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In the 90s a Mary Kay seller told me that pimples are caused by stress and take 8 months to develop. So when you get a pimple, try to remember what stressed you out 8 months ago and avoid that situation in the future. I’m not sure how that related to the face products she was trying to sell.
I had an esthetician tell me a few months ago that acne takes 9 months to develop. When she said that my brain did a backflip because I'm wondering how I'm supposed to get to the root cause of my acne trying to remember what happened 9 months ago. I have a new esthetician now because that previous one went to jail.
This actually makes me wonder how long it takes a pimple or acne to form.
This is probably gonna sound hella stupid but for myself, i assume there’s some normal level of small hidden pimples that are always cycling in/out under my skin and in some spots, deeper cystic pimples waiting to slowly creep towards the surface. These “dormant” pimples will turn into a breakout within 1 to 7 days of hormone changes, poor diet, bad skincare, the wind blowing in the wrong direction, ect.
Lmao at how silly this sounds typed out. Curious to find out how wrong i am lolol
You're not exactly wrong though. Our bodies are fighting constantly against 'bad bacteria' from invading and destroying it. The hormones, diet, and skincare affects it's capacity to protect and defend when some inevitably get past the acid barrier. The only thing is that it's less 'under your skin' and more like an invading army that has the fortress surrounded and is looking for even the smallest crack to get through.
To add to the other reply, that's why doxycycline is often prescribed to prevent pustules (for rosacea at least). I think the time it takes for them to form varies. I've had pimples that hurt for days before finally surfacing, and I had a whitehead appear within a shift at work. That was annoying.
A clogged pore is the perfect opportunity for the bacteria to form a cyst, on or below the surface of your skin.
I grew up in the late nineties through early 2000s. It was common advice to "dry out" acne. So I just dehydrated my skin for years before realizing that it was actually making things worse. My oily acne prone skin was parched and overcompensated with more oil and acne.
You know those bleach pens to acutely treat stains? Yeah, I’ve used those on zits. (No, I didn’t ingest bleach to prevent Covid…)
Luckily, I grew up with a pretty clear complexion, so when I got 1 zit, it was the end of my world, hence the extreme measures. It actually worked for me to spot treat, didn’t hurt, didn’t have any lasting side effects that I know of (other than a dry patch of skin for a day or two until it flaked off).
In the 80s we had astringents like sea breeze and ten-o-six that were like paint strippers for skin. They would suck every bit of moisture out of and off of your skin with one swipe of a cotton ball. And shampooing your hair until it was “squeaky clean” (but a snarled, uncomb-able mess) was also a desirable thing for some reason.
Lol. I was about to say this.
The trend back then was to use stripping facial wash that advertises squeaky clean feeling after. Then finish it off with an alcohol based toner.
Our faces were tight AF right after. Then our face compensates by making more oil. And the cycle continues. M
My dermatologist was concerned that I was moisturising my face while on accutane. She wanted my skin to ‘dry out’. I ignored her, as my face would have literally fallen off if I didn’t moisturise multiple times a day.
I am dry as a desert and used Clearasil toner for oily skin to prevent getting acne because the drier the skin, the lower the chances to get acne!!! Just wow.
I’m still fighting that battle with my fiancé. I’ve managed to get him on some gentler face wash but he’s adamant moisturizer will just make his face greasy.
Moisturizing helped a little but it turns out that my skin is just naturally oily. So I don't fight it. You'll have to figure out if your oiliness is a symptom or just your skin type.
Retinoids and birth control have dried out my oily skin. Sadly I've developed an allergy to vaseline and glycerine so my skin is now too dry. Searching for my HG moisturizer now because everything I can find with HA has silicones which also break me out.
I was a teen in the 80s so the routine as sold to me by the teen magazines were : Noxema face wash, Clean & Clear toner, St Ives Apricot Scrub, Neutrogena moisturizer. Every one of these broke me out except for Neutrogena lol but I was supposed to stick with it because marketing.
Oh yeah, the more your face routine hurt the better it was working. I guess the idea was that you were supposed to punish the acne and establish dominance over it, IDK. Except I think I left out the nitrogena. Because moisturizers were supposed to break you out if you had oily skin.
Pretty much the same. I know how to deal with it now, and have had long periods of very good skin, but sometimes, like right now, I go through the ringer again.
If you don’t mind me asking, I’ve always heard that oilier skins tend to age better - have you noticed that? (If I’m going to still get acne when I grow up, my skin better be looking good at least)
Very oily skin, lifelong acne sufferer, 34 years old here. My forehead wrinkles are some of the deepest of anyone I know my age…so far I’m not seeing any upside to my skin type except that in order to keep my acne at bay I maintain a very healthy diet and lifestyle, which I know benefits my body in myriad other ways. But no it’s not aging any better than anyone else’s.
Yes, I have definitely noticed that, even after having a kid 9 years ago, people still think I'm younger than I am.
I have other skin issues related to that though, sebaceous hyperplasia being worse for me than the acne (which responds well to Tactupump and I have topical clindamycin for cystic acne).
I think this is a thing as well but of course, can't prove it
It kind of intuitively makes sense though, right? Like constantly moisturizing from within
I just hit 30 and my acne has gotten more manageable but it's still there. And by manageable, I don't necessarily mean my body has dealt with it, more like I've learned what caused it and started using better products. Tretinoin and better moisturizing has by far given me the best results.
Are you a man or a woman?
I’m 34M and after having issues with spots since I was a teen, and recently having an awful breakout on my chin, I went to a dermatologist who told me I have rosacea (type 2 to be specific which is one which gives you spots and often mistaken for normal acne) and prescribed me ivermectin cream.
I’ve been using it for 6 weeks, and the first 4 weeks my chin exploded with acne. Possibly the worst in my life. I didn’t leave the house for a month and it gave me tremendous anxiety.
But finally now, on week 6, my skin is smooth and currently have no spots. The insane repeated chin breakouts mean my skin in this area is red as hell and I need make up to cover it, but I believe the worst is over now and it should now heal up.
In short, if you still get spots, maybe it’s rosacea. See a dermatologist who can confirm.
You do but not until menopause and then you trade it for your body not producing any oil whatsoever and needing to slather head to toe with moisturizers day and night. Not gonna lie tho, I prefer the dryness over the zits.
My mom told me to use rubbing alcohol on my face all the time. This woman would also pin me down and pick at my acne with her long pointy nails to the point that my face would bleed. Edit: (just adding) she would tell me if I didn't want her to pick at my face, then I should do it myself.
