Saving My Wedding Day from Acne

Acne was something I never noticed until the bus ride home from a middle school camping trip, when the cute boy next to me pointed it out. From that moment on, it was the only thing I noticed. Acne went from being my most invisible feature to being the most important one. I came home from that camping trip completely distraught – tears gushing down my face, sore eyes and loose pigtails. My forever-supportive mother found me the best dermatologist she could. 

The dermatologist put me on a 3-month dose of antibiotics. I saw results almost immediately. Unlike most people who break out once they’re off the antibiotics, I went years with perfect skin. I still had the occasional pimple here and there, but the red bumps that once plagued my face were gone. 

I should point out that the occasional pimples drove me crazy. I would skip class and spend the day dotting salicylic acid on sore red bumps. I would ice the pimples until my face was numb and my hands tired from holding up the ice. I lived in a constant state of fear that my acne would return.

I went years living like this – always scared that the next breakout would turn into the acne I experienced in middle school. Then, in October of 2019 – three weeks before my wedding day – the unthinkable finally happened. The stress of wedding planning combined with lack of sleep and good nutrition made my skin react in a way it had never reacted before.

I’m sure you’ve all been there, perhaps you’re there now – on the eve of an important event, with acne all over your face. I feel your pain. When it happened to me last October, the insecurity was crippling. Not being able to leave the house, checking every reflective surface I came across - these became the realities of my life. No dermatologist had the answers and visions of my "perfect day" were now overtaken by stress and fear. 

I tried salicylic face washes that did nothing but dry out my skin. I tried a variety of creams prescribed by a variety of dermatologists – Elidel, Cordran, Soolantra. They did nothing but irritate my face. If you do not have sensitive skin, I recommend trying these creams. However, if you have sensitive skin like me, I highly recommend staying away from them. 

If you are in the sensitive skin category, the cream that helped me was Cerave Hydrocortisone. It did an excellent job bringing down the redness and inflammation. When I needed to step out for errands, the Make Up Forever Waterproof Concealer worked wonders. For school, work and any pre-planned social activities you may have, I recommend the Too Faced Born This Way Foundation. It’s super high coverage and keeps your skin hydrated throughout the day.

Ultimately, the biggest help was antibiotics. They didn’t work as well as in middle school, so I still had a few pimples on my wedding day. But the pimples didn’t stop me from having the best day of my life. They didn’t stop me from eating too much cake, dancing till my feet burned, laughing with my friends and crying during “first look”.

Truthfully, it wasn’t the improvement in my skin that saved the day, nor was it the “bridal glow”. It was the realization that the problem wasn't my skin, but my reaction to it. Learning that I was more than "just my looks" was a profound realization for a girl in her mid-twenties. It's this realization that saved my wedding day.