Celebrity Acne

After reading my latest issue of Vogue I felt even more depressed about my far from perfect complexion. Of course the models in the ads are airbrushed but don’t they have to at least start off with decent skin? Anyways, I started to think that there must be a few models or actors that have acne – they can’t all be perfect right? I googled “celebrity acne” and I was truly surprised by the names of famous adult acne sufferers.

Acne is a terrible condition that affects many stars such as Cameron Diaz, Victoria Beckham, Judith Light, Tom Cruise and quite a few others. Knowing that famous people who are on the cover of so many magazines, on television and in the movies have the same problem that many of us have helped me feel a bit more normal. It’s tough looking at super-perfect models without as much as a blackhead and not feel like you are a completely deformed individual because you suffer from acne.

I found the following information in the Telegraph Online (from 2002):

STARDOM is no guarantee of a smooth complexion. Despite the best efforts of nutritionists, dieticians and health “gurus”, hordes of celebrities suffer from adult acne. Cameron Diaz may be one of the most beautiful women in the world, but she still wakes up with spots. Stephen Hendry, the snooker champion, has long suffered from acne as an adult. Melanie B and Melanie C of the Spice Girls both endure outbreaks. Victoria Beckham was once known as “Acne Face”.

[...]

Celebrities rarely admit that they have a problem and usually have sufficient funds to pay for discreet treatment. “You see hundreds of television and film actors with acne scarring,” explains Dr Chu, “but none of them want to be associated with the condition.”

I guess we all want to hide from the fact that we have acne but not all of us have the financial wherewithal to do so. Speaking of finances, I remembered a summer 2006 gossip tidbit from TMZ:

Lindsay Lohan has been tapped as the new face of Proactiv Solution. The acne treatment, that features such stars as Jessica Simpson, Diddy, Kelly Clarkson and Vanessa Williams providing testimonials about its miraculous results and their personal loyalty to the product, now has Lindsay Lohan sitting down for her very own Proactiv infomercial.

“My skin, thanks to Proactiv, is clear all the time,” reveals Lohan. Two-minute spots begin airing today on MTV and E!. The infomercial will also air on Style and MTV2 later this week. In the ad the actress shares her acne experiences and her personal Proactiv success story.

You’d think that having blemish-free skin would be payment enough, but just in case she needs a little extra dough for her next order of Proactiv, Lohan will be taking home an estimated $2 million for her participation in the campaign.

Ms. DistressedDerma can’t even remember seeing one image of Ms. Lohan with bad skin – perhaps I wasn’t looking closely enough? Even if Ms. Lohan has the occasional pimple she is still young and she can easily use Proactive to keep her skin clear and beautiful. Alas, us more mature women (age 30 +) would ruin our complexions with a product that contains too much benzoyl peroxide (or in my case even a little bit). Just imagine the horror of waking up in the morning to see that your blemishes have been joined by wrinkles.