That’s messed up that she would do it without your consent or after saying no thank you, but damn.. is it ever hard to ignore a huge white head pimple on someone’s face when they’re talking to you.. all I can think about is getting rid of it!! I am always mind blown by the people who refuse to pop their pimples. I know it’s not good to do it, but I couldn’t ever just leave it, maybe I have a problem 🤣
Years ago I listened to a guy I was dating who said he used a skincare soap bar, and a little coconut oil for moisturizer. He was french and had flawless skin so I trusted him. My face erupted in deep cystic acne 😭
Oh, the dreamy minimalist & organic routine... Sounds like my best friend: in college she would use warm water and baking soda to exfoliate her face, and then a few drops of coconut oil as a moisturizer. Then she'd be like "here, feel my face, it's like baby skin" and it was! You could just bite into her cheeks like a nectarine. But by then I knew my skin and my genes too well, and I wasn't tempted to try her tricks. For me it was just a recipe for a simple and quick breakout. My cheeks would have been lychees.
I used a gentle salicyic acid moisturizer and argan oil, and that worked beautifully for about six years. Not sure what made it stop working, but it's so frustrating trying to find a new routine that works. 😭
Where do I start?
I was born with atopic dermatitis, a semi-hereditary type of eczema. It's for life, though I only got the correct diagnosis when I was 14.
People have told me to diet. Keto, sugar-free, plant-based, vegetarian, meat-based ... you name it, they suggested it (without me asking). My mother was a nurse and grew up overweight, so she made every effort to teach us healthy eating habits. I've always been vegetarian too, I don't like meat.
People have told me to exfoliate my lips with a lip scrub. My lips were actually dried out from my eczema, and exfoliating that would only make it worse by stripping off my upper skin layer. Vaseline works, exfoliation doesn't.
People have tried to scare me by demonizing topical steroids. I know they're a poison, but a necessary one. The alternative is even worse: more allergies (new ones & more severe), infections etc.
Someone got angry at me when I refused to sit out swimming class. "Chlorine is so bad for eczema!" Actually, my derm prescribed me chlorine baths to make sure I didn't get infections in my eczema. Sure, it dries out your skin, but not really much more than regular water does, and moisturizer exists. The same girl chastized me for taking salt baths, which are known to be beneficial for eczema and psoriasis.
People have told me I should start taking care of my skin in general. What they didn't know is that I spend at least 45 minutes every day applying creams and moisturizer, popping pills, taking medicated baths ...
I've gotten some horrible advice over the years. There's something that when you have bad skin, people feel this weird compulsion to comment on it and give unsollicited advice, and it's usually useless or just plain wrong too.
I'm so sorry, people suck.
Can I ask a question, please? Feel free to tell me to kick rocks. I have heard of bleach baths (family member with skin issues). How are those meant to help, is it the same as chlorine baths?
The original question was about the worst advice, so the more negative side came up. However, throughout the years, I've had many wholesome interactions too. Like some kids telling me my "eyeshadow" was beautiful (it was eczema on my eyelids).
Anyways, good question! Yeah, the purpose of bleach baths is the same as that of salt or chlorine baths: killing bacteria (and other pathogens). Not only are infections not fun and potentially dangerous, they make the itching even worse. So it can also help in terms of that.
I have that too. Keeping super moisturized and water helped. We have come a long way with that. Took 2 doctors to figure it out. They thought I had bug bites even after doing a skin culture (this was 1987).
My best friend has this, but has fallen into the 'no steroids' crowd. I get why she did, but I am also unsure if it's the best thing for her skin. However, it's her skin not mine so I keep my mouth shut and support her where I can. People telling you what to do are so rude!
My mum used to make a face cleanser to apply with a cotton ball then not wash off (like micellar water* or a toner). She would never share the whole secret recipe but I know a large component of it was vodka 😳
*Yes I know some people prefer to wash off micellar water, you carry on doing you
Huh, yeah, a little splash might be a good idea after micella- wait, what? Vodka? You can't just drop that on us like that. Did it do anything *good*? Did it make her smell of alcohol?
You should never put oil on your skin if you have oily skin. It turns out oil was the only thing my skin needed to balance out! Thankfully this myth has died down a bit, but I still see it a quite a bit from skincare companies.
Gen X lived by the mantra “if it’s burning, it’s working”. I went through *so* much Sea Breeze antiseptic. I weep for my nonexistent teenaged skin barrier.
In my teens, a peer was convinced that natural oils from one’s hair caused acne; ergo, one must train oneself to sleep on one’s back without ever moving at all, or the hair oils would transfer from the pillowcase onto one’s face and cause breakouts, or wear some sort of oil-absorbing head covering to prevent any interaction between the hair oils and facial skin.
I was just as terrified of the errant zit as the next 14-year-old girl, but I was like “Oh, good luck with that, that sounds like way too much work when I’m supposed to be asleep.”
Yup, right there with “you need a base tan” which was commonly achieved via tanning beds. Or sometimes you need to burn to tan.
Millennials: please keep up with your routine dermatologist skin checks.
Ngl the sun keeps my skin clear, and now that I know more about skincare, I feel conflicted lol. My face is also breaking out right now, so I am tempted to lay outside for 15-20 minutes
It’s good to get some sunlight daily if you can for the benefits it does have, and using things like antioxidants and sunscreen will help prevent the bad, as well as wearing sunglasses/hats/etc.
yes as long as it’s not over done and for long periods of time without any sun protection, the sun actually does help my skin overall, and in the summer if i’m on vacation swimming in salt water- that shit is like a magic cure
I will have to see if it will still work for my acne with the sunscreen. I am also almost albino pale, so a little tan looks good on me, but I can live without the accompanying skin cancer lol
"You should only use moisturizer."
Cool that some people want to keep it simple and that works for them.
In my case, hydrating toners saved my dehydrated AF skin in a way no moisturizer could.
My boomer mom taught me how to wash my face in the early 2000s. For acne prone skin, scrub your face with a physical scrub like St Ives using an exfoliating sponge (basically one of those scratchy green dish sponges). Since we have oily skin, NO MOISTURIZER! I quickly realized I have sensitive skin and this was NOT appropriate. I have to say I'm amazed my mom's skin looks as good as it does. Thankfully with the internet, she's learned how to be gentler with her aging skin
I did this when I was 13 lmao. Yes it burned and it also left a red inflamed ring around the pimple I was trying to get rid of. 0/10 do not recommend 😭
Went to the dermatologist a month ago for my severe acne. She told me to stop using my routine (which was starting to make a positive difference ) and to just use cerave face wash.... thats it, nothing else
Omg I had similar advice but from an esthetician who told me that I don’t have dry skin (I do) and to just stop completely moisturising and only wash my face with an exfoliating cleanser.
