Me, Myself & Acne

Well Hello there! I have been away for ages so I just want to sincerely apologise for that. Life has been absolutely hectic and I've not even done anything!

   I hate not being able to prioritise blogging as I abolutely love it but life has just taken over and that's sad for me to say BUT I am now back. I know you've missed me loads right?! *blushes*.   Anyway I am back with quite a personal blog about my struggles with acne throughout my teenage years. It is a topic which I have dodged for as long as I possibly can and now I am speaking out!     I have struggled with acne for my whole teenage life. Acne came to me as a compulsary part of puberty which I had to deal with and learn to manage just as my hormones were going up and down like a yoyo which, if you know anything about acne, isn't the nicest of situations.   I think that my acne was probably at it's worst when I was around 15. This was when I really struggled. Boys were becoming part of my life and I was starting to get bullied because of the "chiken pox" on my face. I literally felt that there was no one else in this whole world that struggled with acne like I did. When all your friends have beautiful skin,  it's really hard to feel that it's "just a phase which everyone goes through". Friends would get the occasional break out but it was nothing compared to the sore skin which I went through. I would get angry at myself for envying my friends. This is when I started to pick at my skin. I would pick and scratch to try and get rid of the dry spots. It's probably the worst thing I could have ever done as now I will be left with the scarring for the rest of my life so I really don't reccomend any one who is going through acne to pick. However I do know that at the time it seems like the only way to get rid of the spots/scabs.

I would say the hardest part of being a teenager with acne is the pressure these days to always look good. There's always something whether it's the fact that you've but on a bit too much weight so now the top of your thighs are touching or the fact that everybody's skin was just so perfect and mine looked like the himalayas. It made me so self concious, I never ever left the house without make up on, I wouldn't even answer the door to the post man if I didn't have at least foundation on to cover my skin. I would be so scared at sleepovers with my friends that when I woke up they would judge me because my make up would have worn off over night and they would truley see the 'state' of my face. Don't even get me started on trying to talk/interact with boys.

 

I actually went through a horrible experience with a boy who I liked a lot when I was about 14. He was my first kiss and to any girl, the boy you share your first kiss with is a special one. He actually bullied me slightly because of my skin. He grew up to be lovely and we were quite good friends towards the end of high school but he did bully me about my skin which you can imaging did not help my confidence on the boy front. It was hard for me to be myself around boys as I was alwasy contious of what they would think of my face. It wasn't until I left school really that my confidence grew. I met a new group of friends and a lovely boy who brought me out of my shell and I do truly believe that he made me who I am today. Nothing worked out romantically with him and we just parted as good friends now, it was sad but it also lead me to D who I could not be happier with.

 

When I was growing up, I never thought I would be able to let a boy into my life as much as I do with D. I don't really feel obliged to wear make up around him even though I would prefer to wear it, sometimes I just can't be bothered and that's totally fine. The fact that a boy can even look/kiss/call me beautiful when I'm not hiding behind a make up mask is all that I could ever have wished for, to feel totally accepted as myself. I actually went out in public the other day with nothing but some moisturiser and a bit of powder on my face and I was totally fine - go me!

 

So, now for the advice. If you are a teenager struggling with acne the best thing I can recommend is go and see your doctor. I actually didn't go and see a doctor until I was nearly 16, after I realised that there was literally nothing over the counter that was working for me. My skin was sore and it was starting to scar. I put it off for so long because I was nervous and didn't really think that a doctor would be able to do anything for me, I was totally wrong.

Now I'm not saying that you're going to go to the doctor, get one tablet and some cream and it's all going to go away. It's taken me ages to find the tablet that has worked best for me and I do still get some small break outs, nothing sore or scabby like I did growing up but they still happen. You have to try different things, every person is so different and their skin and bodies require different things. However you're never going to find out what your skin needs if you don't go and speak to your doctor. I also now have a dermotologist who is really good at giving me tips and everyday techniques which I can do to help control my skin, so if you've not already seen a dermotologist, definately give that a go as well.

 

Please just don't suffer in silence, there are so many people who struggle with acne and people just don't hear about it. I will do a post with the best make-up and tips of things to help control your skin but for now, this has been my story.

 

If you have any questions about dealing with acne or any tips to help keep break outs to a minimum, please leave a comment, I would love to hear from you all!

