Australian model Harmony A’Bell never had issues with her skin – until she turned 19.
She managed to get it under control after receiving professional help, but the start of 2020 saw her battle with acne resurface and worsen as the country faced lockdown.
It got to a point where 21-year-old would “wake up, look in the mirror and just cry”.
“I disliked what I saw and I felt helpless as my skin condition was out of my control and everything I was doing wasn’t helping it,” Harmony wrote in a blog post on her website titled Let’s Talk About Skin.
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The condition also forced Harmony, who has modelled for iconic Aussie brands such as Kookai and Seafolly, to stop work.
“The condition of my skin negatively transformed the way I perceived myself,” she said.
“It started to affect and change my mood. It even had an affect on how I interacted with people.”
Harmony, who is engaged to NRL Rooster’s player Nat Butcher, said she became angry, had a short fuse and noticed her close friends no longer enjoyed her company.
She was initially put on antibiotics, but when that didn’t work she visited a dermatologist who
prescribed her a very low dosage of Roaccutane to help heal the red dots covering her face.
Roaccutane belongs to a group of medicines called retinoids, which are similar to vitamin A, according to NPS Medicinewise.
The medicine, which is only available with a doctor’s prescription, reduces the amount of the oily substance, known as sebum, made by glands in your skin. It also helps to reduce bacteria and inflammation and opening clogged pores.
Harmony later realised the cause of her worsening acne was due to her mental health.
“Negative self-talk played a massive part in the reason why I thought so low of myself,” she said.
She found herself in a vicious cycle of consistently repeating she would be happy with the way she looked “once her skin was clear again”.
“Once you form these types of negative thinking habits, you’ll realise that when ‘your skin is better’, you’ll use a different excuse and blame your lack of joy on one of your other perceived flaws,” Harmony explained.
“Sometimes a change in perspective is all you need! When you have a negative thought of yourself, immediately replace this thought with the truth,” she advised.
HARMONY’S SOLUTION TO CLEAR SKIN
The model said together with seeking professional help, a balance of all five areas of health is what helped clear her skin.
“Physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual. This means that you need to look after your mind as regularly as you look after your physical health,” Harmony said.
“We exercise and eat well to be healthy yet, we still won’t reach optimal health if we don’t also prioritise our mental health.
“During these times, I found that writing a list of things that I was grateful for really helped.”
She said it enabled her to stop focusing on her concerns and refocus her energy and thoughts on things that made “life awesome”.
When it comes to skincare she believes less is more and steers clear of complicated routines.
Instead, she uses just two products – QV Foaming Cleanser for $19.99 and QV Oil-Free Moisturiser for $12.99 – both available at most supermarkets and chemists.
If she has a pimple, she applies a small amount of Tea Tree oil, which has both anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, into the sore.
“I found this helped when treating inflammatory acne lesions, such as pimples,” she said.
“A hot face washer does wonders,” she added.
“We are told that popping pimples is bad as this just causes the bacteria and pus from the infected pore to spread to surrounding pores in the area.”
She explained the heat from applying a warm compress (face washer) can help to open up pores, which may draw the pimple closer to the skin’s surface and create a head.
“The formation of a head enables the sebum, cells and bacteria to exit the skin.”
Harmony emphasised she was not a professional nor expert and encouraged readers to visit their GP if they have a skin condition.
“These are just a few things that I found helped me personally and I am beyond grateful for the medical help I have received on my skin journey,” she said.
The model who has a Instagram following of more than 35,000, concluded her post by reminding fans “despite how you may feel, never forget that clear skin does not make you ‘pretty’ or ‘beautiful’”.
“Being your true and authentic self shines far beyond the eye can see & this is what makes you beautiful,” she added.
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