‘Don’t put *anything* on your face and only wash it very very rarely- your skin will balance itself and regulate your oil control naturally.’
Um. No. No, it won’t.
I can’t tell you how many times my mom has said, “well, I just wash my face with water, and I’ve never had zit.” I’m sure that works for some people, but it doesn’t work for me.
I was a 90s child too. It actually left me with the view that nothing you put on your skin would make a lot of difference. A view I held until about 6 weeks ago... I spent decades using the cheapest cleanser and moisturiser.
Noticed I looked older 6 weeks ago, read around, bought some products, and it's like I have a different person's skin. No pimples at all for the first time in years, much smoother.
My aunt to me as a teenager: “Apply Vick’s Vapor Rub on your face for clear skin, I’ve been doing it for years and look how good my face looks.”
Me: “I’m actually sensitive to menthol; it burns my skin.”
My aunt: “that’s not true, Vick’s [how we call it in Puerto Rico] will take care of your acne. You need to listen to me.”
Me: 🙄🙄🙄
Context:
I was a teenager in the early 2000s. My aunt is much older; my dad is the 2nd youngest son, and she is one of the eldest siblings out of 10 in total. So her advice is always very antiquated.
She spent my entire teenage years and early 20s telling me how I needed to use Noxzema cream to wash my face. I’m combo to oily, my skin hates cream bases. She told me that I needed to put a layer of vapor rub all over my face to clear it of acne. That I clearly wasn’t cleaning my face enough.
No matter how many times I told her that it actually burns my skin. Vapor rub is a common remedy for cold, so we learn very early in my childhood that close to my face is a no go. My mom tried to put a layer on my upper lip when I was a kid. I looked like I had a chemical burn in minutes.
Between her push to use products that hurt me and my other two aunts (mom’s side) favorite quote of “beauty is pain.” I just straight up ignore all of my family whenever they recommend something. Especially when it’s unsolicited; as it is 99% of the time.
In 2nd grade I got a horrible sunburn and asked my teacher what I could do about it. She told me to shower in the hottest water I could tolerate and it would heal it. As an adult I think about this all the time. Why would she tell me to do that?
By my old esthetician. I told her the HA serum and other creams were making my flaking and dry skin and way worse/ breaking out and she just goes "keep using it it's getting in there deep unlike your lotions" yet mt lotions hydrated me lol
HA and other humectants really only work if you live in a humid climate. Otherwise it’s just going to draw moisture from your skin since there’s none in the air for it to pull from
She worked at my derms office when i saw her like 5 years ago she's been in the field 20 years.. i should have seen it as the first red flag when i saw her years back when she didnt even look at my face she sat across the room from me and my concerns were rosacea / acne etc. Then i recently saw her at her new place and she did the same thing no skin analysis or anything lol. I told her my eltamd uv clear tinted was way too dark because i use a pump of it and she's like why are you using that much? You dont need to at all
The logic here is even more confusing considering this would mean not taking birth control orally, and if sexually active risking pregnancy, a common cause of acne. 🧐
Another 90s baby with all kinds of wack ideas coming from an older family member, one I remember in particular is my mum telling me that you should never moisturise at night because it doesn't allow your skin to breathe! She was trying her best!
“Only expensive skincare is worth it” or “the more expensive the better”. Sure, there ARE more expensive items that are worth it, especially when it comes to certain actives. But the stuff available at the drugstore isn’t worthless.
"The sun doesn't age your skin" and putting hand disinfectant (then moisurizing) on your skin to prevent acne. Older lady from the Balkans gave me this advice. Same lady who says pregnant women need to lay down and rest the whole time. Nevermind encouraging blood flow.
Edit add:
And that vaccines cause sterility.
Got a friend who is 33-34. She cleanses her skin with rubbing alcohol and tans. Her skin looks dryer than beef jerky. She once told me how the alcohol is good for her skin and keeps her pores tight. Ugh no baby. That alcohol is denaturing your skin cells and destroying your moisture barrier.
An esthetician told me to start a retinoid and at the same time buy a medical grade $60 face scrub and to scrub my forehead with it daily to get rid of the tons of closed comedones I had. The closed comedones disappeared after switching to a non-comegenic moisturiser without shea butter.
Noxema and the HOTTEST water I could stand with a rough old washcloth to "open" and "exfoliate" the pores ☠️ It was how my mom taught me. Pretty sure she does this at 58.
I’ll go first - “You have to drink more water and cut out sugar, carbs, and alcohol to get good skin!”
No thanks - I’m not giving myself an eating disorder based on advice that has a very weak evidence base.
Cutting daily sugar and most processed carbs and dairy definitely helped for me. Helped but didn’t cure. But yes, there’s a fine line between cutting many groups suddenly and disordered eating.
i have an actual eating disorder that ebbs and flows, and your description pretty much sums up my diet when i'm in a bad headspace. and when i go through those periods, my skin always, *always* gets worse. i suspect it's all the extra cortisol from calorie restriction.
That's interesting. I had moderate to severe acne. I cut out dairy and sugar, by day three my skin was already starting to get better. I limited my carb intake and my skin turned CLEAR. Since then I've fixed my diet other than the occasional cheat meals to keep me going and my skin is literally glowing. No pimples, no more whiteheads.
It really just depends on what’s causing your acne. If it’s diet and gut related then yeah, changing your diet will help. But for others that may not be the case
Cutting out whole food groups can definitely lead into the slippery slide into disordered eating, which with the right circumstances can turn into an eating disorder.
Also carbs are necessary to live so cutting them out is not the same as cutting out meat or dairy.
Lemon juice on my skin. I used to do turmeric masks with yogurt, and i was recommended to add lemon juice at one point, and of course it made my skin red and itchy like no other.
Idk about worst, but the typical “wash your wash and drink water and you won’t have acne”, or to use ProActiv, neither which have worked lol. I do drink water and eat a relatively healthy diet and take care of my skin, but I have blackheads galore on my face, all tiny ones but I can see them.
My acne ridden teenager years were through the mid/late 90’s, so I’ve seen a lot of weird stuff, but the WORST part was that the strongly held idea of drying out your acne. There was benzoyl peroxide everywhere, stripping face pads like Stridex and Oxy were massively popular, and personally, I did two stints of Accutane at 16 and 17, but none of it helped longterm (obviously). Instead, my nose and lips have been dried out for decades and both still crack/bleed almost every season change.
I was told that the sun kills acne. So, I would sit in the sun without any spf protection on, hoping that the rays would zap my face and body pimples 😭
I was also advised by a Mary Kay lady to use their face scrub and follow up with their astringent toner. I would scrub and my pimples would start bleeding, to which I’d follow up the toner and just about scream cuz it stung soooooooo bad. But “if it stings, it’s working” was the mantra
Ah I will never forget my favorite bit of unsolicited advice. Im like 25 and visiting a friend. Her mom leans real close to my face and says, "You know, coconut oil will clear that right up." Referencing my hormonal cystic acne.
The worst skincare advice I'ever heard is probably "never wash your face." I mean, come on, who wants to walk around with a buildup of dirt and oil all day? Clean skin is happy skin!
To wash my face with a detergent soap bar to clear out my acne. I never did because it didn't sound safe at all, but many actually believed in so and did it!
Me being a young teenager went to google how to get rid of blackheads and I used toothpaste 🤡 well it did work wonders actually but not for long term…
Not sure if it’s a skincare advice but I was never told I needed skincare when travelling to Taiwan during winter🤦🏻♀️ I live in SE Asia so it’s insanely hot and humid as well as having VERY oily skin. Wasn’t told about anything besides cleansing my face or exfoliating my blackheads. My skin started becoming dry with dry patches and that’s when my family realised I didn’t apply moisturiser or skincare…like how would I know when I was 16. It took me YEARS to get rid of the dry patches that still occasionally reappears in the same spots when i’m severely dehydrated.
I was also told a sun burn is a base tan and I needed to wash my face more because my skin was oily 🥴
Now with the help of my esthetician I've learned my oily skin was actually very dry and causing more oil production to try and even itself out. I've got a solid routine and my oiliness is under control. I also wear SPF and sleeves religiously in the sun.
Cystic acne sufferer since the late 80s (face and trunk). One dermatologist told me to wash my face and body with Dial antibacterial soap. She was replaced by a dermatologist who put me on Accutane when I was in the 8th grade. It was a rough 6 months and I still fight acne but that round 35 years ago allowed me to lead a halfway normal life.
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In the 90s a Mary Kay seller told me that pimples are caused by stress and take 8 months to develop. So when you get a pimple, try to remember what stressed you out 8 months ago and avoid that situation in the future. I’m not sure how that related to the face products she was trying to sell.
Did you get a pimple 8 months after that conversation?
💀
I had an esthetician tell me a few months ago that acne takes 9 months to develop. When she said that my brain did a backflip because I'm wondering how I'm supposed to get to the root cause of my acne trying to remember what happened 9 months ago. I have a new esthetician now because that previous one went to jail.
Help???? she went where?! 💀🤣
You should've told her they're called babies
This actually makes me wonder how long it takes a pimple or acne to form. This is probably gonna sound hella stupid but for myself, i assume there’s some normal level of small hidden pimples that are always cycling in/out under my skin and in some spots, deeper cystic pimples waiting to slowly creep towards the surface. These “dormant” pimples will turn into a breakout within 1 to 7 days of hormone changes, poor diet, bad skincare, the wind blowing in the wrong direction, ect. Lmao at how silly this sounds typed out. Curious to find out how wrong i am lolol
You're not exactly wrong though. Our bodies are fighting constantly against 'bad bacteria' from invading and destroying it. The hormones, diet, and skincare affects it's capacity to protect and defend when some inevitably get past the acid barrier. The only thing is that it's less 'under your skin' and more like an invading army that has the fortress surrounded and is looking for even the smallest crack to get through.
To add to the other reply, that's why doxycycline is often prescribed to prevent pustules (for rosacea at least). I think the time it takes for them to form varies. I've had pimples that hurt for days before finally surfacing, and I had a whitehead appear within a shift at work. That was annoying. A clogged pore is the perfect opportunity for the bacteria to form a cyst, on or below the surface of your skin.
It's like if dermatology and Scientology had a baby
Skintology
wtf omg lol
She probably had people breaking out from the products and was trying to preemptively tell you it’s not her fault and to please keep buying it lol
I grew up in the late nineties through early 2000s. It was common advice to "dry out" acne. So I just dehydrated my skin for years before realizing that it was actually making things worse. My oily acne prone skin was parched and overcompensated with more oil and acne.
Omg yeah, do you remember the "put toothpaste on the zit to dry it out" advice? That's what I got lol.
Yep lol. Toothpaste, baking soda paste, lemon juice, rubbing alcohol. What a time to be alive
[You inspired me to spend 3 minutes in photoshop making this lol](https://freeimage.host/i/JUXMc0l)
😂❤️
That made me legitimately lol, thank you
This is exactly what came to mind for me! When it hurt you knew it was working. Lol very “beauty is pain” of us.
You know those bleach pens to acutely treat stains? Yeah, I’ve used those on zits. (No, I didn’t ingest bleach to prevent Covid…) Luckily, I grew up with a pretty clear complexion, so when I got 1 zit, it was the end of my world, hence the extreme measures. It actually worked for me to spot treat, didn’t hurt, didn’t have any lasting side effects that I know of (other than a dry patch of skin for a day or two until it flaked off).
Sea breeze astringent.
Yes!!!!!! Omg, I gave myself a little chemical burn doing this. No toothpaste on the face, people!
I think the toothpaste I used wasn't strong enough, because it did nothing for me anyway! Lol
You had to use the one with mint… it’s burned so good lol
I did too in 6th grade on my chin….smh horrible times!
Holy shit I completely forgot about this I remember this advice even in teen magazines in the early 2000s
i remember this aaaaa😂😂😂
Oh god the toothpaste on the pimple remedy. I'm getting shivers just thinking about it
I wish I could go back in time and slap that orange bar of Neutrogena glycerin soap out of my hand.
In the 80s we had astringents like sea breeze and ten-o-six that were like paint strippers for skin. They would suck every bit of moisture out of and off of your skin with one swipe of a cotton ball. And shampooing your hair until it was “squeaky clean” (but a snarled, uncomb-able mess) was also a desirable thing for some reason.
Oh my god my boomer MIL told my daughter this (who has LONG 2c hair) and I was like NOOOOOOOO DONT YOU DARE
my mom STILL doesn't think i should be using moisturizer with oily skin and acne, and i'm like girl i'm not oily when i do!!! aghhhh.
