Is clear skin from within an approach that works? Or can acne really be solved with the right combination of skincare products? If you’re feeling frustrated enough to land on this post, there are several truths that I need to share with you.
But I’ll start with one.
Over the years, I’ve seen common thought patterns that keep radiant rebels spinning their wheels, cycling in a negative spiral, and ultimately losing all hope that they’ll clear their acne, extinguish the fires of sensitivity, or finally have comfortable, hydrated skin.
The first belief that catches people is a super sticky one.
Many beauty companies reinforce it, and it directly opposes a holistic (whole body) approach.
Since our skin is the large organ in our body, it doesn’t stand alone, and an isolated approach is bound to fail. Still, this common limiting belief throws that out the window and tells us that our skin is an enemy.
An enemy to be pushed into submission and control.
It tells us that with the right combination of harsh (translated to “powerful” in marketing campaigns) ingredients, we’ll wield the power to force our skin into submission so it looks the way we want it to (read: how we’re told it should look).
The hippie pacifist in me cringes at this.
But it’s something that I once believed too!
Especially as a teen desperate to rid my skin of cystic acne that covered my entire face with sore, inflamed, “can’t miss them” blemishes.
Desperation for a solution left me vulnerable to “the enemy” limiting belief.
Why else would I have voluntarily slathered on prescription creams that had my skin peeling off my face in chunks?
What else would have possessed me to take antibiotics religiously for 2 years straight (with no improvement) to feel thankful and relieved when my prescription was switched to accutane (isotretinoin)? 😱
With hindsight, it’s hard to even comprehend that I felt relief in that moment. But I thought I was finally going to “beat this thing called acne” thanks to isotretinoin – a harmful drug that left my skin forever changed in a way that I’m in no way thankful for.
Looking back, I truly believed that I could “fight” acne and “win” if only I had the right pharmaceutical “weapon.”
Negative thought traps put us on a spin cycle of desperation that is as dangerous as some solutions pushed on us when we’re at our most vulnerable.
(pst – if you’d like to hear more about accutane or explore this topic further, hop into the facebook group to start a discussion thread).
Here’s the truth:
Believing our skin is the enemy breeds hostility, resentment and helplessness toward ourselves.
We can’t problem-solve or seek out proactive solutions when we’re in a state of helplessness.
I don’t know about you, but the world is already tough enough to navigate some days with ease and compassion. So mindset traps must go if they aren’t fostering kindness and empathy for others AND ourselves.
To reframe and get out of “the enemy” mindset trap, noodle on this:
Our skin is the only organ that gives us noticeable, tangible, “can see it with my own eyes” evidence when something is off. Many times, if our skin wasn’t so communicative, we wouldn’t know anything was out of balance, left unprotected, or warrants further investigation.
While I can look back now and say with conviction that the thankful feeling is long gone about the prescriptions that I thought were a godsend at the time. Hindsight and all of that…
But, what hasn’t been fleeting is the rock-solid truth that our skin is not an enemy to go to war with – it’s part of us – and that deserves some compassion.
💚 Jamie
P.s. If you’ve been going to war with your skin and it’s time for a peace offering, this is a good place to start.☮️
