How Celebrities Got Rid of Their Acne

How Celebrities Got Rid of Their Acne

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Rihanna, Bella Thorne, and Kendall Jenner have all fought acne.

Tim P. Whitby/Getty; Angela Weiss/Getty; Neilson Barnard/Getty

Celebrities may have gobs of money, glamorous wardrobes, and giant houses, but there’s one thing they share with even us normal folk: Acne. 

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) says that acne affects 50 million Americans every year. Celebs may be able to disguise acne with the help of pro makeup artists, but that doesn’t mean they’re immune to blemishes.

Here’s a look at 13 different celebrities who have been open about their acne, plus how they successfully treat it. 

Natalie Portman says going vegan changed everything.

Natalie Portman went from vegetarian to vegan.

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

In an interview with The Cut, actor Natalie Portman revealed that she, too, has battled blemishes as an adult. She also said that changing from vegetarianism to stricter veganism vastly improved her skin.

“I cut out dairy and eggs, and I never had a breakout after,” she said. “That was definitely a discovery.”

That doesn’t mean cutting out dairy and eggs will work for everyone. A small handful of studies have found that milk products may aggravate acne, according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). The link seems to be particularly strong with skim milk as opposed to other dairy foods like cheese or yogurt.

Still, the evidence is very preliminary, and for now, the AAD doesn’t recommend any dietary changes as a way to treat acne.

Victoria Beckham eats a lot of salmon.

Beckham has long battled with acne.

Reuters

The former Spice Girl’s struggle with acne has been well documented in the media. Apparently she found her solution in seafood.  

“I see a dermatologist in LA, called Dr Harold Lancer, who is incredible,” she said in a 2016 interview with Net-a-Porter magazine. “I’ve known him for years — he sorted my skin out. I used to have really problematic skin and he said to me, ‘You have to eat salmon every single day.’ I said, ‘Really, every day?’ And he said, ‘Yes; breakfast, lunch or dinner, you have to eat it every single day.'”

The idea isn’t totally off-base: Salmon is rich omega-3 fatty acids— a type of fat that’s uniquely abundant in seafood and proven to have anti-inflammatory effects in the body. But, again, the AAD says there’s still not enough evidence to recommend any specific food or diet as acne treatment.

Bella Thorne tried Accutane, but it wasn’t a perfect cure.

Bella Thorne seems to have a really serious case of acne.

Angela Weiss/Getty

Thorne told Refinery29 that she had tried Accutane, a powerful prescription drug that can permanently cure acne in exchange for some intense side effects. She said that she was on the drug for almost two years, though a typical course of treatment is around four to six months. 

Accutane is a permanent cure for about 85% of patients who take it, according to the AAD, but Thorne wasn’t in that lucky majority. She has continued to break out. 

“When I was on Accutane, they told me, ‘You’ll never have another pimple in your entire life,'” the actor told Refinery29. “They said nine out of 10 people never have a pimple again. So, I’m like, ‘Well, f— me, I guess I’m just that 10%, aren’t I?'”

But she also said she’s since found success with a prescription antibacterial gel called clindamycin phosphate. And she tries not to touch her pimples, which is smart, since picking at blemishes can lead to infections and permanent scarring, per the AAD. 

Accutane seems to have worked for Chloë Grace Moretz, though.

Accutane is a serious drug, but it can be permanent cure.

Frazer Harrison/Getty

“I dealt with really bad cystic acne growing up,” she told Allure last year. “I tried changing my diet and my beauty products before going on Accutane. [Having acne] was a long, hard, emotional process.”

The past tense indicates that her acne problems are finally behind her. And for most people who take it, Accutane really does work. 

Rihanna cuts back on booze.

Rihanna gets occasional breakouts.

Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images

In an interview with Cosmo UK, Rihanna described a simple strategy for getting over a breakout here and there:

“When I feel like my skin has had it, I cut out all alcohol and overdo the water,” she said.  

There is some evidence — including a study of 17,345 people — showing that alcohol consumption can make acne worse, possibly by affecting hormones, feeding skin bacteria, or increasing inflammation. But the science is still not conclusive.

The AAD does say that alcohol can damage the skin over time, however, so Rih’s advice is still pretty sound. (Experts say it’s best to stick to moderate consumption of about a drink a day.)

Her other acne-fighting tip? Wearing a bold lipstick. “It draws attention away from any flaws,” she told Cosmo.

Like many stars, Katy Perry is a fan of Proactiv.

