Honestly the beauty advice hasn't worked for me. I've been using tretinoin for months (prescribed by a dermatologist) and AHA and BHA before that, and none of my closed comedones have gone away nor have my cyclical breakouts. I use SPF 30 sunscreen every day and SPF 50+ if I'm going to be in strong sun (ie. at the beach or hiking) and I still keep getting a ton of sun spots. I moisturize regularly, but I'm 25 and have had fine lines on my forehead for the past few years. My hands are pretty wrinkly as well and have sun spots despite regular sunscreen use and moisturizer/AHA use at night.
My arms and torso are also covered with tiny red blood vessel dots (angiomas) the number of which keeps increasing. My dermatologist told me they are genetic and there's nothing I can do about them unless I want to pay $500 to have them removed (and then they will come back). I now prefer to keep my arms and torso covered at all times because of it. This is the thing that probably bothers me the most appearance-wise even though everyone else says they don't notice it.
My skin is extremely oily in the summer and extremely dry in the winter with little in-between. Makeup tends to look bad on me because of my closed comedones and fine lines...it makes them look more obvious. That is if it stays on at all because it tends to come off within a few hours when my skin is oily. This is regardless of whether it's a liquid, powder, or cream product, whether it's from a name brand or the drugstore, etc. and what I use under or over it.
My hair is also type 1c which is pretty much the worst type because it's both limp and frizzy at the same time no matter what hair products I use, and tangles very easily. However I decided to solve this problem by having it cut above shoulder length which has made me feel a lot better about my hair. But if it grows below shoulder length it starts developing into dreadlocks pretty much immediately despite daily brushing and conditioning. My hairdresser told me this actually isn't uncommon though.
My teeth are bad also. I have not had any cavities drilled yet. But I do have several teeth with decalcification spots and one of them has gum disease and might need to be pulled since it periodically gets infected and painful. I brush twice a day, floss after every meal, and avoid acidic foods.
And on top of that I'm also half-Italian which means I am super hairy, which is very annoying and time-consuming.
In my case I just have bad genes. Both my parents aged badly but I thought it was due to their stressful lifestyles and lack of regular use of sunscreen or moisturizer. My dad was being mistaken for age 70+ when he was only 55. He also had none of his original teeth by the time he was in his mid-50s. My brother is aging badly as well although he is an alcoholic so that kind of makes sense. But I don't smoke, don't drink much, eat pretty healthy, and I'm aging terribly. People mistake me for being older all the time and I pretty much never get carded. My husband is 35 and looks younger than me.
I did not realize I would only have a few years to look like a young person before it all went downhill. I also wasn't allowed to dress like a teenager before I went to college (couldn't wear any skirts or dresses above knee length, and if I wore anything my mom didn't like she would either mock me until I felt too embarrassed to wear it, or physically block me from leaving the house until I changed).
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