dramatic.

I think I did obviously have awkward moments here and there as everybody does, but pretty... That was pretty slim. Like, I was pretty solid. Okay, well, I can tell you now that all of my social cues and social skills are fucking gone from quarantine. And here's a story that perfectly displays that. So I was at a flea market.

A flea market is like an outdoor thrift store where a bunch of different sellers set up little tents and they have vintage clothes, used clothes, homemade clothes, stuff like that. And I love going there because they have cute clothes for good prices and it's all second hand usually and I love that. So I was there last weekend and I was actually

there with somebody else too, which makes this story worse because they had to see this happen. Oh, it was so bad. Okay, so basically this girl comes up to me and basically she was kind of somebody that I'm connected to through business, right? But I'd never met her before. So it wasn't, she wasn't somebody who watches my videos necessarily. She might be, but it was more somebody who is connected to a company

that I'd like to work with. And she comes up to me and we're talking for a little bit and everything was fine. And then I kind of got a little awkward because I didn't have anything else to say. And then she kind of got a little bit awkward because I think she didn't have anything else to say. And then she kind of got a little bit awkward because I think she didn't have anything else to say. And then she was like, Oh, by the way, I'm going to change her name for the story. Okay, I'm going to say her name is Olivia, although that's my best friend's name, but whatever. I'm going to say her name is Olivia for the sake of the stories that I'm not fucking shouting this girl out. She said, Oh, by the way, my name's Olivia.

And I was like, and I don't know why the fuck. My brain thought it would be a good idea to say this, but my immediate response was, oh, I have a cousin named Olivia. She was like, okay, bye and walked away. Guys, guys, why and walked away. Guys! Guys! Why would I say that? Why would I say that?

Why would I say that? Oh, I have a cousin named Olivia. Emma, who cares? Emma, who cares? Say, well, she already knew my name so I couldn't be like, oh, well, my name's Emma because we had already discussed that That was my name earlier. I could have just been like oh well so nice to meet you

Mike has a name Zalivia And she walks away and immediately I go to the person that I had went to the flea market with and I'm like Please tell me you didn't hear that I cannot sleep tonight if I know that you person that I had went to the flea market with and I'm like, please tell me you didn't hear that. I cannot sleep tonight if I know that you heard that. And they were like, no, I didn't hear it. What did you say? And I told them and they were like, oh fuck. I'm like, no, that's, and then I called my mom later and I told her and she fucking

laughed her ass off for like 45 minutes being like, I'm a what the hell. So that was super awkward. That's something that has been haunting me for the last week since it happened. Listen, if you, if this was you and you're listening to this for whatever reason. I'm so sorry for that awkward remark that I made. I got uncomfortable, intense in my fucking brain took over my body in the worst way and I said that and I'm embarrassed and that's not me. I never say weird shit like that. Like that was the first time I've ever said something that weird. I don't think I've ever said something that weird in that random. This girl probably thinks I am fully a freak. I can't blame her. If somebody said that to me, I'd be like,

okay, word, nice to meet you a fuck. Like I would definitely judge myself if I had met myself in that situation, a thousand percent. So I don't blame her if she's judging me. But if you're out there, you know who you are. Your name's not Olivia, because that was the fake name I gave to you, so that you know, I wouldn't call you out too hard. Although I'm kind of just calling myself out.

But Olivia, fake Olivia, if you know who you are, your name's not Olivia, your name starts with an A. If you know who you are, I'm really sorry. Okay. Anyway, another thing I wanted to talk about was that I got an at-home cycling bike. Okay. I, before quarantine started, I was a huge cycling class fanatic. I would go to SoulCycle multiple times a week. Sometimes twice in a day, I just loved it. It was like my meditation. It was like my workout. It was like my community. I love that shit. So I was

super into SoulCycle. If you don't know anything about cycling classes, it's basically where there's a bunch of stationary bikes in one dark room and there's an instructor in the front and you basically ride the bike to the beat of the music and you change the resistance. So sometimes it feels like you're going uphill. Sometimes it feels like you're going super fast and you're sprinting downhill. If you turn down the resistance, that's kind of the premise of the workout. And then towards the end you do a little arm workout with weights that are attached to the back of your bike. And then you call it a day. I think it's a great workout. It's

one of my favorites because it's just it's cardio, but it's easy on your joints. I have really sensitive joints from my cheerleading days, slash gymnastics days, if you will. My joints are all fucked up. I find that riding a bike feels better on my joints than running. I feel like I get the same kind of sweat in. And I release endorphins. And it's just great. So I'm a huge cycling gal. I love it. But I haven't been able to cycle for basically a whole year because soul cycle has been closed. So I was just doing other things. I was trying to go on runs. I basically have spent the whole year running, actually.

And I hate running. I love it and I hate it. Like I love it because it's easy. You just like strap on shoes and then you go. It's free, which is another thing I like about it. It also does make you feel good. Like afterwards you feel great. And you kind of get used to running to like the more you run, the more you end up liking it. But I still deep down hate it. As much as I could say that I like it, I hate it.

Whereas cycling I love. And so I finally got a fucking Soulcycle bike for at home. It comes with the whole like it, Soulcycle bike for at home. It comes with the whole like, screen thing. It's like a peloton, but it's Soulcycle brand, because I'm very loyal to Soulcycle, whatever. And let me tell you, this thing is amazing. Like, I've never, ever spent money on like, at home, gym stuff, ever.

I've never done it. I just have never been able to justify it. But I really wanted this. And so now I have it. And I love it. I've only written on it twice, but I can tell you that this thing is amazing. It's like the best thing that's ever happened to me. They're definitely very expensive, but I did the math and I was going to Soul Cycle so much that I actually would save money by buying a bike for at home. I was always against getting a bike for at home because I was like, well, the whole point is that I'm going for the community element, but it sounds like there won't really be a

community element to Soul Cycle for probably another year. So this makes sense. Also, I kind of like that I don't have to leave my house to like ride on the bike. I can also ride on it at any time. I don't have to like book a class. Also, if I last minute want to cancel the class, I'm not wasting X amount of money. It's all up to me. And the classes are equally as hard. I mean, honestly, I'm obsessed with this bike, guys. Like, I never thought that I would be that bitch. It's like, I'm riding my peloton, or I'm riding my soul cycle bike, and I love it.

But I am now that bitch. So, I don't know, I think it's better than having a treadmill too, because you can like, if I want to go on a run, I'll just go on a run outside, get my fresh hair. But it's really hard to mimic, like I feel like a stationary bike is a very different sensation. Like personally, I live in LA,

I can't just go ride my bike up hills and get a bike workout in, like I kinda need to use a stationary bike. Listen, you could, for sure, bike ride in LA. Yes, but am I scared of that, a thousand percent. I'm very scared of it. I'm scared because I don't trust people in LA. I don't trust the drivers in LA if I wanted to bike up a, you know, street or something. I don't trust people here. So, fuck no, I'm not riding my bike in LA ever.

