If I wanted to, I could probably calculate exactly how many days I’ve had good skin as an adult. It’d roughly equate to six months: from the end of summer 2019 – when an aesthetician convinced me to stop using the aggressive skincare products I was accustomed to – until March 2020. You can already guess what ended it: the pandemic destroyed any sense of balance in my life, including on my face. From spring last year, I had skin like an unlucky teenage boy, with acne across my chin and cheeks that, even if I didn’t aggravate it, still managed to stick around for weeks and scar.
After months of trial and error, my skin’s balance has returned, but the hyper-pigmentation from a year of extreme breakouts is still visible even through make-up. Until now, this wasn’t something I had to worry about – I could soften my features on Zoom and use the Instagram “Paris” filter if I ever posted a selfie. But the return to normal life has me researching laser facials costing thousands of pounds, wondering if the expense would be worth it to stop worrying about how bad my skin looks.
Content from our partners
