This Plan Fully Cleared Up The Most Annoying Kind Of Acne

i.e., hormonal acne, which TBH, you probably have too. Here’s the regimen and how it works.

- Anisa Tavangar

Last New Year’s Eve was the worst my skin has ever been. I have a distinct memory of looking around the room while I got ready to go out with my friends and seeing a bunch of clear, smiling faces dancing around— then catching my own reflection in the mirror and seeing whiteheads and cysts all over my chin and jawline. My confidence plummeted, and that moment and how it made me feel is the only thing I remember about the entire night.

I’m 24 years old— well past my teenage acne years—and I have a solid skin-care routine, eat healthy, and sleep a full eight hours. So why TF is my skin still revolting? Everyone keeps telling me I’ll “grow out” of it, but I’m really over waiting.

Finally, I consulted my skin-obsessed friend Ama, who happens to be one of Cosmo’s beauty editors. I told her I would do or try anything to fix my skin, and she said I’d be a perfect candidate for the magazine’s new “Skintervention” column, a three-month challenge where readers address their most annoying issues. She booked me an appointment at Union Square Laser Dermatology with Shereene Idriss, MD, who she said had helped several Cosmo editors with their own adult acne. Our plan: clear up my existing acne and prevent it from coming back. Ever.