As celebrities take to Instagram to post their #10yearchallenge, a viral opportunity for them to brag about how well they're aging, Kendall Jenner is instead seizing the moment to get real about an issue she's battled for 10 years: cystic acne.
Yesterday on her Instagram Stories, the model posted photos from when she was 13 years old, with cystic acne visible across her forehead, cheeks, and chin. "I was 13 and ran home crying everyday because people would stare at my skin," she wrote. She followed up with a recent photo of herself on set, saying, "Yesterday on film zero makeup." The posts come two weeks after the 23-year-old announced that she was partnering with skin-care brand Proactiv to spark a conversation on "Skin Positivity."
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But Jenner didn't end the conversation there. She shared another current photo to her main feed, writing, "While there are much bigger problems happening in the world, suffering from acne for me was debilitating. It’s something that I’ve dealt with since I was a young teen and has caused me to feel anxious, helpless and insecure." She added, "I didn’t think I’d see the day where I would feel confident posting a makeup free picture. My goal is to open up a dialogue around skin positivity."
Jenner has turned off the comments on the post, which is in paid partnership with Proactiv, and it could be due to the online criticism she's received since the skin-care campaign debuted during the 2019 Golden Globes. Social media was torn by the news of the partnership, with some fans bewildered by Kris Jenner's teaser and others doubting her actual use of the product. Neither Kendall nor Kris have posted about the campaign on Instagram since the backlash — that is, until now.
Controversy aside, we're glad to see Jenner using her platform to open up a dialogue about acne and mental health. In a 15-year study published in the British Journal of Dermatology last year, researchers confirmed that acne sufferers were at a significantly higher risk of depression. After following 134,427 men and women with acne and 1,731,608 without, scientists found that patients with acne were 63% more likely to be diagnosed with major depression in the first year after developing acne compared to those with clear skin. "It appears that acne is a lot more than just skin deep," noted University of Calgary epidemiologist Isabelle A. Valerand, the lead author of the study. "It can have a substantial impact on overall mental health."
If Jenner's campaign can help one of her 102 million followers going through something similar, then the exhausting #10yearchallenge might just be worth sticking out for a few more days.