The Secret to Being Confident in Your Own Skin
We’re all well aware of the societal pressure to look good. I don’t know about you, but I would much rather spend the time I take trying to look perfect in the morning doing something else, like sleeping, for example. We see things all the time in advertisements, online, and on TV how we should be perfectly made up and well-dressed. If you don’t fit with the beauty standard at all times, especially if you have acne-prone skin, it’s easy to not feel confident in yourself or how you look.
We can talk until we're blue in the face about how you should feel confident in your skin, but you won't actually be confident until you feel confident. Sound like a bit of a paradox? Not to worry, though. We have a few tricks up our sleeves about how to feel confident in your skin. And we mean really confident.
1. Fake it 'til you make it
In my opinion, this is the ultimate confidence hack. In fact, it's my go-to hack for almost any situation.
I have eczema that rears its ugly head when I'm stressed, I have acne-prone skin, and I have really pale skin that burns at the first hint of sunlight. During the summer, it's really the skin problem trifecta. However, I don't let any of these skin problems hold me back from wearing what I want to wear or doing what I want to do (although if I'm sunburned, I'll probably whip out a shadier hat).
Even if in your head you're wondering, "are they looking at my scaly hands?" or, "can they see that huge pimple on my chin?" don't let it faze you. Worry all you like in your head, but act confident as all hell on the outside. You'll probably find that people are much more likely to notice your confidence rather than your skin problems. And as a bonus, if you act confident, you're more likely to actually feel confident.
You know how sometimes when you're sad if someone makes you laugh, you feel better? It's the same idea. Just keep faking it 'til you make it, and strut your stuff.
When I feel down and my skin isn’t looking that great, I wear my favorite killer outfit, put on some lipstick, and face the world with my head held high. By the end of the day you can bet your bottom dollar that I’m feeling like a million bucks.
2. Take care of your skin (but don't overdo it)
The skin is the largest organ in the body, and for better or worse, the one everyone else can see. Take care of it with a skincare routine!
Sometimes the hardest part, though, is knowing when to leave your skin alone. You may feel that for your skin to be well and truly clean, you have to wash it multiple times a day. Or if your skin feels really dry, that you have to make sure it stays moisturized at all times. Well that's not really the case. Put the cleanser and moisturizer down, and step away very slowly.
Because as it turns out, there can be too much of a good thing, especially when it comes to your skin. Despite what you may see in advertising, you don't need a ton of beauty products to bring out your beautiful, radiant skin. You just need to find a select few that work for you. And once you've found those few, use them once in the morning, and once in the evening. Any more could confuse your skin, and it'll end up drier or with more breakouts than you had in the first place.
For example, I recently committed an absolute skin sin - I overdid it with my skincare routine. I used a ton of new and old products multiple times a week, and my skin immediately retaliated and broke out. I absolutely believe that our skincare can help and support our skin’s functions. However, I also learned that using too many different products can irritate skin and put it out of balance.
Trust us on this one. Less is more. We promise.
3. Take care of yourself overall
Being confident in your skin isn't only skin deep. It's what's on the inside that counts, too.
All bad clichés aside, it's actually true. If you only eat pizza and burgers and chips all the time, your skin will reflect your poor diet. If you only workout once every three or four years, your skin will reflect that. If you never go outside in the sun and spend all day staring at a screen, your skin will reflect that. If you group all of these things together, your skin won't be the best it can be, you won't feel healthy, and your self-confidence will take a nosedive.
Perhaps the most important step in taking care of your skin is taking care of your overall health. Eat healthily, get enough exercise and sleep, and get outside and do things, and see how your confidence improves. If you feel good on the inside you'll feel good on the outside, even in the middle of an outbreak. That's pretty great, right?
At the end of the day...
Confidence in your own skin is what you make of it, rather than how your skin actually looks.
There are people who have perfect skin who are not confident at all, and people who have half a dozen skin problems and are the most confident people you've ever met. At the end of day, the best thing you can do for your confidence is just to take care of yourself (but not to overdo it), and if all else fails, just fake it 'til you make it.
