I've noticed something lately.
If you look at TV or any media, you see all kinds of people. Fat, thin, beautiful, ugly, tall, short, tan, pale, bald, old, etc.
The one thing you never see is acne. I mean like never, unless it's an acne treatment advert.
Obviously there is makeup and such, but even in public, it is quite rare these days for me to see anyone with noticeable acne.
I wonder how rare adult acne is?
In the UK we just had a burst of 'acne awareness' from a blogger called Em Ford who has acne and made a video of herself bare faced along with bad comments people made about her on instagram. It lasted like a week, she was on every chat show imaginable etc but it's disappeared already. Its quite sad really because for a second I actually thought we were turning a corner about it.
I totally think it's rare as well, I know a lot of people thanks to my job but I know NO ONE apart from myself who has acne. But it's not so rare that it doesn't deserve to be talked about. Maybe if the media accepted it and possible celebrities had it then maybe us lay people wouldn't feel so alienated and disgusted within ourselves because we feel so alone.
It's an interesting contrast. I looked at the Em Ford video she has bad cystic acne. It's unusual how it is only on her face. She is a beautiful woman, I think the video is more of a statement and a little dramatic (tears). She is capitalizing off it promoting makeup for a high traffic youtube channel. It does reveal a lot about society.
James Hetfield (Metallica) has pretty bad acne scarring, but he can afford to fix them if he really wanted, so in a sense it's also a bit of a statement even if it's "I don't care". But if he wasn't rich/famous and you met him in a bar he would probably be looked upon as ugly/meth freak/ect.
The main difference is in general it isn't socially acceptable for men to wear the kind of makeup to conceal serious acne. You can always wear some but you will be judged as being vain/effeminate/gay/ect by most people. Makeup was originally adopted in Western culture by prostitutes to conceal syphilis scars.
I think in a way it is natural to see acne as ugly because from an evolutionary perspective it reflects a deeper health disorder. It is ridiculous that it isn't treated as such but instead as a superficial condition.
My theory with accutane is that it is being demonized because it is an effective cure in most situations. There is no money in curing.
I agree. A lot of people dont realize that acne has an extremely negative effect on most people, just like weight gain and other common problems people struggle with. I would love to see this become more obvious in the media, just so people who do struggle with acne dont feel so alone.
You'd be surprised how many people wear makeup - making you think they don't have acne..
Including men. I know two 'straight' guys, one of which is VERY masculine/laddish, who always wear a full face of foundation. He just says it's tinted moisturiser. He has severe severe acne ... But has never been single in the 8 years I've known him (different girls).
I'm a gay male and wear concealer whenever I get a bad outbreak, and used to wear a full face of foundation too (bare minerals is REALLY light coverage and very natural looking).
I was even at the hairdressers a couple months ago and me and my hairdresser were talking about how flawless this other guys skin was.. And he was like, yeah.. I'm good at the makeup. Lol.
On tv everyone wears makeup -- everyone. TV shows and dramas are also edited/photoshopped.
Of course, however, I do agree.. It needs more publicity and recognition - even from doctors. If I went on accutane years ago instead of silly creams, I could be 100% clear now with no scars, and wouldn't have spent the beginning of this year suicidal.
Funnily enough, I wore makeup to conceal this crazy bacterial infection I had on my face that occurred just days before prom, and nobody noticed, until I washed all the makeup off at the house party afterwards. Everyone thought I had looked pretty handsome before, but afterwards, you could tell that people wondered what had happened. Got some lady from Sephora to do it for me hours before prom, who totally understood my situation. Realistically, I'd never be able to do it myself, and not on a daily basis of interacting with people, it would be embarrassing, as these things are for males, particularly straight ones.
People on here keep saying that adult acne is common and increasing yet I never see other adults in real life with acne. It's a curse if you have treatment resistant adult acne.
That doesn't mean there aren't an increasing number of "adults" with acne. There could be a million reasons why you don't see them. But that doesn't make them non-existent.
Obviously there is makeup and such, but even in public, it is quite rare these days for me to see anyone with noticeable acne.
Not many. What is more disappoint (to me, as I still have adult acne): while in public, most teenagers don't have acnes, hardly any severe ones.
People on here keep saying that adult acne is common and increasing yet I never see other adults in real life with acne. It's a curse if you have treatment resistant adult acne.
Well, those lucky ones who don't have acne don't bother coming to this acne.org forums. (Just like many previous members here don't bother returning back once they had their face cleared.
People on here keep saying that adult acne is common and increasing yet I never see other adults in real life with acne. It's a curse if you have treatment resistant adult acne.
That doesn't mean there aren't an increasing number of "adults" with acne. There could be a million reasons why you don't see them. But that doesn't make them non-existent.
I've actually noticed more people adults mostly around my area with acne. Its treated as no big deal though at work some nights my coworkers will get in discussions and rants on this subject to which i stay clear as I want to chime in on my struggles though they simplywouldn'tunderstand. Because i feel they were not immersed in the pain and suffering i went through. Mine is not as bad (practically clear now) but I still will not be cleared nor able to forget the struggle. Though again I find more people, ordinary people, with acne.
