So when I was about 13 I started getting like spots on my face. And it wasn’t that, like that bad at first. So I didn’t really mind. But then it started getting really bad. It was mostly on my forehead and like I get the T-zone bit. And I started to get like more self-conscious about it. So we went to the GP and he gave me, it was like a dabber like with some, it was more like an alcohol kind of thing that you’d put on your face like twice a day. And then it, it started to work really quickly. So I was like really happy. And, but then it stopped working and it got worse. So then I, I went back again and I got some different cream that I had to put on. Which was different cos it was more like a, like a gel rather than a scrubby kind of thing. And then that didn’t work. So then we went back and then he gave me like a stronger alcohol thing. And then that didn’t work. And in the end I was just getting really like agitated that it wasn’t going away. And it w-, I’d had it for about two or three years and it was just not good [laugh]. So we decided to go to a dermatologist. And my grandad kindly paid for me to go to a private one rather than the NHS one. And so we got like really quickly to go and see him. And he prescribed me another cream thing that only dermatologists can prescribe. But that didn’t work. And then in the end he gave me Roaccutane (isotretinoin).

I think the first one he gave me, I’m not sure what it’s called, but it was like a little pot and you get it and it’s got a powder in. And then you’ve got another one with a liquid in. And you sort of pour one into the other and you’ve got, then you shake it and then you like sort of like spread it. It’s kind of like a Pritt Stick, you just sort of spread it over your face at night. And that, it burns but, you’re like, Oh, it burns, so it must be working. [laughs]. And I know one of my friends, she uses that now and it, it works for her. And then there was, I, there was something else that was sort of a, a similar sort of liquidy type one. But then I had some creams that were, I can’t, I can’t think. Benzoyl peroxide I think is one and it’s basically like bleach, so you just sort of spread it on your skin. And that’s actually quite helpful. I still, when I’m getting spots now I tend to use that. It does have a tendency, all my towels have just got like bleach streaks all over them. But it’s fine. My mum didn’t mind. So I find that, and I remember reading somewhere, because I read on the sheet, it was like Spread it on thinly. And it sort of, it kind of worked but it didn’t work that well. Then I read online, there was someone saying like, did a testimony to it and they were like, I absolutely swear by those who just put loads on and it works beautifully. So I tried that and I put quite a lot on and it does, it does help, but it does dry your skin out really badly. So now, I still, yeah, I still sometimes use acne creams now. But I’ve also got, it’s so ridiculous, I’ve got like hydrating cream, like medical hydrating creams that you use for kind of eczema and things, combined with stuff to dry out your skin. So I’ll put the, sort of moisturise my skin and then I’ll put the one to dry it off, dry it out. Then I’ll go to bed, wake up, like lather myself up for rehydrating and, yeah. It, it just about works though, yeah.

And when you were using the topical treatments you sort of said that it changed, the amount of hours that you’d leave it on?

Yeh

What was your sort of routine with that?

So with that I’d have to put a bit on, like a few hours before I went to bed at first. So, then I could wash it off before bed and then, and that was a bit annoying sometimes, but then the next night I’d then have to wear it for longer hours but still, I’d have to make sure I washed it off before bed. So, I’d have to put it on like earlier, like five or something; wear it till like ten and then take it off and then eventually wore it for the whole night so, just about getting into a routine.

So did that routine have sort of any impact on the things you could do in the evenings or?

I think I could still do stuff while wearing it but it was just quite annoying and I’d keep forgetting to put it on sometimes and that was a bit frustrating cos it is an added like commitment and it’s not one that you feel you always need to do cos it’s not like your school work and stuff but, you do feel bad if you don’t do it and but also doing it is quite uncomfortable as well.

So, living here I have a sink in my room so that’s absolutely fine. I do go home quite a lot, and I share a bathroom with my mum and my brother. And sometimes I guess me and my mum probably get ready for bed generally around the same time so I’ll have to -, we either share the bathroom-, because there’s only one sink and I often like, like the whole sink to myself partly because I like [gestures splashing face with water] probably make a bit of a mess around the sink [laughs] and have to clean it up. Then I’ll probably come back if she’s in there or something, or she’ll come back or whatever. So I guess, you know, and sometimes, Ah, you’re in the bathroom again, or whatever to my mum or something. So, I wouldn’t say it’s a massive problem but I guess when you’re sharing you have to compromise a lot more than obviously if you have your own sink so.

It was embarrassing having acne, I’m guessing during that age. And then just, I don’t know, it was just really bad as you always had it in the most awkward place that you could think of, like in the middle of your forehead, or like, you know, somewhere where people can actually really notice it. So that made things worse. And just like, I don’t even know, it as just like that phase was like, you’re going to go to the doctor, you’re going to get something and if it’s something that dries your skin out you’re not only going to have face your acne problems, you’re going to have to face other problems now because your whole skin is turning red or like is drying out and you’re like, you know, you just put your hand next to it and like a bunch of dead skin just falls off.

With the creams it was just – I think they’re very aggressive. And different ones would be worse than others. So I think with a lot of the gel or the lotion, they dry my skin out really badly and I’d have like sort of cracked skin around my mouth. And obviously you couldn’t really get them like near sensitive areas but if you accidentally did, and I’d have like kind of almost eczema-like sort of bits on the sensitive eye areas and around the mouth in particular. And that, and so that’s not that pleasant. But then I think my doctor did eventually give me one that was a bit more moisturising. And I also learnt to use like slightly less [laugh]. I think there’s always a temptation and most of it is that you use a lot of the product, when actually the recommendation is to use like a pea-sized amount and I was probably using like a handful [laughs]. So it was probably exacerbated by that.