That's why I have a stationary bike. I don't even have to leave the house. It's a main thing. I'm not riding my bike in LA. I'm not riding my bike in LA ever. That's why I have a stationary bike. I don't even have to leave the house. It's amazing, 10 out of 10 would recommend the Soul Cycle Stationary Bike and or a Peloton, it's the same thing. But very good guys, it's changing my life.

Like I literally was in such a shady mood yesterday and then I hopped on that bike and I rode it for that bike and I wrote it for 45 minutes and I got off and I was like, you know what? I feel fucking good right now. The only problem is that it's a lot, it's the hardest workout I've done in the whole year. I haven't done a workout that hard this whole year because I've just been like going on jogs and doing light Pilates and stuff like that's all I've really been doing. And these workouts are very hard and I wake up in the morning and I feel like I got hit

by a truck. I feel like I'm dying every day. That's the only hard part about it. Also it kind of bruises your vagina. When you first get started for some reason, like bruises the muscles, I don't, sorry, that's disgusting. Anyway, let's get into our topic of today, acne. I can't believe I haven't made an episode on the sooner

because acne has been such a big part of my story on the internet and also just my brand and general on the internet, if you will, I'll do I hate that term, but you know, people just know that I've struggled with acne. It's like a well-known thing. And the fact that I've never made an episode on it blows my mind. So today I'm going to be kind of telling you my acne story, giving advice where I see

fit, and just overall having a discussion about it, like just my story. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. There's no instruction manual when it comes to being an adult. Sometimes I lay away at night rehashing something I said earlier that day, or I lay in bed at night thinking about what the future holds. I know I'm not the only one going through a lot of what ifs.

Like what if I get into a fender bender? Or what if my home gets broken into? But State Farm can help you with some of those big what ifs They're available to answer your questions day or night You can reach them 24-7 file a claim on the state farm mobile app or simply call your agent to ask what's on your mind Like you good neighbor state farm is there call or go to state farm comm for a quote today This episode is brought to you by square space farm.com for a quote today. This episode is brought to you by Squarespace. Squarespace is more than a website builder. It's in all in one place to make an online space that's entirely

your own. Their all in one platform allows you to customize everything from the fonts and color scheme to your domain name. All you have to do is choose from one of their beautifully design templates as a starting off point. Then, at whatever you need to do is choose from one of their beautifully designed templates as a starting off point. Then, add whatever you need to show off your ideas to get your side hustle on. You've got all the tools you need to sell products, schedule appointments, and send email campaigns to your mailing list. Plus, everything is optimized for mobile, so it looks just as good on a phone as it does on a desktop. Check out Squarespace.com for more features and inspiration and when you're ready to build your site, use the offer code Emma for 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. So let's start when I

first started getting acne. I first started getting acne later in middle school. So probably seventh or eighth grade and it wasn't too bad. My acne was pretty much just the little bumps on my forehead with an occasional little cystic acne, but it was not all cystic. I didn't have cystic all over my face. It mainly showed up in my forehead. I had a lot of tiny bumps in my forehead. I also had a lot of blackheads too. My skin was just very dirty. I think that that was partially my fault because I did not have a skin routine at the time at all. I didn't take care of my skin at all.

And I was also a cheerleader at the time, so I was wearing makeup and I was sweating a lot because I was going to cheer practice like three to four times a week. And I wasn't really cleaning my skin properly. So I think that that's kind of why that started. But I was also going through puberty. I was like the beginning stages of puberty for me.

And I kind of went through puberty a little bit late. So I found a lot of people were kind of going through puberty, fifth, sixth grade, whereas it didn't really hit me until probably eighth grade, maybe seventh grade, but mainly eighth grade. Like I was a late bloomer. So I think the combination of not taking care of my skin, but also doing cheer and sweating a lot and putting on a lot of makeup added to it.

And it sucked for sure, like I hated it, but I also don't feel like I really was as self-conscious maybe. I mean, I was definitely self-conscious in middle school. Don't get me wrong. But for some reason, like, acne didn't really start to bother me until I got a little bit older. And I don't know if it was because a lot of kids

had acne at the time. I felt like a lot of kids in middle school had acne. So I just didn't feel like it was that different, if that makes sense. But I don't remember. Like, I don't't fully remember how acne affected me emotionally in middle school But I also know that It wasn't that bad like it it came in and out like it was like bad sometimes and not as bad others And it was like rarely that I had a cystic acne

So I didn't feel like a huge issue at the time But it definitely was there, and I definitely was aware of it. And in retrospect, I know it's because I wasn't taking care of my skin. While going through the biggest change of my body's life, which is puberty, in the beginning of puberty, then I went to high school

and my skin started getting a lot worse. And throughout high school, I went through phases with my skin started getting a lot worse. Throughout high school, I went through phases with my skin. Sometimes I'd be pretty good and my skin would be pretty clear, but then sometimes it would be really, really bad. An acne for me was more the kind of tiny bumps rather than large, cystic acne. I had a lot of tiny bumps all over my face,

which some people call fungal acne, but I don't know if that's what I really had. I would also get like cystic zits, like the deep rooted zits. It just started to build up and get worse. And I was definitely going through puberty during this time because again, I was a late bloomer. I like didn't really going through puberty during this time, because again, I was a late bloomer. I like didn't really go through puberty

until eighth grade freshman year, sophomore year. Like I feel like I'm still going through puberty sometimes and I'm 19 because I'm just a fucking late bloomer. I literally had a completely flat chest. I had no boobs. My period didn't even come until I was 16. I felt very self-conscious about that, for sure, which is kind of off topic, but it kind of relates

because getting acne after going through puberty or while going through puberty is very common, and so I feel like it's relevant to talk about the other parts of my body at the time too. I just was very underdeveloped. But that also was kind of confusing to me because I'm like, why am I getting acne, but I'm not getting boobs.

Like what the fuck? I was like, everybody else, all my other friends got acne and boobs in their period. But for me, it was like, oh no, you're just getting acne. No boobs, no period. Have fun. So that was kind of eighth grade freshman year for me. I remember sophomore year, my acne got pretty bad.

But the problem was that I wasn't really doing I remember sophomore year, my acne got pretty bad. But the problem was is that I wasn't really doing anything to fix it, like throughout high school, like I would try little products here and there and my mom would try to like buy me different things, but nothing like really worked, but I feel like I was too lazy to really put effort in to trying to relieve it. Like I didn't put the effort in

to try new products and stuff like that. Like my mom was buying the stuff and she was making me try it, but nothing was really working so I just got discouraged and then would stop. And I think I was definitely self-conscious of my acne in high school, but I really started to wear makeup and cover it up.

And I also went to all girls' school where we all kind of just let our hair down, if you will, and nobody shaved their legs. People would forget to wear deodorant. You know, nobody would wash their hair for the whole week. Like, we weren't like, we were all comfortable with one another because we were all girls and we just understood like, okay, you know, we don't need to shave our armpits every day to be around each other.

