Acne is a common problem that many teenagers face. It can be very embarrassing and soul destroying for many teenagers who are at a very delicate and self-concious age in their lives. With the many pressures that they face, teenage acne can be an added problem that interferes with a young person’s self esteem and confidence. For some of us, acne was not much of a concern throughout our youth and we do not understand the trials and tribulations that young sufferers go through. My sister did suffer and had to use acne treatment as a teenager.

I was one of the lucky, clear-skinned teenage girls in my school. I never had to use any acne medication or topical acne treatment. I did get the occasional pimple and strangely, I always had the pimples right before a special event. The blemish usually appeared right on the center of my nose or right in the middle of my forehead. The blemish would appear, right on cue, on the morning of a special event. For those suffering from teenage acne and acne breakouts then it was even worse as the anxiety before an important event was bound to herald a breakout right at the worst time.

My acne cursed sister had a breakout right before the Junior Miss Pageant and I think that this may have contributed to her not making the final ten when I did. It may have been the fact that she was five-two, a little plump and a little clumsy, but she likes to think that the acne was the cause of the Junior Miss elimination. Looking back now, it is fair to assume, that the breakout occurred because she was under stress. The blemish disappeared shortly after the pageant was over and finished for that year.

My sister didn’t appear to be the least bit nervous before her prom, but suddenly, there it was. She had an acne breakout on the eve of the prom. Covering it up with makeup only made it worse. She tried not to let the breakout spoil her night, but of course it did, although she had a good sense of humor about it. She did put her gown back on a week later to get pictures taken and I dressed up to have pictures taken with her. It’s only us who know that the date on the photographs is not the real prom date! Acne or no acne, she still had a great time. I realise how lucky I was not suffering from teenage acne.

Today, my sister finds herself in a new situation when it comes to unsightly acne blemishes. She, and I, are approaching middle age and use moisturizer. We are a long way past the teenage acne years. What she is finding is that her skin tends to be a bit oily and she is having mild acne breakouts after moisturizing her face. She is very irritated that she needs to combat wrinkles and acne at the same time. It is a pity that anti wrinkles cream and acne products aren’t combined. One of the things to look forward to as you get older is the absence of acne. I guess she still have a lot of growing up to do.

Bruce Walls is a writer and webmaster at http://www.a1-acne.com