Elizabeth Endres Finds Healing in Sharing Her Acne Struggles
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Eventually, she was able to find support where she least expected it. “Slowly but surely I started to open up about it,” Endres says. “That was really healing for me, to share with people and have them be so receptive and inquisitive about what I was doing to heal my acne, because so many people can relate.”
Now she has her skin pretty much under control, though it’s been a long journey, Endres says. At first, she was aggressive about facials and extractions but soon realized that her skin was sensitive, and this could lead right to scarring. She had to be careful with products and, through trial and error, has found a simple routine that doesn’t upset her skin. Most important, though, were the changes she made internally with the help of acupuncturist, nutritionist, and physician assistant Christie Kidd.
Kidd helped Endres to get her acne under control, as well as her perioral dermatitis. “I was maybe 70% there when I started seeing her, but I wasn’t satisfied because my baseline was clear skin. I always compared myself to that, which is hard. That was another piece of this, where I would get these rashes around my mouth, and I couldn’t figure out what it was,” Endres says. “They were so pesky. She really looked at my face like a puzzle: ‘This is what’s going on your forehead. This is yeast. We need Head & Shoulders shampoo for this, this isn’t going to respond to an antibacterial situation. Here we need X, Y, and Z.’ She picked apart my face, and we were putting different topicals on different areas, and it really cured me.”
Like anyone, Endres still has days when she doesn’t feel great in her skin. But when that happens, she has perspective and a mantra: “This too shall pass.” “I apply that to the good and the bad,” Endres says. “When I’m having a good skin day, I also tell myself, ‘This too shall pass,’ because you kind of have to bring yourself back down on both sides. When you really ride on a high, then the lows feel even lower. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t celebrate the highs by any means, but I think it’s good to kind of remind yourself, ‘This might not be the way it always is,’ and that’s okay. It’s not linear.”
Below, Endres shares what’s currently keeping her skin happy.
My facials
One thing that I do every month is I see esthetician Nichola Weir, at Pacific Touch, in New York, for an acne-safe facial. She has been amazing, just really calming energy. She would never put anything on my face that would make it react, and I trust her wholeheartedly.
My pillowcase trick
I change my pillowcase more than once a week, because you don’t even think about how much bacteria is on that. I like to keep everything as clean as possible. Also, I don’t towel off my face when I get out of the shower, and this is something Christie [Kidd] is big on. The towel stays wet, so it keeps bacteria—I don’t want that all over my face. My first instinct is to wipe all the water off, and it’s the worst thing I can do. When I leave my face wet and then apply products or topicals, they soak in so much better. That’s been big for me.
My colonic
I also have a colonic hydrotherapy session every six weeks. I know that’s not directly linked to the face, but the gut and everything is so intertwined. I just find it really helps me to detox.
My skin-safe makeup
In terms of makeup, I got really specific on that and weeded out everything that wasn’t working for me. Because my job is to try things, I got a little caught up in trying all the things that we were sent. That wasn’t meshing with my skin. So all my makeup is BareMinerals. This is not sponsored—I wish it was! I just know that anything I use from them is not going to cause a problem, and that gives me so much peace. For so long, every little thing was causing a flare-up.
My skin care
My routine is so basic now. Everything I use is not in the least exciting. Christie Kidd makes a foaming cleanser that is amazing; it cleans off my skin, but it doesn’t dry it. I also swear by Elta MD’s a.m. moisturizer.
Bella Cacciatore is the beauty writer at Glamour. Follow her on Instagram @bellacacciatore_.
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