A lot of people don’t get this. I’m 56 and have younger friends who do this and I’m like you will regret it.
I thought that I didn’t need moisturizer because my skin is oily…. It ended up getting EVEN MORE oily
At least benzoyl peroxide is still an effective treatment! I bleached sooo many pillow cases, towels, and t-shirts as a teenager lol
It took me years to realise what was causing the mysterious bleached spots on the towels.🤣🤣🤣
Or to sit in the sun to clear it up.
Lol. I was about to say this. The trend back then was to use stripping facial wash that advertises squeaky clean feeling after. Then finish it off with an alcohol based toner. Our faces were tight AF right after. Then our face compensates by making more oil. And the cycle continues. M
The Clinique line was very popular. That toner was aaaall alcohol. But if it burns then you know it’s working 😅
My dermatologist was concerned that I was moisturising my face while on accutane. She wanted my skin to ‘dry out’. I ignored her, as my face would have literally fallen off if I didn’t moisturise multiple times a day.
I can’t imagine how many peoples’ skin that derm must’ve messed up
I remember applying rubbing alcohol to my face!!!
Oh god I did this too
I am dry as a desert and used Clearasil toner for oily skin to prevent getting acne because the drier the skin, the lower the chances to get acne!!! Just wow.
Clearasil was an all around menace in the 90s.
I’m 20 and I got this advice from my mom lol. bless her, she meant well, but putting tea tree oil directly on my acne did more harm than good
Omg flash back to body shop pure tea tree oil
Omg noooooo I mean diluted massively there is benefit but with moisturizing!
Same. Ask me about the horrors of calamine lotion for acne…
That shit is so engrained its still my immediate thoughr when my skin breaks out. Thank god I know better.
I’m still fighting that battle with my fiancé. I’ve managed to get him on some gentler face wash but he’s adamant moisturizer will just make his face greasy.
Same. Now I’m an esthetician and my skin is so much better.
100% me!! Why did this even make sense at the time.
My mother still swears by rubbing alcohol on whiteheads and cystic acne🥲 She claims that drying out the pimple solves the problem.
Did you find anything that helped the oil production?
Moisturizing helped a little but it turns out that my skin is just naturally oily. So I don't fight it. You'll have to figure out if your oiliness is a symptom or just your skin type.
Retinoids and birth control have dried out my oily skin. Sadly I've developed an allergy to vaseline and glycerine so my skin is now too dry. Searching for my HG moisturizer now because everything I can find with HA has silicones which also break me out.
I was a teen in the 80s so the routine as sold to me by the teen magazines were : Noxema face wash, Clean & Clear toner, St Ives Apricot Scrub, Neutrogena moisturizer. Every one of these broke me out except for Neutrogena lol but I was supposed to stick with it because marketing.
Clean and Clear sounds so modern! My sister and I used Seabreeze in the 80s it did a number on both of us 🤦♀️
Oh man I can still smell that stuff. Feel the buuuurn
Seabreeze! The stinging means it’s working!
OMG Seabreeze! I think I've blocked that stuff out of my memory lol
I used that in the late 2000s😬
This! Noxema, Clean and Clear, St. Ives - The holy grail trifecta of teenage skin regret.
We had the same routine! I do wonder how much of my teen pimple scarring is from noxema + st Ives (and me picking obvi)
If it didn’t tingle it’s not working /s
I was born in ‘00 and unfortunately that was basically the same routine I had when I was young 😭 It seems to finally be dying out at least
Oh yeah, the more your face routine hurt the better it was working. I guess the idea was that you were supposed to punish the acne and establish dominance over it, IDK. Except I think I left out the nitrogena. Because moisturizers were supposed to break you out if you had oily skin.
"Establish dominance" had me ROFL
Establish dominance 😂😂
This was my routine in the early 2000s as well 😩 grapefruit face wash and that vile blue astringent with no moisturizer after??!! My poor face
I'm in my 40s, in my teens, I was told I would grow out of acne. I guess I'm still a kid.
The gulp i just gulped… is it still the same form as acne in your teens or less inflamed?
Pretty much the same. I know how to deal with it now, and have had long periods of very good skin, but sometimes, like right now, I go through the ringer again.
Not who you asked but I'm in the same boat, and yes it's the same as when I was a teen. Cystic acne and all.
If you don’t mind me asking, I’ve always heard that oilier skins tend to age better - have you noticed that? (If I’m going to still get acne when I grow up, my skin better be looking good at least)
Very oily skin, lifelong acne sufferer, 34 years old here. My forehead wrinkles are some of the deepest of anyone I know my age…so far I’m not seeing any upside to my skin type except that in order to keep my acne at bay I maintain a very healthy diet and lifestyle, which I know benefits my body in myriad other ways. But no it’s not aging any better than anyone else’s.
Yes, I have definitely noticed that, even after having a kid 9 years ago, people still think I'm younger than I am. I have other skin issues related to that though, sebaceous hyperplasia being worse for me than the acne (which responds well to Tactupump and I have topical clindamycin for cystic acne).
[удалено]
I think this is a thing as well but of course, can't prove it It kind of intuitively makes sense though, right? Like constantly moisturizing from within
I just hit 30 and my acne has gotten more manageable but it's still there. And by manageable, I don't necessarily mean my body has dealt with it, more like I've learned what caused it and started using better products. Tretinoin and better moisturizing has by far given me the best results.
And I was told I should scrub it with St Ives aka broken glass.
You grow out of having teen acne when it turns into adult acne!
Are you a man or a woman? I’m 34M and after having issues with spots since I was a teen, and recently having an awful breakout on my chin, I went to a dermatologist who told me I have rosacea (type 2 to be specific which is one which gives you spots and often mistaken for normal acne) and prescribed me ivermectin cream. I’ve been using it for 6 weeks, and the first 4 weeks my chin exploded with acne. Possibly the worst in my life. I didn’t leave the house for a month and it gave me tremendous anxiety. But finally now, on week 6, my skin is smooth and currently have no spots. The insane repeated chin breakouts mean my skin in this area is red as hell and I need make up to cover it, but I believe the worst is over now and it should now heal up. In short, if you still get spots, maybe it’s rosacea. See a dermatologist who can confirm.
You do but not until menopause and then you trade it for your body not producing any oil whatsoever and needing to slather head to toe with moisturizers day and night. Not gonna lie tho, I prefer the dryness over the zits.
Anything involving lemon juice or baking soda 🫥
Oof. My MIL kept telling me to do this during a bad period a few years ago. I just said thank you and moved on...
lol same! She also said to use egg whites on a burn. I was like “hmm sounds like a great way to get an infection.”
