hi, so for the longest time i’ve been obsessed with picking my skin. probably since i was in middle school. if i’d gotten over this obsession i’d probably have clear skin right now, and better self esteem. whenever i look in the mirror all i see are flaws and there really isn’t any other way to put it. i pick at whatever pimples i see, and sometimes it gets so bad that i’m left with an ugly, noticeable scab that takes weeks to heal, and subsequently a dark spot that takes months to lighten. whenever i go out, i have to wear makeup - and even then i still don’t feel comfortable or slightly confident to socialize with others. if i have to talk to someone i will, but otherwise i try to avoid it so that they won’t have to look me in the face. when i used to have social media i would add tons of filter to make myself look better, but i just ended up looking unlike me... you know? but anyways does anyone have any tips on how to ease anxiety when i get caught in a compulsion loop to pick my skin? i have hormonal acne and i’m taking medication and using retinol cream + curology to control it, and while it may be doing the job, nothing will ever improve if i’m constantly digging at my skin

same her

I feel the same

Its a way to calm myself I want to stop too

I have a magnifying mirror that makes me see all my pore and blemishes I can’t help but to pick on my white heads which are not visually seen with out the mirror

I usually do the face picking at night

I started cleaning my face more and using this thing called silver powder from ulta. It has helped me with my whiteheads I don’t have anymore, so I don’t pick at my face that much cause it looks clean

But I stated using toners and they seem to help

Hey there, I'm also having a hard time keeping my fingers from my face. Right now I'm doing not too bad because my skin got so bad, I really needed to do something about it :/ I'm also using a new cream and pinning high hopes on that but I know I have to stop picking for my skin to get better. The only thing that works for me is not looking into the mirror too much...

What kind of toner do you use? I hate all those dark blotches on my face ?

and i really hate to be that person who always talks with such negativity about themselves but i can’t help but feel the way i feel. i try not to bring it up to the people around me because i don’t want to be deemed as “toxic” or whatever lol i know there are much more important things to worry about than this but it’s much more than just trying to look “pretty.” i want to feel comfortable and confident when i speak to people. i don’t wanna have to feel anxious about it because of the scabs and craters on my face, and feel like they’re just staring at the mess i am. it’s hard and for the past year i really haven’t been feeling great about or with myself, i’m really really trying but i just needed to let this out

yeah :( and it’s so time-consuming, sometimes it makes me late for things

i used to have one!! i stopped using it when my ocd got worse, now i just use a regular mirror and while it’s been helping i still pick so i’m trying to see what else i could do because i can’t not look in the mirror :/

I also pick at my scalp just to check if I feel anything weird which is embarrassing because I do it through out the day and it just looks like I am itching or something, which I am not. Just helps me calm down

me too!! sometimes i just subconsciously pick at anything and i’d catch myself in the middle of doing it

do you get left with marks after picking?? they’re so hard to get rid of but they constantly come back because i can never stop touching my face

Yes I get acne scars they suck

Do you have an issue with covering them up?

what toner do you use?? i have suuuuper oily skin and i’ve been trying everything but i always end up looking gross at the end of the day lol

and @maybe same!! i have so many noticeable ones on my forehead, i used to have some on my cheeks but they’ve been healing pretty well. hydroquinone is a good spot cream for dark spots :-)

also if you guys have any recommendations for oily skin lmk!! my mom’s always pointing out how shiny my face is especially my nose :/ idk what to do anymore ajsjw i give up

Thanks abxgail! Healing earth is quite good against oily skin without damaging the skin, have you tried that? I'm using an antibiotics / istretinoin gel right now, that makes my skin very dry, too, but it's available only on prescription.

How's it going guys? ☺️