Katy Perry never stopped using Proactiv.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

In a Q&A with Refinery29 last year, Perry said that she still uses Proactiv products even though she’s no longer a paid spokesperson for the brand.

“Proactiv doesn’t pay me anymore — I have no relationship with them besides the fact that they’ve helped me so much,” she said. “When I was 23, I had really bad skin […] I had spent thousands and thousands of dollars on dermatologists and lasers, and then I started using [Proactiv] and I still use it to this day. I don’t use the trio, just the exfoliant and the toner.”

The active ingredient in Proactiv products is benzoyl peroxide. It effectively vanquishes acne bacteria and comes highly recommended by dermatologists. You can find it in tons of different drugstore products. 

Julianne Hough uses ice.

Hough says she uses Proactiv, but she’s got another trick up her sleeve.

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Julianne Hough is another Proactiv user, though unlike Perry, she’s still very much a spokesperson.

But in a post she penned for Byrdie, Hough revealed another pimple-fighting trick.

“If I feel a big pimple coming on, I like to get a really cold washcloth, or even an ice cube, and kind of massage the area a little bit. I feel like that takes the swelling down at least. I don’t want to pop it because then it will be too hard to cover with makeup the next day.”

Popular acne support forum Acne.org also advocates using ice to bring down redness and swelling in particularly nasty zits. And Hough is right on point when it comes to popping: It’s something only dermatologists should do. 

Scarlett Johansson always washes her face and makeup brushes.

Scarlett Johansson keeps it clean.

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

At least, that’s what she said when she spoke to Elle about her beauty routine back in 2009.  

“I have the same breakouts as everybody else,” she told Elle. “I never go to bed with makeup on, even if I come home at 4 a.m. […] And I clean my makeup brushes once a week. People don’t realize how dirty their sponges and stuff are! Bacteria — that’s what makes you break out.”

She’s right: A specific bacterium called P. acnes is one of the major driving forces behind acne, and the AAD does recommend removing makeup every night and cleaning brushes once weekly.

Emma Stone has gotten cortisone shots.

Emma Stone opts for a popular shot.

Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

In a 2012 interview with Refinery29, Emma Stone said she’s used cortisone shots during acne flare-ups.  

Deep, painful pimples like cysts and nodules can take weeks to go away on their own. But a cortisone shot from a dermatologist makes them  fade away in a matter of days. The injections contain a steroid that combats inflammation.

“Whenever it’s been really bad, I’ve gone to the dermatologist to get those cortisone shots,” she said. “Those are amazing. They’re kind of a miracle. But also kind of terrifying because this huge needle is coming at your face.”

The other con is cost: They can run around $100 a pop.

Olivia Munn also relies on cortisone shots to get rid of acne in a hurry.

Olivia Munn has said that a lot of actors use the shots.

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Olivia Munn said she knew “a lot of actors” (including herself!) who get cortisone shots to deal with major blemishes. She was interviewed by E! earlier this year about her own skincare struggles.

Celebrity aesthetician Renée Rouleau told to E! in 2015 that the shots really are a popular tactic for red carpet events or run-ins with the paparazzi. 

Cameron Diaz wrote that fast food was plaguing her skin.

Diaz improved her skin by kicking her daily fast food habit.

Getty/Tim Whitby

In “The Body Book,” Diaz wrote that she used to have “terrible, terrible, skin” that she tried to treat with “the harshest prescriptions. ”

But nothing changed until she vowed to stop eating fast food every day. “My skin began to clear up!” she wrote in the book. “My acne wasn’t totally gone, but it was significantly better.”

As mentioned earlier, there’s still no rock-solid scientific proof that diet alone can cause or cure acne. 

But it’s certainly possible that Diaz’s fast food ban made a difference. Plenty of fast-food items are high on the glycemic index — a measure of how quickly a food raises blood sugar after you eat it. And there is some evidence that high glycemic diets worsen acne symptoms. 

Kendall Jenner found success with laser treatments.

Kendall Jenner cleared her skin with an expensive treatment.

Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

In a blog post published to her website a few years back, Jenner wrote that her acne blemishes emerged when she was in eighth or ninth grade.  

She said that her skin totally cleared up thanks to a treatment called Laser Genesis. It uses a laser (obviously) to eliminate redness and stimulate the production of a skin protein called collagen. This result is smoother-looking skin.

As you might expect, it’s also pricey. We found spas that charge up to $250 per session, and people usually opt for multiple sessions. 