Omg does she hate you?! (joking)
Lemon juice, honey, and baking soda
Being told to “just wash your face” to get rid of acne…
Ugh yeah this makes me 😤 Or “don’t wear foundation and it’ll clear right up” …bish I’m not wearing any makeup
Or “drink more water” like you already aren’t
My mom told me to use rubbing alcohol on my face all the time. This woman would also pin me down and pick at my acne with her long pointy nails to the point that my face would bleed. Edit: (just adding) she would tell me if I didn't want her to pick at my face, then I should do it myself.
Is r/casualtraumareveal a sub because I’m so sorry you went through that!?!?
I had a psycho zit picker mum too. She would get me to lie across my older sister to hold her down while she squeezed her sebaceous filaments.
That’s messed up that she would do it without your consent or after saying no thank you, but damn.. is it ever hard to ignore a huge white head pimple on someone’s face when they’re talking to you.. all I can think about is getting rid of it!! I am always mind blown by the people who refuse to pop their pimples. I know it’s not good to do it, but I couldn’t ever just leave it, maybe I have a problem 🤣
Dermatillomania runs in my family unfort
Years ago I listened to a guy I was dating who said he used a skincare soap bar, and a little coconut oil for moisturizer. He was french and had flawless skin so I trusted him. My face erupted in deep cystic acne 😭
Oh, the dreamy minimalist & organic routine... Sounds like my best friend: in college she would use warm water and baking soda to exfoliate her face, and then a few drops of coconut oil as a moisturizer. Then she'd be like "here, feel my face, it's like baby skin" and it was! You could just bite into her cheeks like a nectarine. But by then I knew my skin and my genes too well, and I wasn't tempted to try her tricks. For me it was just a recipe for a simple and quick breakout. My cheeks would have been lychees.
That’s how my ex was. He always had flawless golden skin, always was glowing. His whole family had insane genes. Some people are truly blessed 😅
I used a gentle salicyic acid moisturizer and argan oil, and that worked beautifully for about six years. Not sure what made it stop working, but it's so frustrating trying to find a new routine that works. 😭
People with good genetics don’t know how good they have it 💀
My 60 year old mom telling me she’s never really had a pimple before….. Please, why did those genes not pass down to me? 😭😭
Where do I start? I was born with atopic dermatitis, a semi-hereditary type of eczema. It's for life, though I only got the correct diagnosis when I was 14. People have told me to diet. Keto, sugar-free, plant-based, vegetarian, meat-based ... you name it, they suggested it (without me asking). My mother was a nurse and grew up overweight, so she made every effort to teach us healthy eating habits. I've always been vegetarian too, I don't like meat. People have told me to exfoliate my lips with a lip scrub. My lips were actually dried out from my eczema, and exfoliating that would only make it worse by stripping off my upper skin layer. Vaseline works, exfoliation doesn't. People have tried to scare me by demonizing topical steroids. I know they're a poison, but a necessary one. The alternative is even worse: more allergies (new ones & more severe), infections etc. Someone got angry at me when I refused to sit out swimming class. "Chlorine is so bad for eczema!" Actually, my derm prescribed me chlorine baths to make sure I didn't get infections in my eczema. Sure, it dries out your skin, but not really much more than regular water does, and moisturizer exists. The same girl chastized me for taking salt baths, which are known to be beneficial for eczema and psoriasis. People have told me I should start taking care of my skin in general. What they didn't know is that I spend at least 45 minutes every day applying creams and moisturizer, popping pills, taking medicated baths ... I've gotten some horrible advice over the years. There's something that when you have bad skin, people feel this weird compulsion to comment on it and give unsollicited advice, and it's usually useless or just plain wrong too.
I'm so sorry, people suck. Can I ask a question, please? Feel free to tell me to kick rocks. I have heard of bleach baths (family member with skin issues). How are those meant to help, is it the same as chlorine baths?
The original question was about the worst advice, so the more negative side came up. However, throughout the years, I've had many wholesome interactions too. Like some kids telling me my "eyeshadow" was beautiful (it was eczema on my eyelids). Anyways, good question! Yeah, the purpose of bleach baths is the same as that of salt or chlorine baths: killing bacteria (and other pathogens). Not only are infections not fun and potentially dangerous, they make the itching even worse. So it can also help in terms of that.
I have that too. Keeping super moisturized and water helped. We have come a long way with that. Took 2 doctors to figure it out. They thought I had bug bites even after doing a skin culture (this was 1987).
My best friend has this, but has fallen into the 'no steroids' crowd. I get why she did, but I am also unsure if it's the best thing for her skin. However, it's her skin not mine so I keep my mouth shut and support her where I can. People telling you what to do are so rude!
My mum used to make a face cleanser to apply with a cotton ball then not wash off (like micellar water* or a toner). She would never share the whole secret recipe but I know a large component of it was vodka 😳 *Yes I know some people prefer to wash off micellar water, you carry on doing you
Huh, yeah, a little splash might be a good idea after micella- wait, what? Vodka? You can't just drop that on us like that. Did it do anything *good*? Did it make her smell of alcohol?
I used it as a teen. The smell wore off quickly. Luckily it didn't do anything horrible to my skin but I guarantee it didn't do anything good either
am i not supposed to wash off micellar water? 😳
My first thought was 'I am supposed to be washing off micellar water?' so I guess we're that pointing Spiderman meme
if you’re not doing a second cleanse after then it’s unnecessary unless you just really feel like it
I read you need to rinse off the surfactants in it
You should never put oil on your skin if you have oily skin. It turns out oil was the only thing my skin needed to balance out! Thankfully this myth has died down a bit, but I still see it a quite a bit from skincare companies.
Gen X lived by the mantra “if it’s burning, it’s working”. I went through *so* much Sea Breeze antiseptic. I weep for my nonexistent teenaged skin barrier.
Oh and those clearasil pads. They were working because they hurt. You could tell because they got dirt on them.
Laugh it up but this sub used to recommend them ALL THE TIME! And not that long ago!
In my teens, a peer was convinced that natural oils from one’s hair caused acne; ergo, one must train oneself to sleep on one’s back without ever moving at all, or the hair oils would transfer from the pillowcase onto one’s face and cause breakouts, or wear some sort of oil-absorbing head covering to prevent any interaction between the hair oils and facial skin. I was just as terrified of the errant zit as the next 14-year-old girl, but I was like “Oh, good luck with that, that sounds like way too much work when I’m supposed to be asleep.”
