People always ask me why I fell in love with makeup or why I am I good at it. Well, it was my crutch when I was self-conscious about my face.

When I started 7th grade, I was plagued with hormonal acne. It was painful. It was red. And most of all humiliating. It made me feel like hideous.

When you are 12, your self-esteem is at an all-time low, and you are crippling insecure. And middle school kids are ruthless too. They make fun and say unfiltered things. I had it on my face, neck, chest, and back.

I remember one night I was done with all the bumps and I took an exfoliating pad equivalent to a Brillo Pad and scrubbed my face raw. I couldn’t even sleep on my side or my stomach that night because I couldn’t bear to have anything touching my face.

Because I was so embarrassed about my acne, I learned to hide it with makeup. I used concealer for foundation and for setting powder I used powder foundation. I layered and caked on every face product which probably looked ten times worse because it was so apparent I couldn’t stand my face.

Through trial and error, I got my face under control. I went did three or four different antibiotics, bottles of topicals and acne washes, and finally went through Accutane. For you that don’t know Accutane makes your face look like the Sahara Desert. It was dry, it cracked, and it peeled. I couldn’t go to the dentist one time because my lips were so dry, it split both corners of my mouth wide open. But through this I had makeup.

I had my makeup to help cover and sooth my dry and cracked face. It wasn’t good makeup. It was cheap, and once again, it was caked on. But it made me feel better that no one could see my “embarrassing face.”

You might be wondering why I am telling you about my terrible acne. How much I hated my face and how all I wanted was to cover up my face. But through this awful experience, I found something that I absolutely love, and that is makeup. It might sound vain, but I love makeup. It allows me to be creative and it makes me feel confident.

Acne was my lemon. It was sour and made me bitter. But I made lemonade out of my lemon. That lemon that made my middle school years hell allowed me to find something that makes me happy and others happy. Please don’t dwell on your lemons, figure out how to lemonade.