Guest Post: Acne Hate

Laura Jane Williams has just launched an amazing (and free! And HILARIOUS!) eBook on adult acne, called “ACNE: a comprehensive guide to identifying, treating, and generally showing spots who the boss is”. You can download here. As a fellow bad skin sufferer, I do my fair share of swotting up on the subject - most things bore me so much that I can read no more - this eBook is genuinely the first spot related information source I have read from start to finish - I think it's fab and wanted to share it with you guys.

Laura offered to share her story about how the book came about…

"Adult acne is probably one of the least glamorous things to talk about-especially on a beauty blog as pretty as Alice’s. But one in five 25-40 year old women will suffer from bad skin at some point in their lives, and all the lotions and potions in the world sometimes can’t help stubborn acne that could have appeared for all kinds of reasons, from stress to pregnancy to hormones.

I’ve suffered from acne myself- and at 26, I thought spots were a thing of my teenage past. Surprisingly, in my twenties my face looked worse than it ever did at 16. As one of the most confident, positive and carefree women you might ever meet, it was shocking to find how my feelings about myself changed as I noticed my skin deteriorate. It was horrible.

Anyone who has ever had bad skin, regardless of their age, knows how much of a downer it is. It affects how we feel about our bodies, our sexuality, our likeability- it can make us feel worthless. And that’s just how I began to feel: worthless.

We all know it’s what is on the inside that counts, but obviously whoever said that didn’t have to face a job interview or second date with puss-filled pustules on their chin. I felt so embarrassed that talking to friends about it was mortifying, and my doctor didn’t seem to think my problem was a very big deal at all.

I set to finding out as much about adult acne as I could online, where I was anonymous and didn’t have to look anyone in the eye. But all of the information I found was either really medical and didn’t consider the devastating effects of acne on my emotional life, or else told me I was beautiful whatever my skin condition, and gave no hints as to how I might cure it.

Feeling frustrated and disenchanted with everything I read, I wondered what everyone else who had acne thought. I asked around on Twitter and Facebook, read beauty forums and comment boxes. It was such a relief to find out that other people felt the same. Thing is, they were as dejected at the lack of helpful information as I was, and so an idea started to form in my mind…

I decided to write the book we all wanted to read.

ACNE: a comprehensive guide to identifying, treating, and generally showing spots who the boss is was months of hard work collecting expert skin advice and confidence tricks and tips. I desperately wanted to help people who were in the same situation as me- people who wanted to feel less isolated but also figure out how to kick acne’s ass.

I tried to have fun with what I included, since acne is pretty depressing stuff, calling chapters witty things like If we are what we eat, at what point did we chow down on a plate of blackheads? And Acne and our period- because that’s just what we need when our vagina is bleeding.

I wanted to balance the serious with the whimsical, and the light with the dark. I wrote it to feel less alone, and to make other acne sufferers feel less alone too. And the people I’ve met on the journey towards sharing it with you have made it all worthwhile.

Now, I just really hope you like it!"