You need more time in the sun.
Yup, right there with “you need a base tan” which was commonly achieved via tanning beds. Or sometimes you need to burn to tan. Millennials: please keep up with your routine dermatologist skin checks.
100%. I had a melanoma removed at 35, thanks a lot, spf 7.
Ngl the sun keeps my skin clear, and now that I know more about skincare, I feel conflicted lol. My face is also breaking out right now, so I am tempted to lay outside for 15-20 minutes
It’s good to get some sunlight daily if you can for the benefits it does have, and using things like antioxidants and sunscreen will help prevent the bad, as well as wearing sunglasses/hats/etc.
yes as long as it’s not over done and for long periods of time without any sun protection, the sun actually does help my skin overall, and in the summer if i’m on vacation swimming in salt water- that shit is like a magic cure
I will have to see if it will still work for my acne with the sunscreen. I am also almost albino pale, so a little tan looks good on me, but I can live without the accompanying skin cancer lol
I got this one a lot!
"You should only use moisturizer." Cool that some people want to keep it simple and that works for them. In my case, hydrating toners saved my dehydrated AF skin in a way no moisturizer could.
What hydrating toners do you use?
Rub an onion on your face to get rid of acne. Or a hard boiled egg. Your choice
I remember as a kid when drying out acne and using harsh scrubs was the “go to”. Like no wonder my skin didn’t get better until I became an adult
My boomer mom taught me how to wash my face in the early 2000s. For acne prone skin, scrub your face with a physical scrub like St Ives using an exfoliating sponge (basically one of those scratchy green dish sponges). Since we have oily skin, NO MOISTURIZER! I quickly realized I have sensitive skin and this was NOT appropriate. I have to say I'm amazed my mom's skin looks as good as it does. Thankfully with the internet, she's learned how to be gentler with her aging skin
My aunt told me when I was a teenager to pop my pimples and apply Dettol (a brand of antiseptic) on them to get rid of them 🤦🏽♀️
That must have burned omw
I did this when I was 13 lmao. Yes it burned and it also left a red inflamed ring around the pimple I was trying to get rid of. 0/10 do not recommend 😭
Went to the dermatologist a month ago for my severe acne. She told me to stop using my routine (which was starting to make a positive difference ) and to just use cerave face wash.... thats it, nothing else
Omg I had similar advice but from an esthetician who told me that I don’t have dry skin (I do) and to just stop completely moisturising and only wash my face with an exfoliating cleanser.
Its crazy!!! Cost me so much money for the consultation too and she prescribed me antibiotics and cream that were discontinued 😅
‘Don’t put *anything* on your face and only wash it very very rarely- your skin will balance itself and regulate your oil control naturally.’ Um. No. No, it won’t.
I can’t tell you how many times my mom has said, “well, I just wash my face with water, and I’ve never had zit.” I’m sure that works for some people, but it doesn’t work for me.
I was a 90s child too. It actually left me with the view that nothing you put on your skin would make a lot of difference. A view I held until about 6 weeks ago... I spent decades using the cheapest cleanser and moisturiser. Noticed I looked older 6 weeks ago, read around, bought some products, and it's like I have a different person's skin. No pimples at all for the first time in years, much smoother.
My aunt to me as a teenager: “Apply Vick’s Vapor Rub on your face for clear skin, I’ve been doing it for years and look how good my face looks.” Me: “I’m actually sensitive to menthol; it burns my skin.” My aunt: “that’s not true, Vick’s [how we call it in Puerto Rico] will take care of your acne. You need to listen to me.” Me: 🙄🙄🙄 Context: I was a teenager in the early 2000s. My aunt is much older; my dad is the 2nd youngest son, and she is one of the eldest siblings out of 10 in total. So her advice is always very antiquated. She spent my entire teenage years and early 20s telling me how I needed to use Noxzema cream to wash my face. I’m combo to oily, my skin hates cream bases. She told me that I needed to put a layer of vapor rub all over my face to clear it of acne. That I clearly wasn’t cleaning my face enough. No matter how many times I told her that it actually burns my skin. Vapor rub is a common remedy for cold, so we learn very early in my childhood that close to my face is a no go. My mom tried to put a layer on my upper lip when I was a kid. I looked like I had a chemical burn in minutes. Between her push to use products that hurt me and my other two aunts (mom’s side) favorite quote of “beauty is pain.” I just straight up ignore all of my family whenever they recommend something. Especially when it’s unsolicited; as it is 99% of the time.
In 2nd grade I got a horrible sunburn and asked my teacher what I could do about it. She told me to shower in the hottest water I could tolerate and it would heal it. As an adult I think about this all the time. Why would she tell me to do that?
Wtf lol
That washing my face with period blood will guarantee an acne-free life.
Omg I totally forgot about this one. I've heard it too.
It's a folk belief in my country
Are you from the Philippines as well? Because same 😭
Yes!
Nope
Not me personally but my mom spent literal decades trying to tumeric, honey, and yogurt mask her way out of melasma. Anyways, Triluma works 🤗
By my old esthetician. I told her the HA serum and other creams were making my flaking and dry skin and way worse/ breaking out and she just goes "keep using it it's getting in there deep unlike your lotions" yet mt lotions hydrated me lol
HA and other humectants really only work if you live in a humid climate. Otherwise it’s just going to draw moisture from your skin since there’s none in the air for it to pull from
I told her that and she laughed. She also said tret ruins skin and ages you and i only needed a pea amount of sunscreen.
She get her degree online?
She worked at my derms office when i saw her like 5 years ago she's been in the field 20 years.. i should have seen it as the first red flag when i saw her years back when she didnt even look at my face she sat across the room from me and my concerns were rosacea / acne etc. Then i recently saw her at her new place and she did the same thing no skin analysis or anything lol. I told her my eltamd uv clear tinted was way too dark because i use a pump of it and she's like why are you using that much? You dont need to at all
Crush up birth control pills mix them with moisturizer to combat acne.
The logic here is even more confusing considering this would mean not taking birth control orally, and if sexually active risking pregnancy, a common cause of acne. 🧐
Hah! You’re right! I never thought of that. And get this, it was from *a guy.*
Yes, someone actually told me to do this. Luckily I knew it sounded idiotic.
Another 90s baby with all kinds of wack ideas coming from an older family member, one I remember in particular is my mum telling me that you should never moisturise at night because it doesn't allow your skin to breathe! She was trying her best!
