If you are dealing with acne, there is a good chance your skin is throwing two completely different types of breakouts at you simultaneously. My acne journey started in junior high with minor, stubborn closed comedones across my forehead. It was annoying, but manageable. Then COVID hit during high school, and my skin completely shifted. I started breaking out severely on my cheeks—an area that had always been clear—with painful, inflamed cysts and papules that left behind stu

If you have ever dealt with persistent breakouts, you know the late-night bathroom sink routine all too well. You spot a new cyst forming, and the immediate instinct is to declare chemical warfare. Out come the foaming cleansers, the harsh exfoliating scrubs, and the maximum-strength spot treatments. I spent years trapped in this exact cycle, convinced that if I could just strip away enough oil and scrub my skin clean enough, the acne would finally surrender. But there was a