Like, we all know that we're all just girls and this is what we deal with. You know what I mean? There was this unspoken understanding when going to an all-girl school that we all know we're not perfect. But when you go to a school with boys, sometimes there's this added pressure to be, you know, super put together in a way because you want to impress the boys. And I think at a school with all girls that that wasn't there, which was kind of nice. So I definitely think that helped with having acne because I, no girls were wearing makeup

at school. Like we were all wearing no makeup. You could see everybody's acne. You could see everybody's leg hair if they forgot to shave their legs. Like it was all out in the open. So I think that that was actually not a terrible thing. Also, if we were going to a football game after school, yeah, we'd all put on makeup and cute outfits and we'd all shave our legs and do whatever. But there was like a time for all of us to just let loose.

And that was at school. Now don't get me wrong, I hated all girls' school, but that was one good part about it. So I think that that made me feel less like shit about my acne. And to be honest, I don't really remember my acne affecting me until I left school.

And that was in junior year. And I still did definitely have acne when I left school. And that was also around the time that I started my YouTube channel. And I wasn't wearing makeup on YouTube and everybody was seeing my acne and a lot of people were like, oh my God,

I can't believe you're not wearing makeup and covering that up. Like wow, that's so brave. And I was like, oh, am I being brave right now? Cool. So, I started just not wearing makeup in my videos and I never wore makeup in my videos really, again, after that point because I was like,

wow, people really can relate to me even more when they can see my acne and I'm not covering it up and stuff. And that was kind of empowering. So although acne wasn't my favorite part of my face, the fact that people connected with me even more when I showed it was like, oh wait, that's great. I love that.

So again, Akni still wasn't really bothering me. It definitely wasn't something that I enjoyed, but it also was like kind of a positive thing, because I was like, okay, well, I can't really control this. I have acne. What am I going to do? I'm just going to show it. People are going to connect with me over it, and that's it. And it still didn't really bother me. So after I left school, I lived at home for a while, and I was working from home, and I was making videos from home, and I was very lonely,

and I didn't really have many friends, if any. And I basically made YouTube videos all day every day, and I got very depressed, because I was very lonely and I was just like working on this every single day, every single day. And I got really depressed. And I think that that definitely affected my skin.

I do notice that when I'm not in a good place mentally, my skin gets worse. And I think that living at home and just grinding on these videos every single day made me depressed, made me anxious, and that definitely made my skin a lot worse. But again, I just kind of went with it, and I think my skin at that time was the least of my priorities, right, because I was dealing with severe mental health issues. I mean, I was struggling with very bad depression.

And so like my skin was like the least of my worries. I was like, I just wanna be excited about tomorrow. I don't care if my fucking skin looks like shit. You know what I'm saying? I don't care because there's a bigger picture here. I'm struggling with much bigger issues. But my skin did get a little bit worse. And then I started to make some YouTube friends and I started to meet those YouTube friends

and then I started to consider moving to LA. And I don't know if it was a coincidence, but I do think it might be a little bit connected. My life started to get a little bit more exciting. I started to be a little bit more. My life started to get a little bit more exciting. I started to be a little bit more social and things started to kind of look up for me mental health-wise because I had something to look forward to, right?

And so then my depression kind of lessened and my anxiety kind of lessened and I became a lot happier and my skin started clearing up. And then by the time I moved to LA a few months later, my skin was like perfect and I was doing nothing. I was trying little products here and there but like when I really think about it I wasn't

really doing anything. I know I tried out some custom skincare websites that I was obsessed with at the time and they're actually so great brands. I think I was using curology at the time. And I wasn't doing a lot. I'd literally wash my face with cleanser and then like use curology. And then that was it.

And that really worked for me at the time. And it was basically just like a quiz. You type in all your skin info. And then they send you one moisturizer that has all of the stuff in it that your skin may need. And then you just put that on before bed, and then you're good. And I think that that's what I was using at that time.

And I don't know if it was the stress that made my acne go away or if it was the curology, I don't know. I'll never know. Or if it was even just a shift in my hormones, like again, you'll never know. But my acne was pretty much gone when I moved to LA. It was the summertime and I was getting tan and getting some vitamin D and my skin looked great.

And so that was super exciting. And I just got comfortable having good skin. I was like, oh, okay, I guess I'm done, because I guess puberty is over. This is how my skin is gonna be from now on. Yay, well, I was wrong. This episode is brought to you by LiquidIV. You might think that hydration is only necessary

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I drink liquid IV if I just feel a little bit dehydrated. You know, maybe I have a little headache. I feel a little off. I love it. It's so easy. You just rip the packet open, pour it into a bottle of water, shake it up, and gulp, gulp, gulp. I always keep a liquid IV in my bag because I never want to feel dehydrated again.

My favorite flavors are the passion fruit and the watermelon. And I actually think they're delicious. It's so easy to chug water when there's a liquid IV in it. It's so simple to use. Just rip open a stick and pour the powder in some water for a boost because real life is extreme enough. Liquid IV, real people, real flavor, real hydrating. Buy a stick of Liquid IV at a store near you or head to liquidiv.com and use the code anything for 20% off your order. That's liquidiv.com with the code anything. Tap the banner or visit this episode's page to learn more. This episode is brought to you by LiquidIV. LiquidIV believes everybody needs hydration every day. It's not just for athletes or that one time you try to hot yoga class, staying hydrated is essential whether you're just taking a stroll through your neighborhood, traveling or slogging through

back-to-back meetings. And with just one stick of liquid IV's hydration multiplier, you can hydrate two times faster than water alone and get three times the electrolytes as leading sports drinks. I have been drinking liquid IV actually for many years now. And I've used liquid IV for so many different things. When I'm hungover, after a long plane ride, when I'm really dehydrated, when I have a headache sometimes,

I'll sip on liquid IV and it can really help. When I'm sick, when I just need a little boost, liquid IV is almost always in my bag, almost always. In my favorite flavor, if anyone is wondering, watermelon and passion fruit, although there are a lot of great flavors, but those are my most commonly consumed. And the interesting thing about liquid IV

is that my preferred way to drink it is to pour it into a water bottle with lukewarm water and chug it. So not sure what that says about me. Grab your liquid IV in bulk nationwide at Costco or you can get 20% off when you go to liquidiv.com and use code anything at checkout. That's 20% off anything when you shop better hydration today using promo code anything at liquidiv.com. After that summer, my skin started looking like shit again. I mean, not like having acne is looking like shit,

but it was more than that guys. It was like, I stopped using products. I wasn't washing my face routinely, really. I wasn't eating foods that were good for my body. I wasn't eating foods that were good for my body. I wasn't sleeping at all. I literally would sleep like fucking five hours a night, and I'd go to bed at like five in the morning and wake up at like noon. It was like so bad.

My life habits were bad. I wasn't taking care of myself at all. My skin totally went down the drain. All of my progress had went down the drain. I wasn't really using, I wasn't using curalogy anymore, I wasn't using anything. And I would use an occasional serum or occasional face wash, but I had absolutely no skin knowledge at all.

