Comments on: A Skin Thing

By: Annukka

Annukka — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 18:30:00 +0000

"the majority of men don't wear make up and yet have flawless skin. We never say that they could look better if only they put on tinted moisturizer and some blush, so why as women do we do this to ourselves and to each other?" I couldn't agree more!

By: Kimara

Kimara — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 01:19:00 +0000

Dear ITG
I speculate that your story is of common resemblance to many others. I too, after so many years, bear the scars of acne -more so emotionally. There is something that changes within a women who goes through it. It is more a vanity thing that lingers deep in our perception of ourselves for years to come. I like to add that after being on various medications, fearing what they have done to my body, I only wish to have had a bit of the khowledge that I do know.

And so it was that the tactic of hiding a behind an armoured veil of concealer and foundation, after many years, proved to do little for the timidness of showing my true skin. One day I realized that my skin was "dirty". Dirtier than it would appear with just the true scars and resistant acne I continued to have in my 20's. I stopped wearing make up that day-makeup in the sense of skin camouflauge. It was hard to be so out there, raw and real. But with time it paid off in many ways. Within weeks, my own skin became clear and vibrant. And as the old layer of skin shed so did my inner inhibitions. The acne began to heal itself. And I began to bloom from within. Sure I go back once in a while and use a foundation and concealer to give that picture perfect look to my skin. But now I use it only to enhance the beauty within rather than a wall to hide behind

By: Kate Curry

Kate Curry — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 18:59:00 +0000

Love it! In fact I had to tweet it! My feelings about my skin, and my looks in general, have softened a lot over the years. A age 47 I may not look as hot as I did in my twenties but I am much much more accepting of my looks, which feels better

By: oscarina

oscarina — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 13:33:00 +0000

I had the regular pimples as a teen, but got a bad case of painful adult acne in my late 20s. I ended up on Roaccutane for a couple of years, -- following a suggestion by a friend who had gone through the same thing -- and it was pretty scary (makes your skin really thin out into the most fragile thing ever, and it turns out it even has long term side effects that I get to wonder about twenty years later). It was even scary going off it, eventually, because the slightest pimple made me afraid it was starting all over again. I still get a little acne from time to time. I have no idea why, maybe it's just in my genes -- nobody in my family is pimple free at all times, though we all have pretty good skin when it's not flaring up. I just learned from seeing other people with a few pimples (particularly men), and realizing that I didn't find them repulsive, that I probably wasn't repulsive, either. At least not by my own standards. Also, yeah, I had been eating nothing but corn flakes, baguettes, pasta, and chocolate in my 20s, because I hadn't yet learned to cook. Add a lot of stress from being an illegal alien, and a series of terrible relationships, and it's really not surprising it all began to show on my face. Mine also "eventually went away," and I suppose I ought to credit going on an all-organic rotation diet, eating lots of veggies and fruits, cutting dairy except for goat milk and a little yogurt, weaning myself off sugar, and eventually starting to be happier (less stressed out). I tried going vegetarian, but it turned out I was better off with a tiny bit of meat in my life. Anyway, I try not to freak out over a pimple or two now, and just keep the redness under control, and not cover it up completely unless I think someone's going to have a camera and snap a pic of me with my new "friend" on my nose or chin.

By: liz

liz — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:01:00 +0000

I can definitely relate to this-I'm a teenager and have breakouts. They're not severe but I do have them. I wear foundation, concealer, and powder every day and this past weekend, I was visiting a friend on the shore. We were getting ready to go to the beach and I was freaking out about my skin and how to make my foundation last through the salt, sun, sand, and seawater and my friend said, "You're wearing foundation to the beach?" I said my skin was bad and she said, "So what? Mine is too and I don't wear foundation." Off we went, wearing bikinis and not a slick of makeup.

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:35:00 +0000

This is such a wonderful article. I had a similar phase in my life. At one point on the way to school I freaked because I had left my mascara at home. To the horror of my mum I refused to go to school. It was later that day I realised how dependant I had become on make up to make me feel "myself". I endured some bullying in my early teens regarding my looks and used make up as a shield. Seven years later, I now feel at ease with make up. I wear it when I want to and I don't wear it when I don't. And I never wear too much, it suffocates me!

By: Beauty Idealist

Beauty Idealist — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:34:00 +0000

Thank you JC, I am so thrilled to hear that! Emily and ITG really inspire a lot of beauty bloggers. Ever since I started working in beauty at our department store, I've been hoping to catch Emily during one of my shifts.

By: ck

ck — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 23:37:00 +0000

i'd love to hear what she used or did to help it finally go away

By: alexandria

alexandria — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 03:27:00 +0000

less is more definitely, she looks great!

mabelmatilda.blogspot.com

By: Literarywitch

Literarywitch — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 20:34:00 +0000

Really refreshing to read a woman's honest, unflinching account of how she struggled with her problem skin and its effect on her self-image. So often women turn to beauty not to enhance, but to hide something that they're ashamed of. It's so great to see this common perspective acknowledged here on this luxury beauty blog.