We all know having acne makes us feel bad… but let’s be honest – sometimes we exasperate our pain by examining our faces in the wrong situations (and way too much).
Here are the top three times you should never look at your skin:
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In Fluorescent or Super Bright Lighting
Fluorescent lighting doesn’t make anyone look good! It could reveal the flaws on the hottest movie star. If you somehow got stuck with fluorescent or bright lighting in your bathroom or bedroom, see if you can change it to a soft bulb – it will honestly give your self esteem a huge helping hand.
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When You Get Out of the Shower
I think we have experienced this phenomenon – you enjoy a soothing shower, but when you get out, your skin looks super blotchy and every red mark stands out like a sore thumb. It can be incredibly disconcerting – so try to avoid looking in the mirror until after your face is dry and it’s calmed calmed down. It’s never nearly as bad.
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Majorly Close Up
Examining your face at a microscopic level isn’t doing you any favours. The closer you get, the more detail you see, the more flaws there are, and the more OCD you become. Let’s get real – no one else is looking at your face that close. Stand back a bit and look at your face as a whole. You’ll realize that this is the way that others see you and the way that you look at others. No one is really zeroing in on the tiny details on someone else’s face.
Okay that’s it. It was short, but hey – I’m in transit. I’m hanging out in Hollywood right now en route to Australia. I’ll see you guys when I arrive down under!
In the meantime, I will continue to not think about my skin, not look at my skin too much, and not stress about anything less-than-great I’m eating while on the road! Life is too short for that, remember? x
Thanks for the pointers! I always have to remind myself to just WALK AWAY from the mirror when i start getting the 10 times magnifying mirror out and tilt it at different angles to see all the little flaws…obsessing defenityly makes me feel super stressed aswell.
After the shower is a HARD one for me! I mean, it’s normally after I wash my makeup off so Im curious to see my skin makeup free and I’m always shocked by how bad it looks. But then, like you said, a few hours later and it looks much more normal!
I keep trying to not look in the mirror because I know how much it affects my self-esteem but it is SO hard! I’ll keep trying though 🙂
Tracy, do you know anything about acne that itches like pityrosporum folliculitis? I’ve been getting really itchy bumps on my face since about December and almost nothing has made the itching or bumps go away except eating a lot more greens and even then they aren’t completely gone. I think they may be caused by me eating too much sugar, but i’m still testing this one out.
Thanks so much for your blogs and youtube videos! 🙂 They help me so much.
Hi Emma! I don’t know anything more in particular about folliculitis than regular acne… but I imagine getting rid of it would be the exact same healthy process as getting rid of normal acne… especially if you notice yourself that it gets better with increased greens! Follow the advice on the blog and you should be able to beat it! 🙂
hey tracy!
im 18, and leaving for college next week. unfortunately, my acne is as bad as ever. i found your website last week and it has been extremely inspiring.
i didnt have much of a problem giving up my commercial brand facial cleansers. they weren’t doing me any good anyways. but im still struggling with the emotional aspect. i have always had rather low self-esteem and a negative attitude. and the second i feel a new zit forming, i get even more stressed out and frustrated!
but now i at least acknowledge what im feeling more often, rather than just tossing my emotions aside.
as much as i would love for my skin to be instantly cleared up by next week, i know it will be a long road. thanks for being such an encouragment! never have i felt as motivated to get clear skin as i do now.
hey sarah! i know whatcha mean. like whenever my friends want me to come out i feel like i cant cause of my face and it stresses me out too much. also whenever i feel a new pimple forming i always freak out about it and my heart beats really fast. always know however that it will one day all be over if you do the right things and we are all together here for support!
This website WILL help you! Stick with it. I’ve been following for a few months now and have gone from moderate acne that I battled for ten years to no active spots currently 🙂 Holistic is the only safe, perminant solution.
hey tracy! sorry that this post isnt on subject with the article but i couldnt find an article about this. well my acne has cleared up a alot ever since reading your website but unfortunetly i went on an eating binge this weekend and found a lump on my cheek bone the next day. im not sure what to do or if its a blind pimple or a cyst. god i hope its not a cyst! well i know you’re going to be busy packing for australia but just wondering if you could give me any advice on what to do. thanks a bunch and you are such a huge inspiration to me and other people!
My advice would be to not freak out 🙂 Remember, if you keep up with your healthy lifestyle most of the time, but have a few slip ups…. I mean okay, maybe the consequence is a pimple, but all you can do is weather it. It’ll go away quick enough, and getting back on track with your health will help it along!
thanks for the reply! yes i am trying to not worry about it too much. right now its just a solid bump on the bone. what is your opinion on this? is it a cyst? it all happened after i went nuts eating but theres no way it could have gotten like that that quickly. how should i treat it? sorry to bug ya. thanks again!
I don’t know what it is 😛 I can’t see it!
Best of luck in Australia Tracy!
I’m so glad to read about the not checking your skin after a shower. My acne looks far worse after a shower and it gets me down. Now I know its just normal.
Thanks for your advice and the effort you put into helping people. Really appreciate it!!
I have to train myself not to look in mirrors. When I’m out, I might get anxious about my complexion and want to look in the mirror in the public restroom under their fluorescent lights. But as you said, that is never good! So I just don’t look up while washing my hands. Made a world of difference.
Yeah, I definitely agree on that one…. if I’m feeling bad about my skin when I’m out and about…….. whatever you do, don’t look up while washing your hands! It just makes you anxious and itch to go home and wallow.
I have red bulbs in my room and dim orange lights in my bathroom. Not only is it more flattering (and probably more realistic as well) but I honestly believe that BRIGHT white or yellow artificial lights put our bodies out of balance.
I’ve read so much about people who claim that bright lights make them more irritable and aggressive and how that ties into feng shui of a home or room. It’s something that I notice in myself too, if I’m indoors and the lighting is bright enough to hurt my eyes, I’m more irritable than if I’m in a room with low-lighting. I think the dimmer lights relax a person.
Sunlight and bonfires good, artificial white/yellow bright lights bad.
Interesting stuff about the bright lighting making us feel irritable and dimmer lights making us relaxed (I guess that’s why they call it “mood” lighting when you’re getting busy)… makes total sense, and probably something I’ve intuitively known as well. I never enjoy it when I end up with a bedroom with fluorescent lights… it just feels wrong.
I totally agree with this whole list but would have to ad when intoxicated to my list. Last night I came home drunk and picked at my chin :/ blehh. Glad to hear that your trip is underway, safe journeys Tracy!<3
Haha yes… good point! Our good sense usually goes out the window when we’re drunk :/ Not a good time to be checking out our skin!
hey tracy!
this is totally an off topic question but I didn’t know where else to put it …. are you sensitive to the cold at all? For some reason, I’ve always seemed to feel really cold during the fall/winter – even if it’s only 50-60. I always have the sniffles in the morning which is really annoying. I’m not really sure if it’s because I’m having to wake up at 5:30 or what …
Hmm.. sorta. I don’t like the cold, but I don’t notice it necessarily making me sick or anything. My best friend does have this problem though… she’s very sensitive to cold, and also has all sorts of allergies, etc. I think her cold sensitivity improves when she’s looking after herself.
Good advice Tracy! I struggle with not looking at my face first thing in the morning to see if there are any improvements. It’s become an obsession, and very hard to overcome. I find that it starts my day off in a negative way, so I am trying put in my contacts and not get too close to the mirror. It sounds silly, but it has to be done, or I will start getting depressed.
I love you more because of this post :*
Info is really good juz want to get rid of pink marks
This gave me more confidence. I’ve been doing these things for years and especially now since I work at home and can see my face whenever I want to. My bathroom’s fluorescent lighting is pure white and makes everything stand out from all of the tiny bumps and blackheads to every single scar out there, it’s horrible. I have a habit examining my face badly at night, and combine that with after shower redness and pore enlargement… I feel horrible. It makes me feel like I’ve aged 10 years within a few months since my acne is getting bad now. I feel like my skincare routine does nothing when I see such a thing. Thankfully when I wake up I look descent lol, not red or pore enlargened.
It’s something about the shower that really messes up the skin…
Hi Yura, it happens to everybody after a shower — and get rid of that fluorescent lighting immediately! That kind of lighting is the absolute worst… a self esteem ruiner for anybody involved, no matter how good your skin!