I woke up in the morning like, ‘Hey, What’s wrong?’ It was not normal. My face was itchy, and my skin was with irritations. It developed into acne. So I went to the doctor, who gave me medication to treat it. It was a lot of pills, and I had to take them over three months. I took them for one week, then stopped because I would wake up every morning and see that my skin was getting worse. I went to see another doctor who was also a pharmacist, and she said I should continue with the medication. She put me on a skin routine. I had to do it morning and evening. I was like, ‘Oh my God, what’s this?’ I had no idea about skin. I would just wake up and apply my oil. But I wanted my skin to clear. She gave me a product to apply once a week, but I had no patience and applied it daily. My skin just got worse and worse. I didn’t want to look in the mirror or take pictures of myself and was like; this is not my skin. Everybody at college was like, ‘Oh Julieth, what happened to your face?’ Everyone was questioning me, and it hurt me a lot. Girls would pass me by, and I would feel inferior. I felt so bad, and I didn’t know what to do. I stopped going out as I didn’t want to bump into people. I couldn’t accept myself, which was not helpful. I thought I couldn’t see people with how I looked. When I was with people, I wondered if they would silently question my face even without asking.

Finally, I realized that if I am confident and let people ask me the questions, they will see that there is more to me than my skin problems, and it will no longer hurt me. It took a long time to accept my situation. I realized when you accept yourself; you can overcome anything. I couldn’t sleep without worrying, and I always touched my face. It took almost two years to find the answer. When I went back to the doctor, she said I was overusing the product, which is why my skin was reacting so badly. Then, at the skin clinic, they discovered my problems were caused by too much Sulphur in my system. This was from the medication I had taken previously for malaria. By this time, I had started researching what was going on with my skin. Finally, I found a product with many positive reviews, and after three months of trying it, my skin was back to normal.

Skin needs patience. It’s not something you put on a product now and tomorrow; it will be clear. I learnt the hard way, but I always tell people if the doctor recommends you a product, use it appropriately. Diet is also essential and has a big impact on our skin. I have a lot of followers because of how my skin got better. I tell them to be patient, that everyone’s skin is different, and what helped me may not be the answer for them. I advise them to research the products they use to check the ingredients and their effect on the skin. To look at their diet and, most of all, not let their confidence slip because, with time, it will heal.

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