Kate Bosworth combines a prescription and a supplement.

Robin Marchant/Getty Images

Kate Bosworth once told Refinery29 that she’s fought acne around her chin since she was a teenager. 

Her main treatment of choice is a prescription gel called Aczone. Its active ingredient, dapsone, kills acne bacteria and reduces inflammation.  

Bosworth also said that she takes a supplement containing evening primrose, which dermatologists say can reduce inflammation in the skin. 

Read about all the most effective acne treatments on the AAD website.

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Did You Know All of These Actors with Acne?

Last Updated on November 14th, 2021

By Dr. Jaggi Rao, MD, FRCPC, Double board-certified dermatologist

Most people get acne—it’s a fact. However, when we actually have acne, we often feel really alone. Acne is one of the most common skin conditions, and even celebrities deal with it. Let’s take a look at some actors with acne.

Brad Pitt

In 1995, actor Brad Pitt was selected as People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive.” In 1975, however, the then-unknown Brad Pitt was about to start Kickapoo High School in Springfield, Missouri. He was plagued by acne, just like many teenagers. In 1985, Pitt was earning his living by wearing a chicken suit 🐥 for an El Pollo Loco restaurant in Los Angeles, California, keeping his acne scars under synthetic chicken feathers.

Since he began his acting career in 1987, Brad Pitt has always had makeup artists available to cover his acne scars for public appearances. Even today (so I am told by a friend who shared a cab with him a few years ago), Pitt’s scars are visible without makeup. But his self-confidence is more noticeable than a few blemishes in his complexion.

Even famous Hollywood stars have acne too!

More Celebrities With Acne

Growing up a Baptist preacher’s daughter in Abilene, Texas, actress, singer, and philanthropist Jessica Simpson was recording albums at the age of 12. She pursued a highly visible music and acting career despite having teenage acne—making no effort to hide the fact that acne was a part of her life.

Jessica Simpson even agreed to be photographed when her skin was broken out, and used her position to show how well various acne products (especially ProActiv) worked for her.

In 2004, Simpson launched a line of edible cosmetics she called “Dessert Beauty,” and in 2005 she introduced a line of cosmetics for girls she called “Dessert Treats. ” On October 31, 2011, Simpson launched an e-commerce beauty site with celebrity aesthetician Nerida Joy called BeautyMint, and the combined revenues of Simpson’s cosmetics and clothing ventures is expected to exceed $1 billion in 2012.

Sixty-four year-old actor Edward James Olmos once suffered severe cystic acne on his cheeks and forehead, but that did not keep him from winning an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his roles on Miami Vice, Battlestar Galactica, The West Wing, and Dexter. He has starred in over 40 movies ranging from the serious 12 Angry Men to the not-so-serious 📽️🤣 Green Hornet and Beverly Hills Chihuahua. And throughout his career he has played nearly all of his roles with very visible acne scars.

Beautiful and phenomenally talented Serbian tennis star Ana Ivanovic allows herself to be photographed when she has active pimples not covered up by makeup. Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado, known for her hit songs Promiscuous and Like a Bird, has been photographed with dozens of active pimples on her forehead, as has Daniel Radcliffe, best known for playing Harry Potter. Socialite Nicole Richey did not attempt to cover up acne when she was pregnant with her first child, and CSI star and famed actor Laurence Fishburne has had active acne his entire career.

Actors With Acne: How To Handle It

Celebs often wear a lot of makeup for the cameras, which can sometimes exacerbate acne. That’s why a simple skin care routine that is effective in removing makeup is so crucial to combatting acne.

The best way to tackle acne is to establish a simple, easy-to-follow and repeatable skincare routine that will let you stay consistent. Look for a product line that has product kits to make it super easy to find the right routine. For example, Exposed Skincare is a great choice because it’s cost-effective, easy to use every day and actually works. Plus, Exposed says its products work within 30 days, and if they don’t, you can return them and get your money back.

This person used Exposed Skincare and saw results within 24 days.

Acne-positive movement must be developed.

That’s why

While Amir and other bloggers advocate representing people with acne, there’s little mainstream media coverage of inflammation in general. The vast majority of fashion and beauty shoots feature clear-skinned, acne-free models—even when those models openly admit that they, in fact, suffer from facial breakouts. This is despite the fact that acne is one of the most common skin diseases: 9 people suffer from it.5 per cent of Britons are aged 11 to 30, according to the National Health Service, as well as 50 million Americans. And while there has been a more tolerant attitude towards acne over the past few years—the hashtag #freethepimple has almost 16,000 Instagram posts to date—it coincided with an era of light, radiant skin promoted by brands like Glossier and Milk Makeup.