So I just was putting random shit on my face and being like, ah, maybe this will work and I'd try it for like a week and if it didn't work, I'd just stop using it all together. And so my skin just started breaking out again. I also looked lifeless in my face. Like my face skin was super pale and my dark circles under my eyes were bad and it was just like bad.

And I started getting back knee, which I had back knee in school too, but started getting really bad. The winter after I moved to LA, I feel like that's just when everything kind of went wrong. And I had people around me that were really toxic too at that time. And it was just really hard. And so I was breaking out for sure. But again, I think because my mental health had dropped to a point that wasn't so good,

I just didn't have the motivation to fix it or to work on it. And now that I'm really reflecting on my acne journey, I realize that in my deepest and darkest moments of depression, that is when my acne was the worst. And I don't know if it's because when I tend to get really depressed, I tend to not take care of myself. I don't know if it's that or if it's the fact that stress has a really huge impact on your body and can cause things like acne, you know, according to some things that I've read online. I don't know how true it all is, but I don't know what it was, but I found that in times

of really deep depression, I would break out. So after that winter ended, I started to feel like, okay, I need to take control of this situation. My main motivation for wanting to clear up my skin was because Coach Hella was coming. Yes, my life revolves around Coach Hella. Shut up, I know. I had all this acne on my back. I had all this acne on my face. And I was like, I want to wear cute outfits that show a lot of skin, but a lot of my skin has acne on it. And I'm self conscious of it. I'm going to try to get rid of it before Coachella comes.

So I started getting these facials to try and help reduce my acne. That kind of worked, but the facials were so fucking expensive and they were painful and I just don't feel like they were really working enough to justify the price. So I kind of stopped doing that. Then I went to this super expensive skincare store in LA and I was like, guys, this is what my skin looks like. Recommend me some products. So they sold me probably $500 worth of skin care products. I didn't know they basically made a skin care routine for me and I

spent $500 on these products because I was like, listen, I'm so desperate. I'll just take anything. I'll do anything to get rid of this acne before Coachella. Please, God, just help me. And I started using these really expensive products. And I don't think that they were right for me. I remember I was using a really abrasive exfoliator on my face multiple times a week, on my face multiple times a week, which probably was making my acne worse. And then the rest of the products were good, I think, from what I can remember, but I think a lot of them were overpriced

and maybe a little too harsh for my clearly sensitive skin, but I just didn't know any better, and I was just using them because I was just trying to get rid of this fucking acne. Coachella rolls around. My skin is not really getting much better. All of the facials, all of $500 fucking products. None of it really helped.

And I was definitely disappointed, but I was like, you know what, fucking, I'm just gonna put makeup on my face, makeup on my acne on my back, and call it a day. And I did, and I had a great Coachella. I guess, it was kind of shitty, but it was good. And then after that, I was like, okay, we really need to figure this out, because this is controlling my life now. Like I'm spending a lot of money on this. It's starting to affect myself a steam. Like I really want to get this under control. So I go to the dermatologist

and we try some topical treatments. I don't even remember the names of them. That wasn't working. Next step was like, okay, let's start taking medications. So the first medication I went on was called Spirinal Actone. And this is basically a medication that helps regulate your hormones so that you get less acne because a lot of acne comes from hormones, which I think a lot of people don't necessarily know. But a lot of people have the most perfect skincare routine on the planet, but still have acne because their acne is hormonal. So it's something that's out of their control.

No matter what products you put on your face, that's not going to affect the fact that your hormones are on the inside. And, you know, they're going to do what they want. So if they want to give you acne, they're going to give you acne, no matter, you know, how many beautiful, clean products you put on your face. And I think that that's kind of what was going on with me, to be honest, because I clearly had something wrong with my hormones We're off with my hormones considering I got my period so late and I went through puberty so late like

I Wouldn't be surprised if it had to do with my hormones and we never really Pin-pointed what it was like where my why my acne was happening whether it was Hormones or it was just genetics, like we never figured that out, but it doesn't really matter. The moral of the story was I had acne that no product could fix, not any facial, not any $500 product.

So, Sparital Action was the next option. It was meant to control my hormones. I went on it, I didn't have a good reaction with it. It made my face extremely puffy. And I remember my mom even noticed she was like, Emma, your face looks so swollen all the time. And I was like, I know. And we couldn't figure out what it was. And I, to this day, I mean, we'll never know for sure. But I think it was from the Sparinal Actown. My face was so swollen. It almost would look droopy sometimes

because it was so swollen. And my acne was not getting any better. If anything, it was only getting worse. And I was extremely discouraged. And so this was when shit started to get really hard for me because not only did I have all this acne, but now my face is swollen 30% more than normal and

That's when I really started to get self-conscious because I'm in front of a camera all the time. I am Taking photos of myself constantly and I started to not want to be on camera at all I started to feel super unattractive in a way because my face was so swollen and like my cheeks were like puffing out. And I'm somebody that this is a little trigger warning. I'm gonna talk about my relationship with food

for a second here. So feel free to skip ahead if that triggers you, but I've struggled with body image issues. I struggled with body dysmorphia. I've struggled throughout my life with various eating disorders. And my face looked like I was gaining weight, which, you know, not that there's anything wrong with that, but for my, you know, slightly disordered brain, I was like, I'm gaining weight because my face is enlarging. When I would look at my body, the rest of my body looked how I would expect it to look based on my behaviors, right?

I am somebody that I was eating really well and I was working out every day. And so it didn't make sense to me why my face was like gaining weight, but the rest of my body wasn't. But then that started to affect my body this morphea. And I started to get my relationship with food declined a lot from this experience of this extreme facial swelling. And my mom and I decided we need to stop the spirinal actone. We both assumed that it was from the spirinal actone. And based on what ended up happening, I think it was, because I stopped taking spirinal actone and my face swelling reduced a lot, which was great.

But my God, that was a really tough time for me. And I remember, you know, when I was dealing with this facial swelling, like, like people were really harsh on me and my appearance for sure, because I just looked different. I didn't look the same. And so people were,

kind of would say mean things, just say, like, God, Emma looks like shit. You know, and I knew I looked like shit, and I felt like shit. And everybody was like, Emma's content sucks now. Because my videos were suffering as well, Everybody, you know, was like Emma's content sucks now. Because my videos were suffering as well, because I was dealing with this extreme level of self-consciousness, and I just didn't even want

to be on camera. I had no video ideas. I didn't want to take Instagram photos. I didn't want to film a Snapchat story. Like I didn't want to be in front of a camera at all, because I felt so bad about myself. It was like not only is my face swollen half it's like double it's normal size,

but also I have acne on top of it and I look like a bobble head in a way. It was so bizarre. And of course I didn't wanna make content. Of course I didn't want to make content. Of course I didn't want to fucking be on camera. I remember I would go to events and get photos taken of me. And I would look at the photos and my face just looked so massive. And I would feel like I just wanted to hide

for the rest of my life. It was just so terrible. And also, on top of that, my acne. So it was not only was I having this facial swelling, but I also had this acne. And so it was just, I felt so bad about how my face looked, yet my face is like my career.

