Redefining beauty; Living with acne

Today's world is more conscious and switched on to body image than ever before. Where growing up in the noughties we were taught that ‘nothing tastes as good as skinny feels’, social media is now awash with body positive women of all shapes and sizes attempting to turn that nonsense on it’s head. Fitness bloggers and social media influencers tell us that food is healthy, that weighing scales are not and that you don’t have to be skinny to be beautiful. So in a lot of respects, media has come a long way in helping redefine societies' expectations of beauty. However, there's a big blemish shaped puzzle piece still missing. One that still carries a stigma of being unattractive and ugly. That is, acne. 

With an array of beauty bloggers out there who’s highlight is brighter than my future, we’re told that golden, glowing skin is beautiful. Anything else should be picked, removed, covered and not spoken of. Anything else is a flaw. By definition, a flaw is “an imperfection or weakness and especially one that detracts from the whole”. So while the acceptance of all body sizes and shapes is now in full swing, the very make up of our skin tone and texture welcomes scrutiny and embarrassment with open arms.