by Nothing succeeds like the appearance of success
– Christopher Lasch
A quote that often resonates with almost each one of us, for the fashion conscious sense in us is constantly trying to adapt and ensure we look charming & presentable, if not beautiful . This appearance alone can give us a huge boost of confidence in our personality, emanating a feeling of success all over us
Apart from the already long list of medical bills, we don’t mind spending thousands of rupees in maintaining our skin and face to make it look flawless, spotless and scar free. In fact for a lot many of them, their greatest fear is not tension of exam results or even a job interview ,but very much the appearance of a small pimple in the corner of the face. This small pimple can literally shatter their confidence, make them go upset and live in constant anxiety that this may lead to a breakout of more pimples in their face, expecting to be ridiculed by peers and friends
Thus begins a whole radical change in their lifestyle, from countless visits to the doc, stocking up on every ointment, changing diet patterns and walking around the house most of the time with a face pack. Sometimes the obsession is so much that people even refuse to come out of the house, even for a social gathering, fearing what people might say about his/her face
What is Acne ?
Sebum, an oily secretion of the glands gets accumulated in the pore because it cant escape the clog to moisturize the face. In this environment, the acne bacteria grows.When the pressure in the interior area of the pores is great, it ruptures and white blood cells come in to fight this infection. This now causes a pimple in your face
Depiction of a Pimple Formation
Source : http://www.pinterest.com/pin/395050198538485838/
Source : http://www.pinterest.com/pin/395050198538485838/
Effects of Acne
Despite not being any kind of a health hazard, an acne break or a pimple can indeed affect someone, including me in several ways. Some of them are as follows:
- Confidence: The most important trait to succeed in life is confidence and a belief in oneself. However acnes are prone to not only affect the skin but your piece of a mind. This has a direct influence on your confidence levels to be low like never before. Plus it doesn’t help when you are taunted by friends or inquisitive relatives
- Beauty: Who doesn’t like a beautiful flawless face, an unblemished skin with no marks and a smile that can make everyone blush? This can be endangered easily with the emergence of a tiny red bubble in the form of acne. They no longer emanate the charm that they were once proud of.
- Social Life: For people who are sensitive about their skin, a pimple can be a huge blowout. It makes them stay indoors at any cost and cover their face with whatever available, if forced to go outside. Thereby resulting in strained friendships and a non-existent social life .In fact some acne sufferers tend to grow their hair long to ensure their face is completely covered. Some even feel embarrassed about them and restrict conversations only with phones.
- Depression: Apart from a non-existent social life, another major effect of a pimple is depression. The embarrassment of the scar, isolation from others, an inactive social life , a feeling of unworthiness and other behavioural problems due to the acne effect can lead to a major depression.Several scientific studies have shown that there is a direct linkage between acne and the rate of success in life Numerous cases indicate that acne has a negative effect in one’s growth in professional as well as personal life
- Time and Money: The biggest impact however is the immense amount of time and money wasted in getting facial surgeries, clinical visits, blood tests and purchasing ointments to prevent acne from appearing, yet most attempts remain futile .They still keep coming and in the end only a huge effort has been wasted , all for nothing
Quick Fixes
Some of the quick fix solutions for acne problems (as sourced from Friends, Relatives, Doctors and Internet) are as below
1 ) Applying Apple Cider Vinegar Solution
2) Drinking lots of water and keeping the body hydrated
3) Squeezing lemon on the face and rubbing it on the affected areas
Here’s some more, sourced from research articles in effectively treating acne
Source : http://www.acneskinsite.com/ ( Twitter Feed : https://twitter.com/AcneSkinSite)
My History of Acne
So like everybody else, I wasn’t spared of an acne breakout in my teenage years which lasted for a decade till just about recently. The whole ordeal of dealing with it day in and out was an actual nightmare of me.
Some of the torments included
- Friends and Relatives asking: “Hey, What’s that in your face??”
- People automatically becoming skin doctors and dishing out advice like : ” You should apply a lemon extract with honey on your face ,pretty much all the time, avoid sunlight and stop eating chips. Maybe they were right at some level ,but the constant advice wherever I went completely ticked me off
- Fewer interactions with the opposite gender than normal , as I felt being avoided at some point of time due to the distracting acne marks in my skin
- Out of desperation , had tried many times to prick the acne causing it to burst even more and leaving dark black spots all over my face
- A sympathetic look I got from friends and sometimes even strangers made me feel mad every time I saw acne on my face in the mirror, it gave a very low feeling and almost felt a huge loneliness and sometimes went to the verge of a depression
Below is a pic where my face was not very clear due to blackheads and a lot of pimples on the nose and forehead
Attempts at Removing Acne
Source : www.wikihow.com
1.Avoided oil and sugary items for sometime. No effect
2. Applied tea tree oil, Acnesol , Benzyl Peroxide almost three times a day
Find below a pic from my cabinet of the various things I have been using till now to treat acne
3. Another set of people attributed the pimples and acne due to dandruff that fell from hair to face and
shoulders. Hence went for another Anti Dandruff treatment, hoping for an indirect cure to Acne.
4. Some also said, it was due to excessive body heat which results in Acne Breakouts.
Hence went for oil massage treatments, hoping to cool off the body a bit
5.Had fruit juices and smoothies including avocado, lime
But in the end nothing of the above solutions worked out in my favor.
Garnier to my rescue
Only when I discovered Garnier’s Pure Active Exfoliating Face Scrub and Pure Active Neem Face Wash , my face seemed to undergo a transformation.
Picture Courtesy : http://bit.ly/GarnierPureActiveNeemWebsite
Even after a short while of repeated usage, I got the old radiance and charm back. Pimple spots begin to disappear, dead cells got exfoliated and there were less and less of the acne in the face. With a clear face and an even clearer face,nothing stopped me from regaining my confidence, success and finally my smile back
And its time for a better “Clear” selfie 🙂
