This was me as a kid. Wasn’t I just the cutest little person in the whole wide world?!
Life was so simple then. I had a beautiful, glowing kid-like complexion (which may or may not have had anything to do with the fact that I was a kid) and all the self-confidence in the world. Nothing could get me down, until...
6 years later.
“Shi, do you want to go to the store with me?? It would be good for you to get out, you’re always in your room.” Peeping through the crack in my door, I replied to my mom with a firm, “No!”
By the time I was thirteen, instead of enjoying the everyday things of a teenager, I was too embarrassed to go anywhere because of how bad my skin was. Always hiding my face under the hood of whatever jacket, coat, or hoodie that I could find, I was ashamed of my skin and eventually myself.
It seemed like overnight, my complexion and life changed, and I didn’t have any hope that it would get better. My once amazing self-esteem plummeted, and it was all because of my acne. I just knew that if I could get some answers to why this was happening to my skin, I could stop it.
And, one magical day, I finally got the answer I needed with five little words...
“I think you have PCOS.”
PCOS and Acne
After dealing with problem skin throughout my teenage years, by the time I hit college, I was determined to live my best life! The only problem was that I was still dealing with breakouts every five seconds!
Eventually getting tired of schlepping my entire makeup collection around because I couldn’t risk my blemishes ever being seen, I decided that I needed answers and I needed them quick!
Then that fateful day came at a routine ob-gyn appointment. I was diagnosed with PCOS.
Not knowing what in the world that meant, my doctor explained that,
“A PCOS diagnosis just means that you are or will show signs of insulin resistance, your periods may not ever be regular, some patients have an increase in acne, and in a few years when you’re looking to get pregnant it may take you longer.”
While she assumed that her one-sentence, clump of a description, was going to ease my nerves, it didn’t. Leaving her office, I didn’t even receive a pamphlet to look over for God’s sake! It all just sucked.
But, regardless, I knew that I finally had the real reason behind my acne, and I was determined to learn everything I could. Even if I had to do it alone.
What I discovered was that 1 in 10 women deal with PCOS, and most are between their teenage years and early childbearing years. Out of those affected, the majority deal with acne. To me, this information was the gold mine because it meant that I wasn't alone! Other women were dealing with the same problem.
But now the question was how it caused acne.
I found that studies show that traditional methods to treat acne may fail for those with PCOS. This is because the acne that comes with PCOS is largely hormone-induced, and the underlying cause is the reason for the breakouts. Without getting to the root of the problem, the acne will persist.
Hormonal imbalance is really at the heart of the problem, and the way that this imbalance differs from other cases is that our bodies depend on signals from our pituitary gland to balance the hormones, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.
For PCOS gals, this process is disrupted and sometimes severely (if you have ever taken a progesterone pill, you know this headache all too well).
Without the right signals, the levels are completely out of whack and this causes estrogen and progesterone levels to drop, and testosterone to rise. Yikes!
I soon realized that the only way to beat this was to play dirty and attack the problem at the root.
PCOS Diet For The Win
There comes a time in every woman’s life when she must decide to trade her heels for combat boots and get ready for war! It’s a destiny that is thrust upon us PCOS warriors early into the journey!
While acne was the longest-running joke in my life for all of my teenage years and into my early twenties, I wasn’t going to allow it to ruin my skin any longer. Going from dermatologist to dermatologist, I tried desperately to find a solution that worked. From chemical peels to lightening creams (because for us melanin girls, dark marks come right after acne), nothing seemed to do the trick.
After doing countless hours of research, I saw that attacking this problem at the root was truly the only solution. And that meant changing my diet.
The first thing I did was ditch the foods that were high in saturated fat and sugar. I threw out the cakes and cookies and chose to focus on consuming fresh meat, low-sugar fruits, and whole grains. Was this easy?
Are you kidding me?! This was the hardest day of my life, but I knew that I wanted to put an end to acne.
Natural Skincare for PCOS
With a change in diet, I had finally found the remedy for my skin! I was finally able to enjoy a clear complexion and it honestly felt AMAZING!
Two weeks passed and then a month passed and I was still acne-free. But, at the two-month mark, I started seeing small breakouts around my jawline all over again. Now, you can imagine the terror on my face. I was sure I had killed these things forever!
Even though this time it wasn’t as bad of a breakout, I was so tired of acne that I couldn’t afford to see any of it come creeping back!
I realized that diet was only half of the issue. The other half was the skincare that I was using. It was single-handedly drying out my skin. That is when I decided to turn to natural skincare.
I had read all about how natural products stayed away from harsh chemicals and ingredients that could act as further endocrine disruptors (which is a HUGE deal if have PCOS). After looking at most of the fancy-schmancy products that I had, I was blown away by some of the ingredients. So, what did I do?
I threw those suckers out!
And, that is where Averr Aglow came in. These all-natural, cruelty-free products became the only system that I trusted. Today, I still only use the Clear Skin Kit because it makes my skin feel good, I know what I’m putting on my face is not bad for me, and breakouts are finally a thing of the past!
Natural skincare products, like Averr Aglow, along with healthy eating gave me a kid-like complexion all over again!
PCOS Doesn’t Define Me or You
Being diagnosed with PCOS didn’t ruin my life. It gave me the reasoning behind my acne and the tools to stop it once and for all!
If I had stopped and just accepted that my skin was always going to be horrible, I would never have discovered the solution.
So many of us have tried countless things that always got our hopes up and let us down hard. But, even though the road to clear skin may seem impossible, don’t give up!
Brands like Averr Aglow not only help our skin but also help provide it with a healthy foundation, something many of us desperately need.
Now, my makeup schlepping days are over, and I never thought that I would see the day when a little eye makeup and lipstick made me feel comfortable. Just like it worked for me, it can work for you too!
