6 YouTube Beauty Stars Share the Advice That Helped Them Deal With Cystic Acne

People who have never had cystic acne don’t quite understand the ways it can affect your confidence, self-esteem, and overall happiness. And given that there aren't a ton of examples of cystic acne representation in popular media, it can also often feel really isolating. But lately, several women on YouTube have been extremely open about their own experiences with the skin condition, opening themselves up in a vulnerable way in an effort to show others that they're not alone.

We spoke with six YouTube beauty stars who have been vocal about their struggles with cystic acne to find out more about how persistent breakouts can take an emotional toll—and what advice they have for other people also living with cystic acne. Here's what they had to say.

1. Take it day by day... and buy a good full-coverage foundation if it helps you feel more comfortable.

“Buy a good full-coverage foundation! Makeup finally made me feel like I could actually talk to people, or at least help me feel a little better about myself. Cystic acne has been a constant struggle for almost 15 years. As a teen, I avoided people, didn’t go to parties or social gatherings and tried to have as little social interactions as possible, because I was so embarrassed of my skin. I even faked being sick numerous times, so that on my really bad flare up days, I wouldn’t have to face people at school. I was super depressed and would refuse to have any pictures taken of me. It’s not only emotionally stressful, but it’s painful and so if you can do anything at all to make yourself feel better, then I say do it. For me it was makeup and hair. I constantly colored my hair different shades to distract from my skin. If you can’t fix it, disguise it and that’s what I continue to do to this day.

It’s a day by day thing. Some days are great and my skin is good and I’m super happy and confident, and then there’s still those days that I dread having to see other moms at school because I have a massive scab that's been hanging on for dear life from a break out. When those days happen, I make sure my hair looks super big and awesome, I throw on a super cute outfit and distract people with those, so that hopefully they don’t focus on the thing that’s making me self-conscious. The art of distraction is a beautiful thing.

Now acne is just an unfortunate thing I have to deal with. It no longer consumes me or my thoughts. It’s just an inconvenience and makes me have to wake up earlier in the morning, so that I can put my makeup on before leaving the house. It doesn’t take over my happiness. It’s like living with a bad roommate. At first you might hate everything they do, they leave a mess or they’re loud… but eventually you learn to live with them and appreciate their quirks that might still annoy you, but don’t completely drive you crazy. That’s how I feel about my acne. There could be much worse things that I could be dealing with. I’m healthy, I have my vision, my hearing, I can walk, and hold my kids. I’m able to do all the things I want to do, so I can’t let acne take away my joy for life. That’s the difference between me as a teen and me as an adult. I had no joy for life back then, and now I do. With that being said, I do still hope that one day I will be able to leave my house without makeup on, and feel happy with my skin. That would be goals.” —Samantha Schuerman, 32

2. Embrace your own natural beauty instead of trying to live up to society’s standards.

“I would tell anyone struggling with cystic acne that they are great just the way they are! You should never feel a need to change due to what society shows them as beautiful or perfect. Everyone should embrace their natural beauty.

For years, acne changed my life for the worse. I used to plead and cry to God to change the way my skin was. I was depressed and scared to go outside. I would wear a ton of makeup and Photoshop images to change how I looked. But now I embrace it. I’ve turned that negative energy into positive. I let the world know, “Yeah, I have acne.” And I show them that it’s OK to have imperfect skin. I show them that everyone is beautiful no matter what society shows them.

Over the years it’s affected my self-esteem a lot, and my acne is part of the reason why I suffer with depression. It’s made me feel worthless to a point where I realized I had to make a huge change. Now, I just remind myself that I’m great the way I am and that I am truly blessed.” —Kadeeja Khan, 21

3. You have something special to offer the world, and it doesn’t have anything to do with your appearance.

“The best advice I was given came from a stranger on the Internet, who had commented below one of my videos. On one of my acne updates, she told me, quite bluntly, that I could continue to live loathing myself and my image because of my skin and wait until it was clear to someday be happy. Or, I could make the choice to be happy with who I am and what I've got. That helped me open my eyes and realize that I have a choice to how I react to the circumstances around me, and I can wait to find happiness "someday”—being miserable all the while—or I could choose to create happiness within myself every day. This lesson started with my physical appearance, but has actually translated to many other areas of my life from finances to relationships.

I would tell others with cystic acne: You have something precious to offer this world that is much more important than your appearance and much deeper than your skin. Everything that you have gone through so far in both your acne and your life has happened for a reason, even if you don't yet understand it. The most horrible things that have happened are shaping you into who you are, and giving you the foundation to grow into who you are meant to be. There is nobody else on this earth quite like you. With your unique views, gifts, talents, quirks, life experiences, and preferences for pizza toppings. You have a gift that is unique to you, that you are meant to share with this world and the people around you. Do not ever take that for granted, and do not ever try to dim your light. You have something irreplaceable that is meant to light up this world in profound ways. Stop comparing yourself, stop judging yourself, and always continue doing your best, whatever that is for you

Although I have great days where my skin doesn't define me, I do still have bad days when my acne flares up, and it gets to me emotionally. The most important thing that I can do for myself on those days is actively try to remind myself of my good qualities and make a list of the things that make me special, beautiful, and important—outside of my appearance. Reminding myself of those other things and ways I give back to the world really helps to take away the weight acne can place on me mentally.

