Kiera Carter

Six months passed. A year. Two years. No improvements on the acne front. Thankfully, my zits werent massive, but they were plentiful, persistent, and hard to pop (I know Im not supposed to pick, but c'mon, get real). I had little red bumps all over my chin, jawline, even neck, and as a freakin beauty writer, you better believe I tried everything under the sun to get them under control: RX-strength retinol, benzoyl peroxide washes, salicylic acid toners, and sulfur masks. I also tried giving up dairy and alcohol, both of which have been linked to acne. No diff. Nada. Zilch.

<h1> But then, I had a breakout breakthrough last week. </h1>

I've been self-isolating during the coronavirus pandemic, and for the first time in what feels like forever, my skin is near perfect. Im using the same products. Im eating the same foods (a lil more ice cream than usual, tbh). Im still drinking wine in moderation. Soooooo, is staying six feet away from every human the secret to clear skin?!

<div class="embed"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">My acne all but VANISHED during self-isolation. Does that mean, ummm, ~people~ make me break out?&mdash; Kiera Carter (@KieraMCarter) <a href="https://twitter.com/KieraMCarter/status/1250400900016898059?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 15, 2020</a></blockquote>
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My acne all but VANISHED during self-isolation. Does that mean, ummm, ~people~ make me break out? Kiera Carter (@KieraMCarter)

Probs not. This time of social distancing has been stressful, but you can also take time you normally never have to care for your skin, says Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. Your skin may actually be healthier without the demands of normal life.

Here's my derm-backed theories explaining why my skin is thriving:

<h1> I used to be an A.M. workout all-star. Now, Im a sleep champion. </h1>

Do they give out medals for sleep? Because I deserve one. I used to wake up at 5:30am almost every morning to make it to a fitness class by 7:00, sometimes earlier. I loved this routine, but now that my entire life exists under one roof, I have no reason to wake up crazy-early. I used to dash to the gym or risk a late fee or the threat of burpees/public shaming. But the trainer in my basement (jk, its just me in different leggings) DGAF what time I show up to my workout. Class is in session whenever I say it is.

Coupled with super chill evenings (no happy hours or commute!), Ive been sleeping a ton. My Fitbit data confirms that Im logging nearly nine hours a night. One night, I even hit 9 hours and 57 minutesalmost a full ten!a real sleep PR. (FYI: Im not alone in this.)

Your cortisol levels naturally decrease when you sleep, then start to rise again when you wake up, Dr. Zeichner says. That means your body is continuously exposed to high cortisol levels if you aren't sleeping enough, which creates an effect similar to stress, Dr. Zeichner says. More on that next...

<h1> My stress levels are...different. </h1>

Am I stressed out that people are dying? That the stock market is garbage? That millions of people filed for unemployment? Of course. I think about these things constantly, but my general stress philosophy is to only worry about things I can change. (I know this is easier said than done, but Ive crafted this very important skill-set during crucial developmental years as a kid with fighting parents, and its served me well.) So while I do worry about staying six feet away from everyone at the grocery store, a thing I can control, I generally just stay home and try to take it one day at a time. Thats all to say, my life is pretty low pressure at the moment, and I think my skin has shifted as a result.

Your skin may actually be healthier without the demands of normal life.

Cortisol production is stimulated by a hormone released from your brain telling your adrenal glands to make more, Dr. Zeichner says. At the same time, this hormone also binds to your oil glands, turning them on so that they produce more pore-blocking oil, making acne flare up, says Dr. Zeichner. So, less stress could indeed mean less of this hormone, meaning fewer breakouts.

The question is, can I keep this up when this is all over? I wont be able to control the stressors that await me in the real world, but Ill at least be prioritizing sleep...and certainly not stressing about a little ice cream here and there.

My Skin Cleared Up During Self-Quarantine

Ive struggled with acne most of my life, but it really became an issue when I switched birth control a couple years ago. I thought my hormones would regulate eventually and it would all go back to normal. But I was wrong. So, so wrong.

'I’ve Been Self-Isolating For The Last Month—And, OMG, My Acne Has Disappeared'

Instead, I was the kid put on shade breaksour ancestry differences radiating like my sunburn.

It feels wrong to fight my features, now that I know the unique combination of places that make me me.

While most people can use family and ancestry interchangeably, the two words are pretty distinct if youre adopted, as I am. When it comes to the former, I couldnt ask for more. I have loving parents who worked hard to give me every opportunity they could afford, including beach vacations complete with all the Coppertone Kids I needed.

But growing up in the 90s and 00s, my ancestryi.e., the unique combo of genes (and people) that makes me who I amwas a question mark. After all, every one of my features (the tiny red flecks in my hair, my slightly crooked smile) is a combination of thousands of people over thousands of years, the people they were attracted to, the decisions they made. The way I saw it, to not know anything about them is to not know myself.

'Taking A DNA Test Helped Me Embrace My Pale Skin'

Fast-forward a couple of (very tech-driven) decades, and a quick saliva sample can trace your ancestry up to a thousand years ago, connecting you with people who share your DNA. AncestryDNA can pinpoint your origins down to the county ($99, ancestry.com), and 23andMe says 95 percent of customers match with a third cousin or closer ($199 for the full ancestry and health report, $99 for ancestry only; 23andme.com).

Thats how Amanda, a 32-year-old human resources generalist in Kalamazoo, Michiganalso adopted at birthfound her biological family. She took a 23andMe test, and a month later, she received a notification saying she had a new relative in the database: Leisa, her birth mother.

