30/06/2026
I was feeling frustrated because it seemed like my skin wasn’t getting any better. Then I remembered the photos I had taken months ago. Looking back at them completely changed my perspective.
Instead of seeing how far I still have to go, I finally saw how far I’ve already come.
That realization didn’t just change the way I see my skin, it reminded me of how I often approach life. I become frustrated because I’m too focused on the distance between where I am and where I want to be, forgetting to acknowledge the progress I’ve already made.
Looking through those photos brought several lessons to light that I wanted to share.
I’ve tried countless skincare products throughout my life, most of them because a friend recommended them or because they had amazing reviews online. I kept believing that if a product worked for enough strangers, it would surely work for me too. Now I’m left with a collection of half-empty tubes and bottles.
Ironically, some of those products actually did work. The problem wasn’t the products, it was me. As soon as my skin started improving, I stopped using them, assuming the results would last on their own. A few months or sometimes a year later, I would find myself right back where I started.
That’s exactly what happened last year.
It began with just a few bumps, until they eventually spread across my entire face. My first instinct was to find a quick fix. I searched everywhere, watched countless videos, and bought product after product. None of them helped. In fact, most of them only made things worse.
Eventually, I remembered a prescription my dermatologist had given me years before. I dug up the old prescription and bought everything again, convinced it would work because it had worked before.
It didn’t.
Things continued to get worse.
Feeling helpless, I finally went back to a dermatologist. After examining my skin, she prescribed an entirely new regimen. Some of the products were already sitting in my drawer from all my previous experimentation, while others were completely new. But what made the difference wasn’t the individual products—it was following the exact combination that was specifically prescribed for my skin.
Six months later, my skin is still far from perfect.
But it is undeniably healing.
Because I’m naturally impatient, I still catch myself wanting to add whatever new miracle product a “TikTok doctor” claims will erase acne or fade scars overnight. 🙂
But this journey has taught me something much deeper than skincare.
• Not everything that works for someone else will work for you.
We all carry different kinds of wounds, and different wounds require different treatments.
• Don’t stop once you see results.
Healing isn’t just about reaching your goal, it’s also about maintaining it. Stay faithful to the routine that got you there.
• There will always be another shiny new product.
There will always be another trend, another viral recommendation, another promise of faster results. You can spend your life chasing the next miracle, or you can stay committed to what you’ve already proven works for you.
• Seeing a professional is actually cheaper.
“Let me just try this first” isn’t always a harmless mindset. The money I spent experimenting with products I didn’t need easily exceeded the cost of simply seeing a dermatologist. The right treatment comes from the right diagnosis—not from a viral video.
• Just because something worked before doesn’t mean it will work again.
New wounds can look exactly like old wounds, but that doesn’t mean they’re the same. Don’t self-diagnose. Don’t self-medicate.
• Once you’ve been given a treatment plan, trust it.
Don’t interfere. Don’t keep adding extra products. Don’t keep experimenting. Sometimes healing requires doing less, trusting more, and learning to embrace the beauty of waiting.
If you’re in a season of healing, you probably know this isn’t really just about skincare.
Sometimes our faces simply become mirrors of the way we approach life.
We compare instead of remembering. We rush instead of trusting. We chase quick fixes instead of staying faithful to what we know is working.
And sometimes, all it takes is looking back to realize that healing has been happening all along.
