Acne. A struggle that most people have to face, whether you have occasional breakouts- they always seem to happen in the worst moments, don’t they? Or whether it is something you have to deal with most days- unfortunately, the gift that keeps on giving. 

We have rounded up all of the people who know all the tools to battle acne and love yourself while doing it!

Our panel:

Ruby Martinez, aka Ruby M for this article, you will see why in a minute! 

Ruby is 23 and  is a Florida based content creator. The Puertorican TikToker has suffered with acne since the age of 13. She has built up a following through her transparency and honesty during her acne journey.

And.. Ruby Young, aka Ruby Y, is 21 years old, from Bristol and is currently studying a degree in speech and language therapy.

She has suffered with acne since the age of 14, but felt she experienced it worse at 18. 

Skincare specialist Izzy Gannon is the founder and owner of fixation skincare and laser clinic in Sheffield. She has been in the skincare industry for 11 years.

What are the main mistakes people make when treating their acne? 

According to our expert Izzy;

My number one tip is to not over-exfoliate your skin. You only really need one exfoliating product in your routine, and it is essential to read the instructions on that particular product on how to use it. When you over-exfoliate your skin and you’ve not got enough hydration, your skin is not healthy so you just completely break out just by irritation. 

Start treating it with water based hydration products. Your skin will soon calm down.

Also, the way you must shop for skincare is by shopping for key ingredients. We have all been victims of walking in a supermarket and seeing ‘do you have a breakout on your face that needs curing…’ and being attracted to it.

Lets get drawn more to facts,, go down more of a science route rather than a ‘it’s going to look good in my bathroom’.

Some of the ingredients you should be looking out for in your skincare routine are Salicylic acid, which is a very good exfoliant and  hyaluronic acid, which is a very good hydrator. These two together work really well because hyaluronic will put your water content up, and the salicylic will bring the oil content down, so you meet in the middle if you use them correctly. I would advise to not forget moisturizers, even if you feel put off because you have oily skin you mustn’t. There are oil free moisturizers now and oil free SPFs. Skipping this can make your skin even more oily.

Ruby M used to;

I definitely used to over-exfoliate! I thought the more acne-fighting products I used, the faster my skin was going to clear. There was a point where I was using too many active ingredients in my cleanser, my moisturizer and my acne treatments. It really dried out my skin. It damaged my skin barrier so badly it got to a point where if I even put water on my face it would burn.

Another mistake I made was constantly switching products.I would give a product a week and if it didn’t show any improvement within the week, I would buy a new one and see if that one would work. Giving products enough time to work is essential.

How did you overcome psychological struggles?

Ruby M has lots of great advice;

As for confidence there’s a couple books that I’ve read but the one that really clicked for me was the four agreements book. One of the agreements is not to take anything personally because everyone is so self-absorbed they’re not paying as much attention to you as you think. Another piece of advice was whenever someone says something with the intention to hurt you it’s not about you- they’re just reflecting their own pain and their own insecurities onto you. I feel like that book is what really got me started with feeling more confident in my own skin.

Also, just working on mindset so whenever you notice you’re speaking poorly to yourself,  self-correct yourself.  If I’m looking in the mirror and I say- “wow I wish I could rip my skin off, I look so horrible today” . My way of correcting it is to say “nah it’s just the lighting it’s not my skin my skin looks great today”.

That might be a little delusional but I think it helps! Subconsciously you start making decisions that align with the way you speak to yourself so if you’re constantly saying that you look ugly and your skin looks horrible then you can’t expect to be more confident!

Ruby Y boosted her confidence;

I would tell myself that this is temporary and it will get better and clear up. I met my boyfriend when my skin was at its worst! If people are the right people they really don’t care. The only kind of person who would judge you for something like that, an external characteristic or having acne, is not a good one. 

Set yourself little challenges, yesterday I went to our local shops and I didn’t wear any makeup. Every time I do something like that it reinforces my confidence. No one stopped me and said ‘ you look ugly, you have a spot’. I’ve never thought that about anybody else so the chances of them thinking that about me is ever so low.

Let’s talk about social media…

Ruby Y;

You have to be careful with social media but it can be a positive platform. I would watch lots of people on Instagram who were promoting showing your skin no matter what. For example, Lili Reinhart is a big advocate of  being comfortable in your skin and how your skin affects your mental health. I was seeing a lot of that and it helps when you can tell yourself-  ‘‘oh it’s not just me everybody experiences this’’. 

TikTok star Ruby M;

The opportunity that my acne has given me to being able to work full-time as a content creator is mind-blowing.  I just wanted to see where my skin took me. I started out with the mindset that I was going to create the content for myself and whoever saw it  wasn’t a focus.

 I do think it contributed to my confidence as well, because the more you put yourself out there in your most vulnerable state the less the mean comments affect you. I love seeing how supportive a lot of people can be and how uplifting their comments can be. You realize that acne really isn’t that serious. Most of the insecurity and embarrassment come from your own thoughts and how you perceive yourself. Putting my face out there has shown me people are actually super kind and motivating.