23 hours ago, xoxoem said:

I recently moved to Barcelona, Spain and my skin has been breaking out constantly since I've been here. I don't know if its the stress or the pollution or the water or the humidity, but I can't seem to find any relief for my skin.

Over the years I have noted many cases of of people suddenly and persistently breaking out after moving to a different locale, it happened to me as well when I moved to Italy, went from zero to Zitsville in a matter of weeks, real nasty cysts too. I don't think it was a coincidence, when you swap continents you're invariably going to be exposed to new and different microbial environments and depending on certain genetic predilections its quite possible that some complex systemic interplay could trigger an ongoing inflammatory cascade resulting in chronic acne.

That said, it might simply be an issue of hard water vs soft water or, as you said, plain old stress, pollution isn't likely to play much of a role.

23 hours ago, xoxoem said:

I recently got a job offer to work in a small village in Northern France this summer but I am having doubts because of my skin Part of me just wants to return to the States, back to my "comfort zone," but the other half of me thinks it would be stupid to turn down such an opportunity. I'm already stressing out about the idea of being in a new environment, with new people, all who have to see me with my skin at its worse

How can I stop acne from holding be back from opportunities?? Does anyone else feel this way?

This is where most people would say "don't let acne stop you from doing what you want" but I'm going to give you my controversial opinion: its never going to be the experience you'd want it to be if you're constantly preoccupied by your skin (which you would be), the constant worrying and inevitable paranoia will make it increasingly more difficult to enjoy yourself , to the point of being miserable. And what is the point of that, really?

I tried forcing myself to engage and it was never a fun time, putting on a fake smile and struggling to maintain eye contact with people while freaking out about lighting fixtures and the true meaning of people's occasional smirks is utterly exhausting and anything but a memorable experience. So I found it ultimately more reasonable to temporarily withdraw and remedy the situation, thus ensuring that any future engagements would be the carefree and pleasant experiences they're meant to be.

Please understand I'm not trying to discourage you, I'm just pointing out certain harsh realities about living with this thing, sometimes the lesser of two evils is temporary disengagement. That said, there is still more than 4 months until summer, enough time for the Regimen to clear you up, so this could all end up being a non-issue.

Welcome to Europe, btw.

3 hours ago, Factoid said:

And what is the point of that, really?

I tried forcing myself to engage and it was never a fun time, putting on a fake smile and struggling to maintain eye contact with people while freaking out about lighting fixtures and the true meaning of people's occasional smirks is utterly exhausting and anything but a memorable experience. So I found it ultimately more reasonable to temporarily withdraw and remedy the situation, thus ensuring that any future engagements would be the carefree and pleasant experiences they're meant to be.

I agree 100% with you and I didn't hear that kind of opinions a lot..honnestly I think there is a lot of hypocrisy around acne....

In my case, the thing is going in the opposite way. I have horrible scarring in my whole face. I'd guarantee that my scar would be worse than the worst thing you can imagine. So, I'm usually stuck at home, refusing to have social life... and whenever I feel stared by people, I run away immediately.

But when I'm abroad, I'm like "I'll never see them again in my life. So... what?"... So, I walk around cities, and try to communicate with people to learn something new, and try to absorb every exotic thing in my eyes, in my ears.... I want to maintain this mindset in my usual life, but it seems nearly impossible. Maybe living as a stranger should be my profession. Haha.

Anyway, I guess if environment changes suddenly, your body needs some time to get used to new environment. (Or, olive oil could be the reason.) I hope everything goes back to normal once your body settles down completely. Meanwhile, If you try to change your mindset like mine, then you would be feeling better... although it would be difficult.

Anyway, Spain is a wonderful country. Personally, I prefer to travel in Andalucia area, southern part of Spain. Try fried seafood in Granada, and cod fish food in Cordoba... Sevilla is also great city to look around! Hope you enjoy your time in Spain.