You’ve tried everything to get perfect skin: herbal face serums, homemade face masks, eating the best food for your skin. And yet, pimples (those things everyone promised would go away after your awkward teenage years) still creep up from time to time. If you’re dealing with a breakout right now, chances are the last thing you want to do is look at a gorgeous celebrity. But what if we told you that even the rich and famous have dealt with the occasional (or chronic) bout of bad skin? Acne doesn’t discriminate (stars, they’re just like us!); it’s just that celebs are more likely to have their skin problems photoshopped away (with or without their consent). Here are five celebrities who were brave enough to share their own struggles with adult acne to help you stop feeling shame over yours.
1. Kendall Jenner: Considering her sisters are the queens of flawless contouring, it must have been really rough for Kendall Jenner to grow up with bad skin. In a post on her personal website, she wrote that acne “… completely ruined my self-esteem. I wouldn’t even look at people when I talked to them. I felt like such an outcast. When I spoke, it was with my hand covering my face.” It’s under control now, thanks to finding the right dermatologist. Kendall also says getting in front of the camera as a model has helped her recover some confidence. The only thing we see her hiding her face with these days are Snapchat filters.
2. Cameron Diaz: In her writing debut, The Body Book($12), Cameron Diaz talked openly about her struggles with skin issues, which started when she was a teenager and lasted long through her twenties, while she was acting and modeling. “It was really challenging to cover them up for the cameras. It was awkward and embarrassing and frustrating, and I always felt really bad about myself,” she wrote. She credits ditching junk food as the reason for her clear skin now — which, as you can see in this recent no-makeup promo shot for her second book Longevity ($10), is glowing and totally spot-free.
3. Emma Stone: When our fave quirky actress became the face of Revlon, Emma Stone revealed that it’s more than just the makeup she endorses that gives her that flawless porcelain skin — and that it hasn’t always been so clear. She tried Accutane (a harsh prescription treatment) in her late teens for hormonal acne, but it majorly dried out her skin. And when she went through a run of stress acne at age 20 filming Easy A, the movie studio had to airbrush it out. She told Refinery29, “I realized how debilitating and embarrassing it can be to have cystic acne. So, I’m really interested in the biology of what makes up acne and how to work on it from the outside too.”
View this post on InstagramThat zit cream in your 30's life. At least I'm not going on the Tonight Show later today. 🙄
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4. Mindy Kaling: There’s a reason T-shirts with the slogan “If I die, tell Mindy Kaling I love her” exist. Actually, a lot of reasons, but a big one has got to be how open she is about her skincare challenges. She’s given some great tips and insights in her books and interviews into the products and regimens that have worked for her. Plus, Mindy always keeps it relatable, like with this amazingly fearless spot-treatment selfie, which she captioned, “That zit cream in your 30s life.”
5. Daisy Ridley: Even Star Wars heroes have been duped by dubious at-home DIY skincare experiments. Daisy Ridley has posted pretty openly about her long journey to clear skin following an endometriosis diagnosis (acne is a common side effect of the syndrome, due to hormonal imbalances), but she really won our hearts with her confessional Instagram video after staining herself yellow with a DIY turmeric mask.Daisy recently deleted her Insta account, but we’re hoping she brings it — and her awesome face mask vids — back. (via @daisyridley)
Show us your skincare routine! Tag @BritandCo on Instagram.
