(VIDEO PODCAST AVAILABLE ON SPOTIFY AND YOUTUBE) Today Alix addresses one of her most highly-requested topics…acne and skincare. She admits to having struggled with acne since middle school and her skin taking a toll on her mental health. Alix’s first experience with acne started in 5th - 6th grade. She went to a Catholic school where you were not allowed to wear makeup. She tells a story of secretly wearing concealer to cover up her pimples and then being forced to wash her face by a rude teacher. After being humiliated in front of the entire class, Alix knew she was willing to try anything to fix her acne. In high school, Alix was thankfully allowed to wear makeup. She remembers wearing makeup to sleepovers and feeling mentally drained by the effort required. Before she went off to college, Alix began Accutane. She reveals the scary side effects as well as the processes and tests necessary to first began Accutane, as well as the struggle of flaky lips and dry skin that she faced as a result of taking the medication. While her acne was cured temporarily by the drug, it was a grueling mental game that had her off and on the medicine a total of three separate times. The turning point in Alix’s confidence came when she posted a picture of her acne saying that social media is fake and that people don’t always look like their photos. After seeing the positive reaction online, she began creating more content with the same message - inspiring girls to feel confident in their skin and showing realistic tricks to cover pimples. She wanted to help people and eventually grew a following on TikTok sharing her authentic acne journey. Follow and connect with all things @HotMess across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices