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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Lifestyle
Jessica DeFino

Ask Ugly: I was prescribed medicine for a zit. Should I take it?

Jessica DeFino Vitamin
An illustration showing mirror images of a woman, one her normal self, the other with her face covered with a mask and pills flying out of a bottle held in the palm of the hand
Sebum is the beauty industry’s go-to scapegoat for clogged pores – AKA, acne. Illustration: Lola Beltran/The Guardian

Hey Ugly,

I went to a dermatologist for the first time about a giant thing on my eyelid. It turned out to be a monster zit. Cute. She saw my severe acne scarring and prescribed spironolactone and Accutane. I have a shitload of acne scars and I’ve struggled with acne my entire life; I spent so much on vampire facials and topicals that didn’t work. In the past year I had reached a certain peace with it.

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