When you have bad skin — the kind that has you in the dermatologist's office every other month and turns your bathroom cabinet into a mini-pharmacy — it can become a little annoying when you get unsolicited advice on skincare from well meaning people. Some take a look at your acne and offer up advice on how turmeric is the next big magical ingredient, or how a simple exfoliate could help set all your hormone wrongs to rights. Even our favorite celebs aren't immune to those tips and struggles, as Lorde has shown on Instagram stories recently. Lorde's Instagram story joked about acne frustrations, teaching what not to say to people battling with skin conditions.
The first clip opened up with the singer bathed in blue and red lights, captioning it, "Acne light with the magical tones." The next two-second video was of her rolling her eyes and saying, "For real though, acne sucks."
This is the part where it gets good. Taking her acne problems in stride and bringing some humor to the whole situation, Lorde goes onto roast the people that hand out skincare advice. While they might be trying to be helpful, Lorde's jokes underline that people with acne have tried about every medical treatment under the sun, so their advice is a tad condescending.
"You know what else sucks?" she asks. "When you’ve had acne for years and years and years, done all the drugs, tried all the things, and people are still like, 'You know what worked for me: moisturizing.'"
Maybe that's true, but one can be sure the person that's been living with a skin condition for years has tried a face moisturizer or two during their journey. Further poking fun at the suggestions she gets, she continues with some of the DIY tips she's gotten over the years like, "Make a mask out of honey, greek yogurt, and avocado."
The next two-second clip cuts to her laughing, "All you need to do is buy an apricot scrub." The next suggestions was, "Coconut oil, the secret is coconut oil," poking fun at all the beauty articles and headlines that have been taking up the last couple of years.
The worst one, though, in Lorde's opinion, is when people assume the person is just dirty and suggest they try using a cleanser in the morning. "And the very worst one, of course, is when people think you’re just dirty. 'Do you wash your face?' It’s like 'Yes, I wash my face. I’m just genetically cursed.'"
Ribbing aside, she ended the story thread on a positive note, reaching out to all her followers who battle with their own skin issues. "For everyone out there who’s got bad skin — and actual bad skin, not just the kind of bad skin you can just use a fancy cream for a few days and it’ll get better — I feel your pain," she says, knowing they understand exactly where she's coming from and the frustration she feels. "We’ll get there. We will. I promise."
People on Twitter felt her pain, re-tweeting her story and sharing their own experiences. "Why is @lorde me when people to talk to me about acne," one user wrote.
Yes, today's mood for sure.
Some loved how down to earth she was about this common skin issue, calling her a legend for her casual and bored attitude about the beauty woe.
Others just related to it on a personal level.
Some sincerely felt like her opening up about it made them feel less alone in the struggle.
While hilarious and totally relatable, it was a great PSA for those who don't suffer with acne but are all too ready to hand out advice. It's better to just not.
