It's been quite a while since I visited the forums, over a year I believe. I've graduated college, enlisted in the Navy and currently work a 55+ hour a week job, so needless to say I've been pretty busy.

And through all of this, my skin has been good, great, bad and terrible but it's gotten to the point to where I believe I've finally beaten acne. It could be due to my age, my diet and a whole host of things I'm not even aware of, but the fact is that I haven't broken out in a quite some time and it's a fantastic feeling.

So, I just got home from work and looked in the mirror. Face is 98% clear with almost no scarring at all and I got to thinking about how much a drastic difference it is compared to not even a year ago, how completely broken out I was and how it made me feel. How I can imagine thousands of others feel at this very moment. Which made me want to say what I'm about to say and share a few things I've learned.

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I guess first and foremost, nobody notices your face except for you. Complete fact. Many, including myself, think that people in public are scrutinizing their skin, which for me caused many social problems (skipping classes, skipping dates, not going out). Thing is, nobody cares. I literally give no thought to anyone who has bad skin, I may have a fleeting thought of "man, that sucks" and that's literally it. I go on about my day. My friends didn't care, my parents didn't care, my girlfriends didn't care. Nobody thinks your ugly, different or less fortunate. Everyone has problems. You think your skin problems stack up against trying to pay bills, struggling to earn good grades or anything in between that most would consider real world problems? They don't. So stop looking in the mirror and thinking your world is over and that you can't go out into society. Really, people have their own things to deal with, your skin not included.

Which brings me to my next point: be social. Once you begin to realize that no one cares about your skin and that you're the one making it hard on yourself, you'll open up. Too many times did I not do something or go out with someone because I was worried about my appearance. All you're doing is restricting yourself from living your life, over something that shouldn't be a big deal. People are going to like you for you, not for your skin's condition. Being pessimistic and having no confidence is picked up by people a lot easier than you'd think and is a lot more negative than any pimple could ever be.

On a side note, get active. Get yourself into shape (or better shape) and your overall appearance will reflect that. Not only will your body begin to look better, you'll become more confident as a result. I got extremely active when I was broken out. Now I lift weights on a near daily basis now, on top of running three times a week. I sweat profusely and sometimes won't feel the need to wash my face before I go to bed with no ill effects in the morning.

And probably my biggest point is to stop worrying about your skin. If no one else cares about it, then why should you? I'm not suggesting that you let yourself go and stop keeping up on your overall appearance, but stop using so many medications and fretting over little things you believe will wreck your skin. I used to have a backpack full of failed facewashes, moisturizers and medications and every time I bought something new I believed it to be my saving grace and every time I was let down. It got to the point that I stopped caring entirely and stopped using everything. No more medications or scrubs or moisturizers, I let my skin do it's own thing. And I didn't go caveman style either, I just used a basic regimen that most all other people use. And for a few months my skin did not react well, probably one of the worst breakouts I've ever had. But after my skin adjusted to not having multiple things applied to it every day, it cleared up considerably. So much so that I thought I had just outgrown it all of a sudden. Since then I've never gone back to any sort of acne related anything and it's been nothing but uphill so far.

My current regimen as it stands:

-Cetaphil Soap

-Schick Hydro 3 Razor = I shave every other day as my growth isn't real thick. No aftershave afterwards.

-Barbasol Shaving Cream

My skin does get occasionally dry during cold days in which case I'll use Cetaphil moisturizer, but that's it. Nothing else.

I guess my point in posting this is to make others aware that it does in fact get better. Really, it does. I guarantee you that most days not a single person has given a second thought to your complexion and that most of your judgmental feelings are coming from yourself. An optimistic, outgoing attitude outshines any skin problems you may have and makes you look and seem like a more likable better person overall. Making yourself stop enjoying your life because of what you're afraid others may think is more destructive than you will ever know. If you have to, stop looking in the mirror completely. I did and it made me forget about any outbreaks I had. Enjoy yourself, enjoy your friends and family and do what you want to do. Don't let something as frivolous as acne stop you from being you.