A culture of shame

A culture of shame is imposed not only by those who appear in campaigns – or rather by those who do not act in them – but also by the language that many beauty brands use on packaging and in marketing campaigns. “Skin care products are still accompanied by the words “pimple”, “imperfection” and “inflammation,” says Starface founder Julie Schott. “It just reinforces the notion that breakouts are bad and clear skin is good.”

In the beauty world, brands like Starface, ZitSticka and Squish stand apart as they build acne tolerance through candid and optimistic communications. However, their true motives can easily be questioned. After all, despite the message that you need to love your skin with all its imperfections, they are interested in selling products to mask and fight acne.

“I think it’s worth pointing out that treating acne isn’t always about shame,” says ZitSticka founders Robbie Miller and Daniel Kaplan. “There are other reasons, besides aesthetic ones, due to which inflammation can cause a number of troubles – for example, their soreness.” Miller and Kaplan are sure that most of us have both days when we can safely leave the house without worrying about acne, and those when we are trying in every possible way to get rid of inflammation on our face. In the latter case, their ZitSticka brand helps out. Be that as it may, entrepreneurs are sure that it is possible to get rid of stereotypes only by considering all possible situations.

The sweet spot

It’s easy to say, but ZitSticka really seem to back up words with deeds. The brand recently released a campaign, shot by photographer Ashley Armitage, featuring models with real pimples—unbelievably, this is still an uncommon practice in cosmetics ads. Armitage was given complete freedom to shoot people with different skin types and show them in the best possible light. “This is one of my first shoots, the purpose of which was to emphasize the beauty of naturalness,” she says. “Makeup artist Shideh Kafei didn’t intentionally cover up breakouts, and we didn’t do any skin retouching.”

Wine, motorcycles and Angelina Jolie. 20 Things You Might Not Know About Brad Pitt

Ad Astra, a James Gray project, was released and premiered in the main competition at the 76th Venice Film Festival. This is a cosmic saga-parable about a son who is looking for his father and is trying to figure out the abysses of his own subconscious. The main role in the film was played by Brad Pitt, who once again proved that he is not just a handsome man, but a serious dramatic actor. By the way, do we all know about him? Time Out dug into his biography and found something interesting.

Fact 1

The real name of the actor we know as Brad Pitt is William Bradley Pitt. He came up with his pseudonym almost immediately after two weeks before receiving a diploma from the University of Missouri (Mr. Pitt studied at the advertising department of the Faculty of Journalism) he fled to Los Angeles to storm Hollywood. True, today the actor sometimes regrets choosing a new name: “It’s funny to say, I could have come up with something else! Like P Diddy, for example. I could be Puffy, or what is Snoop Dogg’s name now – Lyon? In general, lately it seems to me that “Brad” was a mistake. Because I feel like the real fucking Brad. ”

Fact 2

The nineties became the foundation for Pitt’s stellar career. Ridley Scott’s Thelma & Louise, Neil Jordan’s Interview with the Vampire, David Fincher’s Seven and Fight Club, Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys…

Thelma & Louise (1991)

however, the actor does not like to remember that time: “In the 1990s, I smoked too much dope, hated myself, ran away from celebrities, lay on the couch all day and gradually turned into a donut.”

Fact 3

One of the most difficult experiences in an actor’s life is his divorce from Angelina Jolie.

Brad only blames himself for it. “I often did not find the right words and did the wrong thing at all,” he admitted in one of his interviews. “I should have given my children more, because they absorb everything like a sponge and constantly demand to be listened to. But I wasn’t very good at it.”

By the way, Brad always considered fatherhood the most important thing in his life. “Those crazy days, when our house was full of smoke, when one of the guys ran into the wall and yelled “Daddy, daddy!”, were the best days of my life,” he says.

Fact 4

The break with Angelina affected the actor so much that at first he could not even be in their common house. So Brad had to temporarily move in with one of his best friends, director David Fincher. As a result, the actor spent the night with him for almost six weeks.

Fact 5

Brad Pitt speaks Japanese quite well, but he thinks he knows too few foreign languages. “In American schools, no one cares about languages,” he says. “That’s why I’ve been cramming French for several years so that I don’t have to be dumb when I travel the world.”