And it was so confusing for me. And so uninspiring. And I definitely like, you know, my content suffered for sure. So let me tell you about the moment that things kind of changed for me. And I decided that I needed to take a more extreme approach. Like the Spirinal Acton wasn't working, nothing was working. I decided I needed to take it to the next level and like figure something else out. I flew to New York for an event and I was only going to be in New York for like three days and I remember I landed the plane and I opened up my phone camera and I looked at my face in

the phone camera. And my acne was so inflamed from being on the plane that I don't think my acne had ever looked worse. I actually think that this exact moment when the plane landed in New York was probably the most severe my acne has ever looked in my life. I didn't even take a photo of it because I felt so awful about how it looked that I never hit the internet. But mind you, I had an event the next day that I had to be ready for, I had to get my

photos taken, all of that stuff, and my acne had never looked worse in my life. Not to mention I still had a decent amount of facial swelling left over from the spirinal actone, because that stuff stays in your system for a while. I think I had already stopped taking it, but my facial swelling was still there. It took months for it to fully go down. And I get to my hotel room and I call my team and I'm like freaking out. I'm like crying. I'm like, I can't do this tomorrow. I look so bad.

Like, what are we supposed to do? What are we gonna do? And somebody from my team makes me an appointment with a facialist. Slash dermatologist. I think she's actually just a dermatologist, but she does facial too. Anyway, so I go to this dermatologist slash facialist and

she's basically going to do a treatment that will help reduce redness and inflammation for my shoot the next day. And I sit down and I'm clearly upset and she can see that. And she was like, are you okay? And I was like, no, no, I'm not, I'm not okay. And she was like, why? And I was like, because I have to be on camera every single day. I have to be on the internet.

People have to see me every single day because of my job. And I can barely look at myself in the fucking mirror because my face is swollen and I have so much, I have more acne than I've ever had my entire life. Yet the whole world has to see me. I can't just hide in these moments. I can't even take a second to reflect during these moments, like I have to keep going.

And I don't want people to see me right now. I've always been so chill about people seeing my acne, I've always been so chill about the world, knowing that this is something that I deal with, but I can't do it right now. I'm too weak right now. I don't want people to see my acne right now. I don't wanna have acne anymore.

I've been tough, I've been brave this whole time. Fuck it, great. But I'm, the fucking, it's over. Like, this has gotten to me now. I don't like to look at myself in the mirror. I don't like to see photos of myself It haunts me. I just want to hide in my fucking room and I never want to leave again. I never ever want to look in a mirror again and You know, it was a combination of the fact that this you know, spirinal act on made my face so swollen of the fact that this, you know, spirinal act on made my face so swollen,

that it looked like a fully different person. On top of the fact that my acne is worse than it's ever been in my entire life. So it was a combination of both of those things that just made me, it pushed me over the edge. The swollen face was almost worse than the acne, but the acne was a huge part of it as well. And I think the acne was also adding part of it as well.

And I think the acne was also adding to my facial swelling though too, because acne is inflamed and it gets swollen. So it was like I had this facial swelling, and then on top of it I had acne to make my face even more swollen. I was losing my mind, I was like listen, I know that what you look like on the outside doesn't matter. I know that it's about what's on the inside

and I fucking know that, deep down. That's why people like me, that's why people care about me. If people don't care about what I look like, who gives a fuck? But I cracked and that's fucking human and that's normal and that's expected. It's like I looked so different than what I was used to and it was so upsetting for me.

And so anyway, I explain all this to this facialist dermatologist lady in New York and I start bawling my eyes out. I'm crying, I'm like, fucking hyperventilating. I had not really talked about this a lot before because I think that I had always wanted to be tough and I always wanted to seem tough When it came to acne because people knew Me for that they knew me for being open about my acne and accepting it and so I

felt like a fraud for cracking like that and She was like we need to get you on autane. And I was like, I will do anything. But the complicated thing about Acutane is that you can't just like go to your dermatologist and say, hey, can we go on Acutane? It has to be approved by your dermatologist. You have to try X amount of medications before you try Acutane. You have to apply online to do acutain. It's like this whole process that can even take months to start. And so, I immediately texted my mom and I was like, we need to find me a dermatologist in LA that can get me acutain.

Like, I'm done. Like, I can't do this anymore. Like, we just need to fucking do this. Like, I have to be on camera every day. We just need to fucking do this. I have to be on camera every day. Why am I not working a little bit harder to try and make this situation more comfortable for me? You know what I mean?

Why have I not taken Accutane yet when I've literally tried everything? My acne is worse than ever. And I actually like, you know, this is actually something that would be helpful for, you know, what I love, which is YouTube, I just wanna be able to be on camera and not fucking shut her at my own face. Like, because I'm just, I'm done. I'm done with all this stupid shit.

Like let's just fucking go to the extreme and take Acutane, I don't care. So I text my Like, let's just fucking go to the extreme and take acutane. I don't care. So I text my mom. She finds me a dermatologist. Meanwhile, while I'm in New York, I get this facial done. It helps a tiny bit, but whatever.

I go to this event. I am extremely self-conscious. The photos come out from the event. I wanted to puke when I saw them. this is all honesty. I'm just being honest here And when I get home I Start going to the dermatologist and start figuring out okay when can we start acutain? Etcetera, et cetera Mind you I'd stop taking spirinal Actone, but my face was still

extremely swollen for some reason. And I was just like, get me on this shit as quick as possible. So I start December of 2019 and honestly here's basically how Accutane works. You take it for like seven months, six months, seven months, I took it for seven. And basically the idea behind it is that it reduces some sort of gland in your face that produces sebum. So it doesn't produce sebum anymore.

So then your body doesn't produce acne as much anymore. That's my understanding of the medication. I don't really get it. I'm not a scientist, but that's pretty much what I get from it. It basically dries out those glands in your face, but you have to take it for anywhere from, you know, three to sometimes 12 months.

I don't know. Some people are on it really long time. I was only on it for, it really just depends on the person. I don't know. I don't know the length of acutane. For me, it was seven months, so we'll just talk about me here. And listen, it wasn't easy. Like it was definitely hard because similar to

spirited lactone, guess what else made my face puffy? Acutane. For the first few months of acutane, my face was very puffy and dry and chapped and I would get like really weird hot flashes and my face would get super red for no reason. And my skin was super sensitive and I felt tired a lot. Meanwhile, I was the beginning of quarantine when I was on Acutane. And it was definitely not the most pleasant time.

I mean, don't get me wrong, but I feel like the seven months went by extremely fast. Like I just distracted myself by playing Fortnite, putting a bunch of chapstick on every 20 minutes, eating as healthy as I possibly could to try to like, you know, support my body through this tough time. And just be open to the process. Accutate and takes a huge toll on your body.