Shortly after, Amanda met Leisa, plus Amandas two biological sisters, Devyn and Brittany, who traveled all the way from Arizona to Chicago for the meeting. They had spoken on the phone, but Amanda was anxious leading up to the IRL chat. What would they talk about in person? What if it was super intense? Or worse, uncomfortable?

Connecting with my biological family made me want to expose the features we share.

It was neither. We spent the first couple of hours staring at each other, comparing our skin tone, eyes, and freckles, she says. Previously, I never had a reason to compare features with someone and think I might find similarities.

In a way, their on-the-surface things in common served as an icebreaker. I could tell we shared many personality traits from our phone conversations, but I didnt expect wed be practically braiding each others hair within the first 10 minutes, she says. Typically, when youre observing someone, you have to be discreet, but we were blatantly ogling one another. And there were certainly no awkward silences!

Seeing her features reflected back at her helped Amanda view her flaws differentlyfondly. Ive never been a fan of my ears, which are a little pointy, but now that I see them on people I care about, I think, Yeah, theyre a little elfy, but also kind of cute, she says.

She wears less makeup now too. I used to wear a full face of makeup, even to the grocery store, Amanda says. But connecting with my biological family made me want to expose the features we share. I remember being amazed at how pretty Devyn looked without eyeliner and thinking maybe I could pull that off too.

Dendy Engelman, MD, director of dermatologic surgery at Metropolitan Hospital in New York City, notes that DNA tests are partially driving the natural-beauty trend. Most of the time, were looking for a justification for our skin struggles or an explanation of our features, she says. Its easier to accept things we can explain.

\"We reclaim some of our dignity when we learn more about them.\"

Courtney, a 29-year-old communications director based in California, says the results of her AncestryDNA test (shes from Ghana, Nigeria, Scotland, and Ireland) inspired a back-to-basics shift in her beauty routine. It feels wrong to fight my features now that I know the unique combination of places that make me me, she says.

That means embracing her freckles and rocking her natural curls instead of chemically straightening them into oblivion. So many African Americans came to this country as slaves, so we dont know many specifics and just get pigeonholed as black, she says. But when AncestryDNA traced her lineage down to a specific tribe in Ghana, she felt a supreme sense of pride. Our ancestors were taken from their culture and families, then they came over and built another country. We reclaim some of our dignity when we learn more about them. For Courtney, that dignity showed itself in surprising ways: I believe my hair is beautiful in a way I didnt before.

As for me? After years of wondering where I come from, I learned that Im almost allllll Irish/English. Granted, this was always my theory, given my pale skin and the fact that three people asked me for directions the last time I was in Ireland. But somehow, confirming my backgroundeven discovering that my ancestors likely came to the U.S. during the faminehas given me a new appreciation for who I am and what I look like.

I found myself wanting to highlight the auburn undertones in my hair instead of drowning them in dark dye as I usually do, and I miss the freckles that sent me into the shade as a kid but faded over the years.

I appreciate my features more as I get to know the women I share them withas if my smile is not mine alone to hate.

Its almost as if hating my features is disrespectful to those who came before me: the people who traveled an ocean to make a new life in America, the 1,138 people who share my DNA on 23andMe, and my biological mother, who I eventually connected with on Facebook. Yep, I knew her full name, so it was only a matter of time before social media became a thing and I put my very refined millennial stalking skills to good use.

I look a lot like my birth mother, and the biggest shock was seeing my featuresespecially my smile, which makes my cheeks puff out in a way I never really lovedmirrored in her profile picture. It turns out, I can 100 percent relate to Amandas evolving relationship with her elfy ears: I appreciate my features more as I get to know the women I share them withas if my smile is not mine alone to hate. I still have a bone to pick about my premature grays, though. And Ill forever believe in the power of sunscreen. (I guess my mom was right about that after all.)

Even if you think you know your ancestry details, there are still lessons to learn from doing a deep dive into your genetics. Pathway SkinFIT (and SkinIQ), a DNA kit that launched last year, can help determine your predisposition to issues like advanced photoaging, dry skin, and sunspots ($129, pathway.com). And the DNA test Vitagene has a skin report that evaluates your genetic risk for certain skin conditions ($99, vitagene.com).

In a lot of families, ethnicity is a game of telephone played over generations, and some things get lost, says Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of cosmetic and clinical research at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. That can be a problem, because your background influences your risk for eczema, psoriasis, and hyperpigmentation, and you cant always tell by looking in the mirror. Although its best to take your results with a grain of salt, they can motivate you to take tighter control of your regimen. Win!

This article originally appeared in the October 2019 issue of Women's Health.

My mother had her work cut out for her when it came to protecting her only daughter, me, from sunburns and skin cancer. For starters, Im paler than any white-sand beach Ive ever stepped on. And when I was a child, every time she tried to reapply my sunscreen, Id sprint straight into the ocean, where I knew shed never chase me. As an adult, Im grateful for my mothers dedication to SPF (no sunspots!). But when I was younger, I wanted to be tan like the olive-skinned Sicilian women in my family,...

'Taking A DNA Test Helped Me Find My Biological Family—And Embrace My Pale Skin'

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Kiera Carter

Articles written by the author

'I’ve Been Self-Isolating For The Last Month—And, OMG, My Acne Has Disappeared'

'Taking A DNA Test Helped Me Find My Biological Family—And Embrace My Pale Skin'