Overall, I believe the acne has been one of my biggest blessing in disguise. Yes, I was suicidal. Yes, I isolated myself and had no friends. At its best, I felt sad looking in the mirror when washing my face in the morning. At its worst, I had panic attacks while in the car at a stoplight, for fear that the driver in the car next to me would see my skin without makeup. But at the same time, looking back I am glad that acne happened to me. Without it, I would never know how to empathize with someone else who feels insecure about the way they look. Without acne, I never would have met some of my best friends in life. Without acne, I never would have realized what my purpose in life: to help others live beautiful inside and out.” —Cassandra Bankson, 25

4. Focus on your emotional health because you deserve to be happy.

“I have struggled emotionally with having cystic acne. It changes the whole relationship you have with yourself. You’re ashamed and disgusted with your reflection in the mirror. On many occasions I sat and cried about how bad the spots where on my face. I wanted to hide. Not go anywhere. Not see anyone. I lost all confidence and it has taken a long time to build it back up.

My advice would be to try and accept the situation whilst dealing with it in a positive way. No matter how hard on yourself you are, it’s not going to make the acne disappear. Being depressed about it adds to it, making you feel worse. You have to realize that beauty is not in the face but within. Acne does not change who you are as a person. And as hard as it can feel, you deserve to live life being happy.

On days I have flare-ups I don’t focus on looking in the mirror and instead I focus my energy on doing something I enjoy. So, I usually practice meditation to get rid of any stress. I remind myself to be grateful for what I have and not to be unhappy over things I can’t control. I will go for a run or to the gym as for me it’s a happy place where I can take my mind of things and focus on a workout. I like to fuel my body with nutritious foods, smile, and dance to my favorite songs!

I have learned how to take better care of myself both mentally and physically. My attitude towards myself is a lot more positive now than before. It’s also allowed me to express my emotions and pain in helping other acne suffers. Knowing that I have helped another person through their struggle, means so much to me. I’ve come such a long away and truly believe it is possible for anybody else to also come of their dark place and see light. We have control over our own thoughts and mind. We truly decide our own happiness.” —Rachel Crawley, 23

5. Have patience, because there is no magic cure for acne.

“Don't give up hope! Have patience! Everybody's body is different and sometimes it just takes time to find what truly works for you. Listen to your body and do what is right for you. Try not to stress too much over the fact that you are suffering right now because that in turn can also have negative effects on your body by producing more stress hormones. There is no magic pill. It is a journey and healing starts from the inside.

I was very insecure about being bare skin with no makeup because I had cystic acne covering my cheeks and on top of that I had acne scars. I didn't want to stress too much about my acne because I knew that too much stress could just exacerbate the problem. So days when my skin was really bad and it was affecting my mood, I would try to take my mind off of it by doing activities that I enjoy doing such as hiking or being outdoors, getting a pedicure, or shopping.

I now view my skin like I do any other organ or body part. Our skin is a direct reflection of what is going on inside our bodies. I try to feed my body with whole, nutrient dense foods. Healing takes time and I remind myself daily to be patient and persistent with good habits.” —Naseem Delan, 30

6. You’re not alone.

“Having cystic acne affects me more than just physically, but absolutely emotionally as well. Some days I just wake up feeling ugly because of my skin, and that can really bring down my energy for the rest of the day. It’s so difficult because I know I am usually an upbeat and optimistic person who really enjoys being around people, but having severe acne really can hinder me from being myself and it’s frustrating feeling like I’m not living my life to the fullest all because of my skin. This might seem ironic, but when my acne is really acting up, I like to get full-on glam. On those days I like to make myself look the best I can, and I honestly feel more like myself and more confident. Some people are adamantly against wearing makeup when your skin isn’t the best, but as long as you’re being diligent about removing your makeup, you’re fine! If anything, I feel like when my acne is covered up, I can really let my personality come out and I don’t need to worry about people staring at my skin and not me.

What I try to remember is that no one is ever looking as closely at my skin as I am, and that we all have different flaws and insecurities, and that mine just happens to be more out there. I want to remind anyone with cystic acne that they aren’t the only one going through it. It’s so easy to feel like you’re the only one suffering and everyone else just has flawless skin. However, there are so many other people who are on the same boat and want to support you on your journey to clear skin because it will happen eventually.

Acne has honestly been the bane of my existence for at least the last 5 years of my life. It’s been an emotional rollercoaster—thinking my acne is cured, my acne coming back a few months later, a little bit of improvement, then back to severe acne—and I can 100 percent say my life would be different if I did not have any acne. Maybe I wouldn’t be as strong, because I feel like having acne has made me more resilient and made me work harder to improve other aspects of myself so I am not defined by my skin. But I can’t help but feel that I would have been so much happier the last few years not constantly suffering from it.” —Cynthia Chen, 20

Responses have been edited for length and clarity.