There's a lot of side effects. It can affect your mental health. It can affect, it can make your joints and your back hurt. It can make you feel fatigued. It can, the main thing that it does is it makes you dry the fuck out. Like you just get so dry, so chapped, so dry. And a lot of that happened to me,

but it was like one of those things where I was like, I'm so desperate to just help my skin that I don't even care. So I was very tough through the whole process because I was like, I know that my life is gonna be better on the other side of this. And it had gotten to a point where my life was at such a, I was at such a low point with myself as steaming

with my acne and with my facial swelling problems and all that that I was like, there's no way that I'm going to end up at a worse place after Accutane. Like, I've already hit rock bottom with this shit. There's only going up from here. So I just rode the wave.

And I honestly tried not to pay too much of mind to the side effects of taking Accutane, and I think that helped too. I just distracted myself. I literally played Fortnite for eight hours a day for three months in the beginning of quarantine and during my Accutane process, just to kill time. Guess what, no regrets. No regrets because it fuckin' flew on by.

Next thing I know, I'm done with Accutane. During the summer, it was during summer 2020. I'm done with Accutane. During the summer, it was during summer 2020, and my skin was perfect. I mean, it was fucking perfect. I've never seen it that perfect. It had never been that perfect, even, it was perfect. And I had a little bit of scarring here and there,

but my skin looked amazing. And I finally felt like, oh fuck, it was all worth it. All the trial and error, all of the weird shit that I tried all these years, it was worth it. Because it led me to taking acutane and finally having the skin that I dreamed of. And it was amazing. And still to this day, my skin has remained pretty clear.

I've struggled with occasional breakouts like here and there, but nothing remotely, like what I was dealing with before I went on a acute pain. My facial swelling is completely gone now. I mean, I still have facial swelling like every other person, but not like, it was like clearly like a reaction to something medically. Like it was clearly like, I was allergic

to the medicine or something. Like there was clearly something wrong there. It was not like a normal puffy face. It was like worse. But my skin has remained pretty good ever since I've taken acutane. And I've been off acutane for almost a year now, probably like eight months. And my skin has held up really well. And I think the reason why it's held up really well

is because I've really gotten into skincare and really gotten into learning how to take care of my skin. I've tried hundreds of products since I got off Acutane. There's a fuck ton of products that I love from bazillions of different brands. Like I am super open-minded when it comes to skincare. So I've been having a lot of fun just like trying stuff

that peaks my interest at all test of porra wherever the fuck and just trying a bunch of new things. And now that my skin is not super irritated and all of that from whatever it may have been, hormones, whatever, I can actually have more fun trying new products because before, like, my acne was not curable by a topical product. No matter what topical product I would put on my skin. It would inflame it. It didn't matter. I could literally put on fucking the most simple moisturizer and my skin would react.

Whereas now like my skin is so much more resilient so that I can try so many more things. And that's been really great. And I mean, still, to the day, my skin, I will break out if I use the wrong product, still to this day. But it's not the same. It'll be like two pimples. Where is it used to be 50?

And moral of the story is, Accutane cured my acne, a thousand percent. Accutane cured my acne, the seven months of dryness and back pain and weird hot flashes was all worth it. It really was the thing that cured my acne. I'm never gonna say, oh, this product cured my acne, this product did this, this product did that,

because that's not what happened. The only thing that was able to fully get rid of my acne was taking acutane for seven months, period. But now I focus on skin maintenance, right? Because it's like, okay, I worked so hard. I spent so much time getting my skin to this place. I'm going to take the best care of it I possibly can. And so I started watching high-rooms, YouTube videos.

I started doing research on my own, you know, reading different skincare opinions because there's so many different opinions. Like, for example, there's controversial topics like essential oils. Some people will be like essential oils are terrible. Other people will be like essential oils are extremely beneficial,

but only if they're used in this concentration and all of that. And I've just been like, very interested in that. Some people are like, fragrances, the devil. Some people are like, fragrances, not actually that bad, depending on what type of fragrance it is. Like, there's so many different opinions out there, right? So I've spent a lot of time looking into that, figuring out what my own skin care philosophy is.

And then, above all that, just trying stuff myself, seeing what agrees with my skin, to build my arsenal of products that I love and maintaining my skin has become a huge priority for me because I feel like I never really took care of my skin before because nothing ever worked or agreed with me, so it was just discouraging and I would just stop. But now that I have a little bit more room to explore new products, I've been having so much fun seeing what's out there.

There's bazillions of products out there. Why not? Try them all. So I've been having a lot of fun with that. But I think a lot of people sometimes are like, Emma, how can you be so into skin care when you are on Accutane for seven months and that cured your acne? Like you're lying.

Well, that's not how it works. Accutane cured my acne, but skin care and taking care of your skin is a totally different story. I still break out here and there and I still have products that I use when I'm breaking out because they help. Even though my breakouts may be small, they're still there. And then when it comes to day-to-day skin maintenance, like moisturizing your skin every day, exfoliating your skin a few times a week, stuff like that. No matter if you have acne or not, that benefits your skin. You see what I'm saying?

So skin care isn't just for people who have acne. Skin care isn't just for curing acne. It's also for keeping your skin, which is an organ healthy. You know? So anyway, that's my acne journey. It's been a long one and it's been very emotional, but I'm here and I made it through. And for all of you who are on your own acne journey right now, I'm praying for you. I know how hard it is and I know the type of toll it takes on your body and your mind

and all of that, but just know that it will pass. It will pass. And also it has nothing to do with who you are. I know it's so easy to tie your worth to your parents. I do it to this day, but that's not reality. You are so much more than your acne than anything about your appearance. You're so much more than that.

And as hard as it is to believe that when you're feeling down in the dumps about your skin, trust me. You're much more than anything about your parents. And on that note, I'm going to answer some questions. First question, somebody said, does it get worse before it gets better? Yes, that was definitely my experience. Like, when I first started on Acutane, my skin purged a lot, and I broke out pretty bad. But I think the reason why I didn't even mention that

when I was telling the story was because I didn't even really care. At that point, I was so desperate for results that like me, that like my skin purging was like the least of my worries. I was like long term This is helping me and the dermatologist also warned me that my acne was going to get worse before it got better so I was like ready for that right

It definitely did get worse before it got better But I was like mentally prepared for that and I knew that it was going to happen and I was ready for it I was like fuck it. I can handle this Let's do it. Somebody said, if you never used Acutane, do you think you would've gotten rid of your acne? I don't. I think I may have grown out of it eventually, but I think that the great thing about Acutane

was that not only did it pretty much stop it all together, at least for now. I mean, it could always come back. I might have to go on Acutane again at some point, but it definitely stopped it for the past year anyway, completely. And I don't think that I would have been able to get it under control otherwise,

because I think it was a deeper issue. I think it's genetic. I think it was hormonal, and I think that those are things that are really hard to control. And so no topical product could have helped me with that. it's genetic, I think it was hormonal and I think that those are things that are really hard to control. And so no topical product could have helped me with that. I think Accutane was my solution.