 

To close, have a confident selfie of my naked face! (First naked face selfie I have ever put on the internet - feel privaliged!)

 

Love, 

Tips From A Beginner, To A Beginner!

Happy Wednesday lovelies. Today is a landmark day in the world of Trixybelle, a very tiny landmark, but a landmark all the same!    So this is my 10th post *little cheer* my first very small scale blogging achievement. And even though in the blogging world it is a small achievement, it's an achievement to me! 

So to celebrate my little achievement, I thought I would share some tips of what I have learnt so far being a beginner in the blogging world, to anyone out there who is just starting out as well!    1. Go For it!  When I first started out I wasn't really sure if blogging was the thing for me, I didn't really have a niche or a set topic so I thought I would just be trying to write about things but people wouldn't care and no one would read. However I was totally wrong. Although sometimes I do get worried that I am going slightly under the radar, it's all about getting yourself out there, social media will become your best friend! If I do get slightly down about not getting noticed, I remember how much I love blogging. I love being able to be me and people read about things I love and getting good feedback on a post you've written is a really encouraging feeling! If you're reading this thinking about blogging but are not sure it is something for you, just do it, go for it! It's the best thing I have ever done and when I look back to the beginning of my journey I really wouldn't change anything. Be who you are, blog about what you want and readers will enjoy anything. You will be surprised at what people actually want to read about on the internet! 

Or Guy...

2. Get Glipho

One of the best tips I have received so far is to join Glipho. It is a social site where you can promote your blog and get it noticed more. You can choose a category which best suits your blog post so it gets trending more on the site. All you have to do is import your posts on to the site. It's a really easy site to use and a great way to connect with other bloggers like you and also do some great self promoting! Also if you share your post on twitter through Glipho, the team are great at promoting your blog for you so they will retweet your tweet or do a tweet for you, promoting your new post. Really easy to use and it has kept me blogging, otherwise I really would feel like I was slipping under the radar. There are other sites like Glipho, for example Bloglovin' which I have signed up for but don't actually use as I feel it's slightly over complicated and Glipho is a lot easier to use in my opinion, but for more views I would recommend having both as the more sights you share your blog on, the more you'll get noticed. 

3. Don't be scared of being you.

Something which really shocked me being a blogger was how much people actually like to read something which seems more personal. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there, if you have an idea of a post which you think you would like to read - majority of the time, this means that someone else will want to read it too!  Obviously I'm not saying throw your whole life out there but I know that I love reading blog posts which are a little bit personal to someone, it's great feeling like you're getting to know the writer without even talking to them. So if you are thinking of doing a personal blog but you're worried that people wont want to read it, don't be, referring back to my first point - Go for it! 

4. Twitter

Twitter is really really useful for bloggers. The use of the # is really key for getting your blog noticed for example #fbloggers #bbloggers #lbloggers are the main tags to use for fashion, beauty and lifestyle bloggers, I know that I follow what goes on so other people definitely will be. It's great to get your blog out there. Also twitter communities are great, there are a couple of chats which you can follow through the week for example - #fblchat, #bloggerspace  are a couple of chats which go on during the week, you can follow these on twitter and get chatting. I've met loads of new people through the chats and again - a great way to get your blog out there and noticed. Also people on twitter are lovely so any questions which you have about the blogging world, I have always found the answer through asking these chats, everyone is always glad to help and you can learn loads of cool tips and tricks of the trade! Take a look, #fblchat every Tuesday night 8pm - 9pm. #bloggerspace every Thursday night 7pm - 8pm. 

Images Images Images! 

The best blogs to read in my opinion are the ones which have lots of images. They are a great way of breaking up text so that people don't get put of my large amounts of essay like text when they log onto your blog! And they can make your blog look great and also add a sense of humour, everybody loves a good meme right?! Google is your oyster, have a look at anything you like, I could spend hours looking at Google images collecting funny little images for my blog, it's great. Not just Google either, images can be used to make your blog seem more personal by adding a quick selfie or a picture of something you've recently done/somewhere you've been! 

I hope my tips have been helpful to you and if you are thinking of blogging but not sure, go for it, it's the best thing you'll ever do! 

I hope the next 10 posts of mine will keep me going strong as a blogger and I'm sure there will be many stories to come, you can follow my journey to becoming a successful blogger right here! See you soon!