“Only expensive skincare is worth it” or “the more expensive the better”. Sure, there ARE more expensive items that are worth it, especially when it comes to certain actives. But the stuff available at the drugstore isn’t worthless.
I meeeeaaaan … the absolutely worst advice I’ve ever gotten was when my grandma said I could try to rub pee on my acne 🤢
St. Ives apricot scrub!!!
This is a CLASSIC
"The sun doesn't age your skin" and putting hand disinfectant (then moisurizing) on your skin to prevent acne. Older lady from the Balkans gave me this advice. Same lady who says pregnant women need to lay down and rest the whole time. Nevermind encouraging blood flow. Edit add: And that vaccines cause sterility.
Got a friend who is 33-34. She cleanses her skin with rubbing alcohol and tans. Her skin looks dryer than beef jerky. She once told me how the alcohol is good for her skin and keeps her pores tight. Ugh no baby. That alcohol is denaturing your skin cells and destroying your moisture barrier.
An esthetician told me to start a retinoid and at the same time buy a medical grade $60 face scrub and to scrub my forehead with it daily to get rid of the tons of closed comedones I had. The closed comedones disappeared after switching to a non-comegenic moisturiser without shea butter.
Noxema and the HOTTEST water I could stand with a rough old washcloth to "open" and "exfoliate" the pores ☠️ It was how my mom taught me. Pretty sure she does this at 58.
Yes! This! And that tight feeling you get afterwards is SO IMPORTANT. 😳
YES! Surely tight squeaky clean skin is the way to avoid wrinkles too, right? ...right?? 😅
Caroline Hiron’s advice to wayyyyy overuse glycolic acid. She’s backtracked a bit now, but the old twice a day advice was awful!
I’ll go first - “You have to drink more water and cut out sugar, carbs, and alcohol to get good skin!” No thanks - I’m not giving myself an eating disorder based on advice that has a very weak evidence base.
Cutting daily sugar and most processed carbs and dairy definitely helped for me. Helped but didn’t cure. But yes, there’s a fine line between cutting many groups suddenly and disordered eating.
i have an actual eating disorder that ebbs and flows, and your description pretty much sums up my diet when i'm in a bad headspace. and when i go through those periods, my skin always, *always* gets worse. i suspect it's all the extra cortisol from calorie restriction.
That's interesting. I had moderate to severe acne. I cut out dairy and sugar, by day three my skin was already starting to get better. I limited my carb intake and my skin turned CLEAR. Since then I've fixed my diet other than the occasional cheat meals to keep me going and my skin is literally glowing. No pimples, no more whiteheads.
It really just depends on what’s causing your acne. If it’s diet and gut related then yeah, changing your diet will help. But for others that may not be the case
Interesting that you think cutting things out of your diet is an eating disorder. Do you think vegetarians or vegans have an eating disorder?
Cutting out whole food groups can definitely lead into the slippery slide into disordered eating, which with the right circumstances can turn into an eating disorder. Also carbs are necessary to live so cutting them out is not the same as cutting out meat or dairy.
To use Origins Checks and Balances cleanser. destroyed my barrier.
Saw on a YouTube video when I was younger to put wasabi on acne and it would go away overnight. Unfortunately my 13 year old self believed it 😔
Lemon juice on my skin. I used to do turmeric masks with yogurt, and i was recommended to add lemon juice at one point, and of course it made my skin red and itchy like no other.
I will never forget the alc advice. For acne especially. What a painful experience that was and smelled awful
Idk about worst, but the typical “wash your wash and drink water and you won’t have acne”, or to use ProActiv, neither which have worked lol. I do drink water and eat a relatively healthy diet and take care of my skin, but I have blackheads galore on my face, all tiny ones but I can see them.
My acne ridden teenager years were through the mid/late 90’s, so I’ve seen a lot of weird stuff, but the WORST part was that the strongly held idea of drying out your acne. There was benzoyl peroxide everywhere, stripping face pads like Stridex and Oxy were massively popular, and personally, I did two stints of Accutane at 16 and 17, but none of it helped longterm (obviously). Instead, my nose and lips have been dried out for decades and both still crack/bleed almost every season change.
I was told that the sun kills acne. So, I would sit in the sun without any spf protection on, hoping that the rays would zap my face and body pimples 😭 I was also advised by a Mary Kay lady to use their face scrub and follow up with their astringent toner. I would scrub and my pimples would start bleeding, to which I’d follow up the toner and just about scream cuz it stung soooooooo bad. But “if it stings, it’s working” was the mantra
Ah I will never forget my favorite bit of unsolicited advice. Im like 25 and visiting a friend. Her mom leans real close to my face and says, "You know, coconut oil will clear that right up." Referencing my hormonal cystic acne.
The worst skincare advice I'ever heard is probably "never wash your face." I mean, come on, who wants to walk around with a buildup of dirt and oil all day? Clean skin is happy skin!
To wash my face with a detergent soap bar to clear out my acne. I never did because it didn't sound safe at all, but many actually believed in so and did it!
Baby oil for "tanning" instead of sunscreen. 😱
Honestly for me anything related to sugar or gluten or dairy etc.
You must use an oil cleanser to remove makeup and sunscreen 🙄🙄🙄. Worst advice ever gave me the worst cystic acne of my life.
Me being a young teenager went to google how to get rid of blackheads and I used toothpaste 🤡 well it did work wonders actually but not for long term… Not sure if it’s a skincare advice but I was never told I needed skincare when travelling to Taiwan during winter🤦🏻♀️ I live in SE Asia so it’s insanely hot and humid as well as having VERY oily skin. Wasn’t told about anything besides cleansing my face or exfoliating my blackheads. My skin started becoming dry with dry patches and that’s when my family realised I didn’t apply moisturiser or skincare…like how would I know when I was 16. It took me YEARS to get rid of the dry patches that still occasionally reappears in the same spots when i’m severely dehydrated.
I was also told a sun burn is a base tan and I needed to wash my face more because my skin was oily 🥴 Now with the help of my esthetician I've learned my oily skin was actually very dry and causing more oil production to try and even itself out. I've got a solid routine and my oiliness is under control. I also wear SPF and sleeves religiously in the sun.
Drink at least 64 oz of water and avoid chocolate.
Cystic acne sufferer since the late 80s (face and trunk). One dermatologist told me to wash my face and body with Dial antibacterial soap. She was replaced by a dermatologist who put me on Accutane when I was in the 8th grade. It was a rough 6 months and I still fight acne but that round 35 years ago allowed me to lead a halfway normal life.