We love learning more about our communities skin journey and discussing the impact it has within our lives. We asked Christina from @barefacedfemme about her experience with acne, heres what she had to say!

What's your typical skincare routine?
I cleanse in the AM with a gentle cleanser, tone, use vitamin c followed up with moisturizer, rosehip seed oil and spf! In the evening I swap Vitamin C for either an AHA / BHA treatment or Retinol / Tretinoin, depending on the day it is!

Does social media influence how you feel about your skin?
Social media used to influence how I felt about my skin. It made me feel so insecure in general, with both my body image and my skin image. I had this notion in my head that my skin had to be clear in order to be beautiful, but now I have realized that my acne scars make me who I am and what makes me unique. My acne scars remind me of my journey and why I am proud to be where I am today.

Letting go is easier said than done of course, what was the turning point in your outlook on skin?
I had to reach the point of absolute exhaustion and embarrassment in order to let go of this perfection notion stuck in my head. I was so ashamed of my skin that it got in the way of me enjoying life, going to class, and spending time with my family and friends. The saying "it has to get worse before it gets better" is true. I had to reach my lowest low in order to recognize that it was time to pick myself up again.

What's your approach to dealing with a zit?
As an esthetician student, I now use my high frequency wand to zap any upcoming pimples. I am and have been a notorious popper and I am focussing on just reaching for my high frequency wand over my microlets to pop. I just go place the wand onto my blemish for about 30 seconds morning and night, and in about 2 days (4 times) it goes away, however it depends on the size.

Acne scars are a huge part of having acne; do you have any advice for dealing with them?
Acne scars are at times the pesky marks my blemishes leave behind to the marks that remind me of my journey and how strong I am to have overcome that period of my life. It's okay for your sentiments to fluctuate around them. Even though dealing with the acne scars are harder to get rid of the pimple, I recommend using Vitamin C. After my skin cleared when was on Accutane, I started using a Vitamin C Serum (Summer Fridays CC Me Serum) and the Vitamin C worked wonders for brightening and smoothing out my skin. Now I need to use it daily in the AM!

We'd love to hear about your skincare journey, email us at Lily@tommiskin.co to be featured on our blog!