memoirs of unclear skin
“I don’t like standard beauty, there is no beauty without strangeness” - Karl Lagerfeld
“If you retain nothing else, always remember the most important rule of beauty, which is: who cares?” - Tina Fey
I grew acne in 6th grade. My cheeks began to adopt harsher texture, my forehead grew rough lumps, and tiny black dots started to decorate my nose. I thought nothing of it back then, and I truly wish I could say the same now. Once red dots were fully visible on my face, I had family, friends, classmates, teachers, and sometimes even strangers point and comment on my face and skin. “You should wash it more” “You should wear make-up to cover it” “I have this miracle oil you can use-” “That pimple looks rather ripe don’t you think?”. At first, harmless comments were nothing and I felt nothing, but one ant can’t build a colony, it takes an empire. I’m sure this story is relatable, whether it be acne or something else, no insecurity starts on its own. Everyone knows that a comment on its own is nothing, ultimately it is the abundance of comments which lead to us thinking that we are peculiar, an oddity.
Acne happens when your hair follicles are blocked with oils and dirt. It is extremely, extremely common, notably in teens and young adults. Most acne goes away after puberty, and is treatable if you are to find the right treatment, if it exists. There are over 2 million cases of acne per year just in Indonesia, you are likely to encounter someone with acne and maybe even have it yourself. Yet, here we are.
The media is obsessed with selling us the picture and notion of unscarred, flawless skin. “New! Miracle oil, carefully harvested from bred snails in Japan, guaranteed to demolish all acne, all scars, all imperfections, all peculiarities. Use this product and you’ll feel better! Buy this product and watch your symptoms fade. We can help. You’ll be confident. People will love you, respect you, want to be you! Comes with the added bonus of preventing what WE know YOU fear most. That’s right! You won’t be ugly.” Messages like this are blasted into our face each and every day. According to the ads, no matter what we’re so close--this close, to achieving confidence. All we need to do is buy and consume. But if that's the case, when do we stop?
On our favourite shows (*cough* Netflix *cough*) it’ll look like literally no one has acne, even if the show/movie has a high-school setting; which is funny because 85% of teenagers and young adults have acne. So much for realism! With proper make-up, correct lighting, as well as good editing, acne can easily be edited out and covered up. Don’t forget to keep in mind that most celebrities can afford (and are even encouraged) to undergo expensive, fancy, one-of-a-kind skin treatments. This can include laser facials, botox, and other face-altering treatments that could enhance the illusion of naturally clear skin. As much as we all idolize the image of a certain celebrity we have to remember that that’s all it is. An image.
Let's talk about our not-so-secret guilty pleasure shall we? Remember when you were scrolling through a very good-looking person’s socials thinking to yourself; “f*ck, their skin is so good, and they’re so attractive. I wish I could look like that.” Yea, me too, and I’m pretty sure they wish they could look like that as well. Most social media accounts are self managed, thus creating the illusion of authenticity. I mean, they took the picture in their bedroom! Of course it’s authentic. We feel as though we are getting an unfiltered glimpse of someone's life, and though the “glimpse” part may be true, it’s the unfiltered part that is 101% a lie. Truth is, that picture took 500 tries, 40 lighting changes, and 200 poses. On top of all that, facetune and filters exist! Posting edited pictures is normal, everyone does it; but at what point does a harmless blemish fix, turn into masking a huge insecurity?
Acne is not always pretty, but why should it be seen as abnormal? I doubt I have to mention how common it is, you see that by yourself. Ergo, what can a piece written by a 16 year old do about it then? Not much. There will still be people who think it’s weird, many who’ll see it as a hindrance to your beauty, but I think we all know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder (yes I said it. What are you gonna do?) I guess this message is for me just as much as is for you. Afterall, when tasked to write about an ODDITY, I, like others, chose to write about an insecurity of mine. Perhaps we all see ourselves as odd, as the black sheep among millions of others. Maybe we can take comfort in that sense. Maybe if we do that we can come to realize the fact that if everyone, including ourselves, sees themselves as an oddity, we’ll recognize that no one is. Best case scenario: we become more empathetic, we understand that everyone is their own person, we stop trying to fix what's on the outside, and learn to work with what's on the inside. Sounds naive, but let’s be honest, who wouldn’t want that?
Works Cited
Arifi, Fjolla. “Real Talk: I Photoshopped My Acne For Social Media, and I Regret It.” POPSUGAR Beauty, 30 June 2020, www.popsugar.com/beauty/why-i-dont-photoshop-my-acne-on-social-media-anymore-47574406.
“Skin Conditions by the Numbers.” American Academy of Dermatology, www.aad.org/media/stats-numbers#:~:text=Acne is the most common,to 50 million Americans annually.&text=Acne usually begins in puberty,experience at least minor acne.