And I also am glad that I went on it when I did because the thing is, if you go on Accutane, the sooner you go on Accutane, the sooner you go on Accutane, the better, at least in my scenario, because Accutane was something that my doctor approved for me. You know, it's not for everybody, but because the doctor approved it for me, it's good that I went on it sooner rather than later, because it prevented a lot of scarring as well, because the longer you have acne, the more scars that you may get and stuff like that. And because I kind of went on it as my acne was starting to get really cystic and bad,

I kind of bit the bullet there a little bit. And so that was also a pro of going on it sooner rather than later. But again, I still have some acne scars and I am fucking, honestly, I'm kind of, call me crazy, but I'm kind of proud of them. And I know a lot of people are really self-conscious of acne scars and and acne scars can be really really, you know, all, some can be really bad, some are like not as bad, whatever, some people, like it's very different for everybody. But I think acne scars are something to be proud of. It's almost like, yeah, I fucking went through that. And acne is one of the hardest things to deal with ever because it's right on your face and it's really hard to not stare at yourself.

And so, it's almost like, yeah, I did that. Like, I have acne scars, but I'm done now. I don't have acne anymore. I got through it and these are my badges of honor. I genuinely, I don't ever look at an acne scar and be like, you, because I'm like, Emma, you had to go through hell. You know what I mean?

That is like you're fucking trophy for getting through it. I know a weird way. Somebody said, how did you really feel when people would comment about your skin? I think it definitely used to bump me out a little bit because I was like, come on guys, like let's be realistic here. Like so many teens have acne.

Like probably fucking, I don't want to say a percentage because then I'll say an incorrect percentage and then everybody will get mad at me. But a large percentage of teens have acne. And I was like, really, we're gonna hate on me for this. Like we could definitely hate on me for something a little bit more valid at least. So it just kind of felt like a low blow

and it was just kind of a bummer because I'm like, wow, is that really all people seeing me? Is the fact that I have acne? Like come on. But then I also understand how the internet works and that people are ruthless. And so I'm pretty good at like turning off those feelings. And I'd much rather somebody say, oh, your acne is ugly than say, you're really annoying. Like I feel like that's a worse hate comment for me.

Or like somebody telling me to like die. Like that's worse. So I feel like getting comments about acne, yeah, was a bummer, but it's also like the least insulting out of all the hate comments I get. So not too bad. A lot of people are asking me how to feel confident with acne. And unfortunately, like, I don't have an answer, right? Because when my acne was not as bad, and I was in school, and I went to all-girl school, and there was not a lot of pressure, and I was getting a lot of support and love

on the internet for showing my acne. Like, it was easy for me to be, maybe more confident about it, because I had so much support from you guys, even from day one. And also, like, it was so not a big deal at my school. Like, nobody cared about their appearance at my school. So it was like, there's just so much less pressure, right?

Because of my environment. Whereas like when I started to be on the internet and people were able to make comments about it and I started to be on the internet and people were able to make comments about it and I started to grow on the internet and so I had more haters and stuff like that. I never really found a way to be confident with my acne. I think that I had, like, it wasn't that I was, okay, I guess I was unapologetic about it but I wouldn't say I was necessarily confident.

Like I wasn't afraid to show my acne on camera, but that doesn't necessarily mean that I was confident about it. It just meant that I was on an apologetic about it. I was like, this is me, like take it or leave it. I'm not even necessarily the most accepting of myself, but like, here it is. You know what I mean, take like, here it is.

You know what I mean, take it or leave it. I wouldn't say I was necessarily super confident in my acne. Like, I definitely, like, it definitely bummed me out for sure. Once I lived in LA and I was making videos and stuff like that, it definitely bummed me out, and I wasn't super confident in it. But I would say my advice to my past self would be, acne is so fucking normal. Almost everybody struggles with it, at least once in their life. It has nothing to do with your level of attractiveness. You know what I'm saying? Like, I was thinking

about it like this too. Think about right now your best friend or your boyfriend or your girlfriend or your significant other, whoever. Think about somebody that you love very unconditionally. Would you love them any less if they woke up tomorrow and they had acne all over their face? No. You wouldn't. Like I think about the people closest to me in my life.

And if they woke up tomorrow and they had a full face of acne, I would not think of them any differently. I would still be equally as attracted to them if it's my significant other. Or if it's my best friend, I mean, I'm not really usually necessarily like attracted to your best friend. But like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I wouldn't think of them any differently. I wouldn't love them any less. If it was a significant other, I I wouldn't think of them any differently. I wouldn't love them any less

If it was a significant other I wouldn't be attracted to them any less Because there's so much more to being attracted to somebody and loving somebody than you know Whether or not they have fucking acne, right? There's a bigger picture here And I think it's so hard to remember that when you're in it, right? Because you're like, God, I just want this to go away. Because it makes makeup look weird, you know, it makes it's uncomfortable. You know, some people think it's gross. And a lot of people think that if you have acne, it means that you don't have good hygiene. And that's like a huge stereotype that's completely false, right? But having acne might make somebody think that you're dirty. I know that that was an experience I had

where a lot of people on the internet were like, this girl is so dirty and gross. She has so much acne, it's probably because she's never washed her face before. What in reality was like, no, I had good hygiene. I decent enough fucking hygiene. Shut the hell up reality was like, no, I had good hygiene. I decent enough fucking hygiene. Shut the hell up, you know.

But there's a lot of really weird stereotypes and stigmas around acne that will make you feel less attractive if you have it. And all of it is not true. At the end of the day, who you are, and what type of person you are, that carries you farther than anything else. And whether or not you have acne is just irrelevant, really. But it's so hard to see that when you're in the moment, right? And I get that. But it's just reminding yourself, there's such a bigger picture. The people in my life love me for me, not because

of what my skin looks like or what it doesn't look like. Somebody said, what are some lifestyle acne tips? Okay, I have a lot of these, like tips for just things you can do in your day-to-day life that help, right? Number one, I know this is annoying and I know, I remember when I had a really bad acne, and people would tell me to drink more water, I would punch them in the face, but drinking more water does help. I'm somebody that doesn't drink a lot of water.

I drink a lot of caffeine and that's it, and I find that when I'm not drinking enough water, even after acutain, my skin, I will break out. So, and my skin just doesn't look as good, too, it doesn't look as glowy. So, as annoying as it is, drinking more water, I know, I used to want to punch people in the face that would say that.

And still to this day, I do, but, because I think the thing is people think that like drinking water will cure acne. No, it probably won't, but it helps a little bit. And when you're struggling with acne, you might as well do everything you can to help it, right? Another thing is I stay away from dairy and I know a lot of people agree with me

that dairy makes acne worse. And I don't know why that is, but if I eat like a cup of ice cream or like drink milk or something, I mean, I'm gonna be not only is my bowel is gonna be hurting, but also I definitely will pop a little pimple up. I find that like cheese because it has less lactose in it. I think, is that right? Is it less lactose? I don't remember.

