Skin positivity – Why everyone with acne or Pigmentation should embrace it
There goes another Instagram feed captioned the famous, “I WOKE UP LIKE THIS!” of a friend or a celebrity that you follow. And there’s some hair not messed by the pillow but fingers, eyelids pretending to be drooping after a smack from the alarm but a skin that sees no trace of drool, acne or any damn blemish! WOW! That’s enough to make you want to have a skin graft from this diva. Isn’t it? “Lady! You HAD acne sometime ago & now that you don’t, it’s easy to blog about it & talk about SKIN POSITIVITY. But NOT FOR ME. So just leave me alone while I hide mine under some plush makeup.”
If you want me to, so be it. Really.
But, honey, reading a little further wouldn’t harm you the way your friends’ pictures do.
“OK, Does Skin Positivity mean making peace with your Acne or skin problems?
NO.
Skin Positivity began snowballing into a commendable & much required movement a few years ago when a couple of celebrities like Natalie Portman, Kendall Jenner & the hugely popular vlogger Em Ford shattered the farcical beauty bubble by flaunting their real acne faces all over the social media & being vocally unashamed or guilty about it.
This video of Em Ford gets you the nucleus of Skin Positivity by amplifying the never-heard-before sobs of every person on earth who suffers or has suffered from acne, pigmentation or any skin issue.
The most hurtful, demeaning & battering comments or glares at your face by unsolicited, insensitive & gross mouths can really deplete your confidence & mental peace. I’ve been there, seen & felt all of that.
Nevertheless, skin positivity, as I strongly believe, doesn’t necessarily mean that you stop caring for or not trying to minimize the aggravation your skin has undergone.
Indeed, skin positivity just means that skin issues, including those related to lifestyle, are not ALL your fault. PERIOD.
When I suffered from acne between 12-21 years of age (BTW, do you see, the age bracket looks like a cliched palindrome! 😉 ), I had people coming out of nowhere to ‘remind’ me to wash my face at least 5 FREAKING TIMES A DAY with soap! And out of the immediately induced guilt, I did so. Only to find that my acne skin now gave me unbearable itching too. And then somebody advised me to scrub my face with a paste of nutmeg & onions. YES, THAT’S RIGHT! I did that too. To smell the thing resting on my face for almost an hour to discover that my face felt like having taste buds which responded to disgusting flavors. Eww!
Acne, of course, is a phase. Or it simply bears a connection with lifestyle & surging hormones. Many a times, it can be hereditary too. If your mom or dad had it in her/his/their teens, you’re likely to develop too.
Why all the Negativity, then?
I feel, we’re all conditioned to believe & trot our ways to beauty standards, which have been configured in our mind right from childhood. Like the way a fairy tale had a customary description of how ‘fair/alabaster/spotless’ the female protagonist’s skin was that deemed her every privilege to rightfully become a queen (of course, then guarded by the King! *Casual Sexism Alert*)
And then possibly every child grows up correlating celebrities & models with chiseled jawlines, edited & airbrushed skin tones with those he/she visualized as a kid. Or even blushes over every comment from an elder that appreciates her/him not for manners but for looks.
Skin Positivity: Is it THAT difficult?
That’s a NO again.
It’s just a little challenging for us to let go of that facade which seems to plot an X-Y graph between our face & our intellect & talent.
WE ARE NOT JUST ABOUT OUR FACE. And beauty is NOT skin-deep.
Being SKIN-POSITIVE means that you let your face the time to heal itself. Not only from the topical wounds, but also from the mental turbulence that people inflict upon you with their rude remarks. Break free from the abuse that you don’t deserve in the first place.
Remember that with stress, depression or low self-esteem, acne or any skin problem will take ages to go away. Our hormones do not work fine under a negative mental state.
While that is true, if there’s something that’s REALLY affecting you on a mental level, do seek a remedy. I did too. But with patience. This, too, shall pass. Trust me.
You see, it’s like a cycle. ACNE affects your MIND. Then the MIND slows down the healing of ACNE. So, what should you do? Just keep calm & take pride in what your personality is all about. Makeup may be there to rescue you from major faux pas, but do NOT make it your armor all day, every day.
I’ve always had some huge inspiration from these women whom I find the MOST BEAUTIFUL people I’ve seen.
SHRIMA RAI
Shrima is a former Mrs. INDIA GLOBE pageant winner, 2009 & a super successful model & mom. Despite the aura of having been crowned a beauty queen, she’s beautifully down-to-earth & bares her makeup-free look over Instagram sans any hesitation. She doesn’t believe in glorifying artificial beauty, especially when celebrities like her are at a bigger podium that ordinary people look up to for inspiration. She’s one of the most humble people I’ve got to interact with.
Here’s an interview I did with her on breastfeeding.
DHARINI
She’s somebody I grew up with & share a strong bond, which makes me wake up to her thought almost every day. On that note, she was the first person I remember drawing some inspiration from when she spoke about her dry & rough skin bravely back during our tweens. She did that while I was busy thinking of ways to hide my acne & even deny it blatantly.
Arin’s (as I call her) influence didn’t just stop at that. I call her the life of my blog & it’s always her that I turn to when in doubt or angst. She’s one of those molecules without whom my life would be a different thing altogether (metaphorically, a compound! 😉 )
Dharini is a lot into Pranic healing & I guess, she had the positive vibes ingrained in her since birth.
SHAILAJA VISHWANATH
Now this beautiful soul is somebody who never wears makeup & needs no introduction in the blogging world. She is what her might, empathy, patience & kindness are all about.
Her humility despite being on her way to a successful entrepreneurial journey is what keeps the flame of life in work burning in me.
I owe a lot to these beauties who breathe positivity in me every time that I look for life corollaries.
What is your take on skin positivity? And in your comments, I’d love to know about the true beauties in your life. 🙂
I believe every woman has TRUE BEAUTY within her in all the roles she plays. For over 18 years across 650 plus salons across the country, Naturals has been helping the Beautiful Indian Woman get more Beautiful.
Today Naturals Salutes the Beautiful Indian Woman.
Presenting Naturals TRUE BEAUTY…
Well said! My skin positivity is not wearing makeup regularly except for parties, carrying myself with confidence and smile
I suffer from acne even now and it’s a struggle no matter what I do. Sometimes things just aren’t in your control. People need to be a little sensitive about conditions of others. It shouldn’t stop anyone from living a happy life.
Great ‘movement’ if one can call it so, Ashvini. I do believe that people should be well groomed but as natural as possible. Kajal and lip gloss is as far as I go! However, that’s not to bash anyone wearing make up. To each her own.
You said it, Ashvini! Skin positivity is something we lack. We were told to hide our acne. The commercials and movies showed only girls with beautiful glowing skin radiating confidence and conquering hearts leaving us to conclude that we didn’t stand a chance with skin not fair enough, clear enough, beautiful enough. Thankfully I had accepted that I wasn’t beautiful when I was 5 and my confidence never depended on my beauty to gather its strength. Turns out that worked in my favor.
Congratulations on the win, Ashvini. This was an inspiring read! ?
There is best advice to treat various skin issues. There is huge amount of acne on my face and I want to get rid of them so this article can be great. I like this article so much.