Rare Is Beautiful: BATTLING WITH ACNE || SKIN CARE

However, I am certain that I'm not alone in this and this might help (or not) others struggling with acne so why wait and consider unnecessary negative thoughts? I started having breakouts and pimples at the age of 9 (I know right?) and although it started as a minor situation, it definitely got worse and basically changed the definition of my skin.

Battling with acne can be tough, really tough. I get unsolicited opinions and advices that even though might be coming from a good place, 90% of the time sounds rude and very unnecessary. I'd say, especially living in Nigeria, people and yes, I mean strangers can just walk up to you and say things like- "why is your face like this na?" , "this your face is rough oh!" , "it's all this makeup you're using that is making your face rough like this", "your face is rough and you're still buying groundnut". In hearing such comments and knowing that whatever you say would not change their opinion can be very stressful and also damaging to your self esteem.

At a point, my skin actually cleared and looked relatively awesome to me, I just had dark spots and relatively large pores, but everything suddenly changed and my face was too rough to look in the mirror, I felt disgusted at myself and my skin. I'd avoid the mirror just cause I didn't feel beautiful, I felt like I was the only one with this situation and nothing seemed to cure it.

I tried different products I could afford (not forgetting the products my mum sent monthly) and I would see changes within 2 months but start breaking out all over again. Until I made the personal decision to accept my skin, I wasn't confident in any way.

I have a sensitive, oily, acne prone skin. The sensitivity of my skin is pretty high and just a change of environment, using a pillow case past one week, using scented products, etc. can result in a new segment of breakouts and scars. No one is happy with a rough face, at least I am not and I definitely still use products to fight this acne but, I am very comfortable IN my skin and as much as I love makeup, you would catch me without makeup most times. My skin doesn't define me, it is just a physical part of me and I have accepted it.

As seen in the pictures, my acne has gotten better and worse with time. Some days, my skin feels alright and other days, well you can see the result. Right now (as you can see in the picture dated "01/01/2016"), my skin is acting crazy! I haven't gotten such breakouts in a while and while I try to figure out ways to reduce this crazy acne, I have decided to document it on here!

This new category on the blog is a way of documenting my journey of fighting acne. I intend to post a monthly update of my skin and also review new products that I discovered, my diet and fitness in relation to my skin (you can follow me on TUMBLR to see my fitness journey).

I'm not an expert and therefore, I don't intend to give tips I do not practice and hopefully, through this journey, some might definitely learn new ways to care for their skin and more.

With these pictures, no one might request for a skin care routine lol, but with progression I would let you guys know the products I'm loving or not.