It has less lactose? Siri, Google does cheese have less lactose than milk? Yeah, okay. So if you wanna eat dairy, sticking to foods that have less lactose in it, for example, Parmesan cheese, that doesn't have a lot of lactose in it because it's a hard cheese. Like hard cheeses have less lactose. I don't really have issues with those.

They don't feel like those make me break out. But if I'm like eating ice cream that has dairy in it, like I'm fucked if I'm drinking milk, I mean, God, I never really drank milk in my whole life, but like, when I would have sleepovers with my friends and stuff like that, we would have milk and cereal in the morning, and that shit did not help. I have a cousin who had really bad cystic acne and she cut out dairy and that really helped her. So I don't know, I think cutting out dairy

can really help. Another thing is washing your face and back immediately after working out. I used to work out, I'd go to SoulCycle and then I'd just like, go get coffee and then I'd like, you know, go get lunch and then I'd come home and shower. And that had this bacteria sitting on my skin

for so many hours that that would make my breakouts much worse, especially on my back. Another tip is honestly guys, this is another annoying tip, but eating a lot of fruits and veggies, I know it's fucking annoying, but I, diet has a huge impact on your skin too. I've found at least for me personally,

and so adding more veggies into my diet, I didn't really eat a lot of vegetables up until this year to be honest, like I would, but it was like not something I ate every day. Now I make sure that I eat vegetables every day and that has really helped with my skin, I mean, and my overall health too, but like, because you know,

it's all the vitamins and stuff, like that really helps. You're better off eating like a bowl of kale than taking a fucking sugar bear hair vitamin, right? So that's another thing that has helped me. That's all I can really think of right now. Somebody said, would you recommend covering your acne with makeup?

I would say be really careful about what makeup you use because makeup can really make it worse. I avoided wearing makeup as much as possible when I had a really bad acne because I would just immediately see how much more inflamedu would become after I'd take my makeup off. So I would say my advice on that would be avoid makeup at all costs, but I mean at the same time like obviously there's going to be times when you need to wear makeup. That's totally fine, but maybe find products that are cleaner. Like I really love the brand Cosa's because they have much cleaner ingredients and personally their ingredients agree really well with my skin.

So just finding products that are lighter and area and maybe even have some skin care related benefits to them. Like you can find so many BB creams and stuff like that that have skin supporting products in it. They might have moisturizing or it might have certain ingredients that actually can help fight acne while you're wearing your makeup. So try to find those products because that's a lifesaver. Somebody said, did you ever lose hope? A thousand percent, I lost hope, bazillions of times.

I mean, you know, especially after going on a spiritual act, I was super down in the dumps because I was like, this actually made my acne worse and caused facial swelling, so now I have doubled the problems, right? And it's hard, but it's all trial and error. And you may be able to find a solution to your acne that isn't acutain, it might be like something else.

Who knows, it might even be a simple change to your diet. It might be a slightly less harsh, it might be spirit of lactone. You know what I'm saying? Like, who knows? And for some people, Accutane doesn't work. It's so different for everybody. And that's why it's easy to lose hope, because there's no solid answer.

You just have to try everything for yourself. But I can assure you that no matter who you are, you will fucking figure this out, and you will get through it. So he said, how to not care about people making comments about your skin. Listen, people making comments about other people's skin is the lowest blow possible. Like really, you're gonna hate on somebody for something that's completely out of their control.

Especially something so normal, like acne, like come on. Do better. That just shows how shitty of a person they are. If they're hating on you for your acne, that's like the lowest you could go. I mean, like seriously, because it's like, not only does everybody deal with it,

but also it's so hard to deal with. I can't imagine hating on somebody for their acne. That seems just like the most low blow you could do. Trust me, that says a lot more about them than it does about you. They are a piece of shit and they're not even clever enough to come up with an actual good insult. Because insulting somebody on acne is like the dumbest shit ever. Like at least insult them on like an ugly pair of shoes

that they're wearing. Really? You could do better. You know what I mean? That's always my thing. I'm like, if you're hating on somebody for something that they can't control, that just means you're not a creative enough hater.

So work harder, haters. You know what I'm saying? Work harder, bullies. Acne is like, you can do better. I'm kidding. Nobody should hate on anybody about literally anything, but you go and I'm saying. Somebody said, what's something that has made your skin glow on your daily routine? Do you have any product recommendations? For me, it is chemical exfoliants. These make my skin glow as fuck. I have two that I really like. I really like the bad habit total reboot,

AHA, BHA, chemical exfoliant, and I really like the bliss, clear genius serum exfoliant. Those are both great products that I've tried that I have used to exfoliate and I really like both of them. Their great hyrum has explained why chemical exfoliants are better than in a brace of exfoliant. I'll kind of explain the difference. Basically the point of an exfoliant is to remove the dead skin from your face so that you

kind of get a fresh start. You know what I'm saying? And a chemical exfoliant, from my understanding, kind of dissolves the dead skin, whereas a more abrasive kind of exfoliant will scrub it off. And the reason why a chemical one is better is because it's more gentle, because it's very easy to overdo it with a super abrasive exfoliant, and that can actually be kind of irritating to your skin.

So using a chemical one is much better. And I do chemical exfoliants about twice a week, and it just really keeps my skin refreshed and glowing, and it keeps it feeling clean. Because it's hard to remove all the dead skin and dirt from your face with just a face wash. So using an exfoliant twice a week is my go-to, and I love the bad habit one. I love the bliss one.

I'm trying to think if I know any other ones that are good. That's all I can think of. But that has really helped me. Like adding in a chemical exfoliant has been a game changer for my skin routine. Post-acutane because it just brings back the life into my face and removes all that dead shit. So definitely would recommend those two.

And those are two brands that I've worked with, but I genuinely love those products. There those are two brands that I've worked with, but I genuinely love those products. There's so many brands that make great products. And so, it's hard to just choose one, but those are my faves. On that note, I think that I am going to end this episode, but I really hope that my story was understandable. Like, I swear to God, I like rambled on forever, but I hope that it made sense and I hope that you enjoyed it

and I hope you learned something from it and I hope you could relate to it in some way maybe or could make you feel like you're not alone in some way, whatever it may be. I hope that it did that because that's always my goal and I love you so much and I appreciate you for listening and coming back every week. If you like this episode and you like anything goes in general, go on Apple Podcasts and give us a little five stars. It really helps me out. And it makes me feel good to see your guys' reviews.

Also, subscribe on anywhere, any platform that you listen to podcasts. What else? Follow us on the Twitter at AG Podcast so that you can interact with the podcast. You can ask questions, be a part of our advice sessions, whatever it may be. And I think that's all I got. I love you guys. Have an amazing rest of your week. And I'm manifesting healthy and happy skin for all of us because we all deserve it. And peace out bitches.

Love you guys. skin for all of us because we all deserve it. And peace out bitches! Love you guys. Blah.