And so what about the cream that you said there was quite a lot of complicated instructions for?

Oh, that’s, there’s, that’s most of the creams that I’ve used. There’s always stuff like, so like, I don’t know, the branded ones will always be like, Put it in your hand, rub it, a thin layer round your face, wash it off with hot water and then pat dry. Which is really stressful. And then the other one was sort of like, Rub it in until it disappears. But the problem with those ones is I don’t know whether I’m supposed to moisturise before or after, or whether I’m supposed to wash my face at all before that. I probably am but like, whether I’m supposed to wash my face before or after in case it comes off. So like you kind of have to work out. So like I stopped using moisturiser when I used the one that you just rub in, because I figured that you wouldn’t like, and [sister’s name] was like, You probably shouldn’t do both. But then again that didn’t help because I wasn’t moisturising. So that left like dry skin and stuff. So it was kinda, it wasn’t very well explained on the back basically.

So were some of the instructions more complicated than they needed to be?

Yeah.

But also missed off stuff

Yeah.

– that you needed to know?

Yeah.

Okay.

It would be nice if they were like, Put it on your face, wash it off, apply moisturiser afterwards. Because then at least it’s just all there and then you know what you need to do and you don’t have to worry about, Should I be doing this? Should I be doing that? Which is quite annoying. Because it’s already stressful enough having spots without having to worry about what sort of treatment you have to do and how you have to do the treatment.

It was like a cream that I would put on my face to basically dry out like the spots and stuff. And then because it obviously dries your skin out, it did dry my skin out too much. So I did need to go back to the doctor’s to basically get some sort of oil-free moisturiser. Because if I was to use oil moisturiser, it would just make things worse again. So then I was prescribed some moisturiser to help with the dry skin.

And is that the sort of combination of things that then cleared up your acne with a bit of time, or-?

Yeah.

Yeah. How long do you think that the treatment maybe lasted for?

It lasted for about two years and then I stopped for a while. I don’t use the dry, the stuff that dries the skin out any more. I use-, I still use the moisturiser though because my skin’s still really dry. So-

Did your doctor suggest any different kinds of treatments that you might have tried for acne?

They did suggest a type of tablet. But I weren’t too keen on that because I would prefer to just do something externally rather than internally.

Yeah.

So-

Yeah, that’s interesting. Could you say maybe a bit more about why you prefer external treatment over an internal tablet?

Because like when you’re taking tablets you-, I didn’t feel at the time that it was necessary. Because I just thought like it’s just on my skin. I can sort it out externally. And I didn’t really want to take medication. So the creams were a better option for me.

Could you say a bit about the side effects? You’ve mentioned the dry skin. The side effects that you got from the cream that the doctor prescribed you.

Well, initially I would put a lot of the cream on my skin. But then I realised that it was drying my skin out too much, so I only used a little tiny bit. And then I used a lot of moisturiser. But I would space out using the moisturiser and the skin that dries your skin out. So I would use the moisturiser in the morning and the stuff to dry your skin out at night.

It wasn’t that painful usually, but then sometimes you’d get sort of the big kind of nodal acne where you’d have these big lumps under your skin and that would be painful. You’d like, they’d sort of throb during the day and if you touched them they’d be painful. So that was a kind of uncomfortable pain. But with, with the, sort of when you put certain creams on or, yeah, or oils and things and they have a bit of a burn, it’s not really, sometimes it’s a burn, sometimes it’s more of a tingle. But it’s that, it’s kind of that feeling of, like if you were cleaning the hob or something and it would just, it would kind of like sizzle away all the grime and you’d clean it. It’s sort of, that kind of burning is a sort of a feeling of cleanliness almost, yeah. I don’t know if that makes sense.

I think it does. It’s so hard to convey though, isn’t it, unless you sort of know?

It’s when it, with the burning you feel like it’s doing something useful, cos you, you can sort of feel it almost, you can almost imagine like the acne evaporating from your skin. You’re like Yeah, this, and then you look in the mirror and you expect to be, you know, completely, completely clean skinned. But it does, it definitely feels like it’s working when it burns.

And then he offered me like a face, a face cream or a tablet. And I went for the tablet because I’ve tried a lot of face creams. I didn’t really like them and I didn’t really see them doing much. So I tried that. And I’ve been on, I’ve been taking that for about a month now. And it seems to be, well, my face feels a lot better and I think it looks better [laughs] Yeah.

So is that like a face wash or is it like a gel that you put on?

It was a, he described it as topical, so I guess it is a gel sort of thing. I think it’s sort of, not a wa-, it’s more of a rub it in. Kind of, I think it’s one of the ones where you have to, cos I tried one of them before where you have to like put it behind your ear to check if you’re allergic to it and stuff like that. So quite like, you know, it tingles a bit when you put it on sort of thing, yeah.

Was that first one like over the counter or was that prescription as well?

That one was over the counter. Because in the summer I’d asked mum about the doctor’s and she said, I’ll go to the pharmacy first and ask what they recommend. And we tried that and it did work a bit to start with. But then over time it just kind of didn’t work anymore. And I don’t know if I was using it wrong or whatever, but we just decided that it would probably be easier to go for like a tablet, because you can’t really do wrong with a tablet. You can’t like, cos the ones, on the back of the face ones it’s a lot of like, You’ve got to do this, this and this. It’s just like you’ve got to swallow this after breakfast. It’s quite easy.