By the way, cramming was not in vain: the film Côte d’Azur, on which he worked with Angelina Jolie, was filmed in French.

Fact 6

Brad Pitt is a big fan of motorcycles. He saddles this two-wheeled beast in every country where he happens to visit, and with its help he studies the surroundings. At the same time, in his personal garage, among other things, the Russian Ural with a sidecar languishes. By the way, the actor also does not refuse bicycles.

Fact 7

Of course, it would be foolish to say that Brad Pitt is a distant relative of Barack Obama, however, they seem to have a common ancestor who lived in the late eighteenth century. How true this information is, one can only guess.

Fact 8

No actor on earth is immune from injury, and our hero is no exception. On the set of the thriller “Seven”, he unsuccessfully fell and injured his hand on the windshield of a car. After that, David Fincher had to urgently change the script so that work on the film would not stop. As a result, Detective Mills, played by Brad, appears in the frame with a bandaged hand.

Fact 9

Quite a well-known fact: Brad Pitt is the only person named People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man” twice. But did you know that as a teenager, the future actor was not at all handsome?! For several years he suffered from acne, the scars from which later had to be removed. In addition, Brad did not really like the features of his face.

In fact, he even began to grow a beard just because it hides his chin, which, according to him, “looks too much like an ass.”

Fact 10

Brad Pitt has always had a difficult relationship with alcohol. For example, he used to often call himself a “professional in drinking” and even boasted that he “would easily outdrink any Russian with his own vodka.” But after a divorce from his wife, Brad decided that it was time to say goodbye to the green snake. “I drank too much and that became a problem. He speaks frankly. “After college, I can’t remember a single day when I didn’t indulge in alcohol. But it can’t go on like this.”

Fact 11

Although now the actor practically does not drink, he is still the owner of his own winery and even produces wine under his own brand.

Fact 12

Brad Pitt never acted with Tim Burton – although he could, and even twice! He auditioned for lead roles in Sleepy Hollow and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But, as we know, in both cases the casting was won by Johnny Depp.

Fact 13

Brad Pitt always prepares for his roles very responsibly. For example, to play Tyler Durden in Fight Club, he spent several months doing boxing, taekwondo and grappling.

Before filming Troy, he spent six months learning how to hold a sword. And preparing to play a madman in Terry Gilliam’s Twelve Monkeys, the actor spent more than a day in a psychiatric hospital in Philadelphia.

Fact 14

Brad Pitt doesn’t think money is evil. Vice versa! “I love them very much,” he says in one of his interviews. – But there are cases when they cannot make people happy. Take one wrong step and you may become a little richer, but lose something very important. It was like that for me too. Luckily, that’s in the distant past.”

Fact 15

Brad Pitt never watches or re-watches his films.

“I don’t like turning around, going back,” he says. Apparently, this is some kind of psychological defect. I must go forward, only forward! Even if I left my wallet at home and I have to go back, I will never go the same way – it’s better to take a detour the size of a block!”

Fact 16

Many actors dream of being in the director’s chair. But Brad Pitt has long been working as a producer (he received his only Oscar for producing the film Twelve Years a Slave) and does not even want to hear about the director’s profession. “It’s not mine at all. When I start imagining filming, the last thing I want to think about is directing. And if I suddenly ever find myself in this chair, it will be much worse for me than for the entire film crew put together!

Fact 17

Brad Pitt has absolutely no ear for music. Therefore, he is never approved for roles in musical films, although he does not hide the fact that he auditioned for such projects many times. And during the filming of “The Tree of Life” by Terrence Malick, the actor failed to learn the part on the keys.

The dressers had to cut a hole in the jacket, into which a person who could play a melody stuck his hand.

Fact 18

About five years ago, the actor admitted to journalists that he had a mild form of prosopagnosia. This is a rather rare disorder when a person is not able to distinguish and remember faces, although this problem usually does not extend to objects, details of clothing, and even recognition of the gait of other people. So if you meet Brad Pitt on the street and he doesn’t say hello to you, don’t be upset! He just didn’t recognize you.

Fact 19

The actor is not afraid of age. Sometimes he even talks about how he is interested in growing old.

“Every day I am further from my youth, but closer to wisdom,” he laughs. – And I like to watch new generations, I smile, looking at how they make the same mistakes and do not learn anything. Well, they have everything ahead of them.”

Fact 20

The cosmic parable “To the Stars” by James Gray, which was first shown in the competition program of the 76th Venice Film Festival, turned out to be incredibly difficult for Brad Pitt.