Beauty Industry Professional Shares His Personal Story With Cystic Acne

Beautiful, beautiful, Dermablend's new mantra

Throwing away the traditional “worse before and better after” concept in favor of “pretty-beautiful”, Dermablend's new look and additional campaign is ready to take the beauty world by storm. The idea that you are beautiful with and without makeup and that wearing it is a choice you make every day is inspiring, and in recent months this conversation has received a lot of attention. Celebrities are ditching makeup while beauty bloggers are wearing it with pride, and many people feel they need to take sides - Dermablend, part of L'Oreal's brand portfolio, demands a different opinion - as does its General Manger. Malena. Higer.

When we caught up with Malena to find out more about this exciting new chapter for Dermablend, we talked a lot about the brand's recent event. There, men and women shared their stories of how long-lasting, high-coverage makeup helped them feel newfound confidence in their skin. The story of Malena was one of those stories.

Cystic acne, personal history

You hear so much about acne and think you had acne, but this was different.

In 2007, the beauty industry professional, who at the time worked for L'Oréal Paris, had her first cystic breakout. “I will never forget this,” she says. "You hear so much about acne and think you had acne, but this was different." It was December 31, 2007, and Malena, like many others that night, was getting ready for New Year's Eve. What she assumed was the start of a new spot on her cheek turned out to be one of her first cystic breakouts. That night was the beginning of Malena's very difficult and lengthy experience with cystic acne.

Like many other women in this situation, Malena reached for her cosmetic bag in the hope that she could hide the defect. "I've done my best, but when you don't know how to hide cystic acne and you don't have the right products, you can make things a lot worse."

That night, Malena changed her hair. “I always flashed on the left side, so I covered that cheek with my hair, and if I needed to take a photo, I buried my face in the shoulders of my friends. I look back on that year and in picture after picture my face is hidden, with my hair covering half of my face. It wasn't until I realized in hindsight that I didn't have many options."

It seemed to me that I work in the beauty industry, and I should not have this problem.

While cystic acne can be stressful for anyone, Malena was getting married that year and taking a leading role in the beauty industry, where cameras, photo shoots and red carpets were part of her regular routine. “I had one of the best roles of my career and spent a lot of time on the red carpet, in front of celebrities and editors, feeling very uncomfortable,” she explains. "[At the time] I felt like I was in the beauty industry and I shouldn't have this problem."

After the second pregnancy, things got even worse when Malena began to develop rosacea in addition to cystic acne. “I co-chaired a conference in Miami and went to a dermatologist early in desperation,” she shares. “I was a young mother, and as a young mother I had limited opportunities. I didn't want to take drugs, I was there and did it. In the end, the dermatologist said: "I have nothing more to offer you."

Newfound confidence

This was the last time I apologized for my skin.

However, there was light at the end of the tunnel. One day of the conference, Malena was going to work non-stop from 9 am until early the next morning, so a makeup artist came to her to help her get ready for the day. "The makeup artist was in my apartment at 7:30 am and I caught myself saying, 'I'm sorry I don't give you a lot of work' because I felt that with my skin, how could he give me a nice view? That was the last time I apologized for my skin."

The makeup artist used Dermablend on Malena, a brand she has yet to try, telling her that no matter the condition of someone's skin - from the most beautiful to the most difficult - that when he used Dermablend he knew they would look amazing and that it will last.

“I didn’t believe it was possible, so I asked him if he would come back, because I knew that I would need a re-treatment of about 1-2 hours,” said Malena. The makeup artist assured her that it was not necessary. It was the night that Malena took a selfie at XNUMXam and her face was definitely not buried in anyone's shoulder and her hair didn't hide her gorgeous face. “I knew this was an important moment that I had to capture. You can view my phone, I don't have a selfie, I've never been comfortable doing that. But I was so proud that at one in the morning I felt beautiful in my skin.”

^{Own portrait of Malena "Beautiful-beautiful"}

Fast forward to when Malena joins the Dermablend team. “The very first day I told them I was a believer because I saw it happen.” What Malena really liked about the brand is that you don't have to be a professional makeup artist to use it - a common misconception many have about the brand. “I do it myself,” she says. “I have two kids that I have to prep every morning and I thought it would take a makeup artist or an hour of my time, but it’s exactly the same tonal gesture, just the result is much better for me.”

“It was a spark that awakened a mission and a passion in me. This brand is so much more than anything I've ever been a part of before. It gave me a sense of purpose to make a difference. I've never been a part of something with such a deeply rooted purpose."

Acne seems so simple, yet it is so deeply rooted in emotional experiences.

During her time with the brand, she continues to share her story with others so they can truly see how Dermablend offers people with skin problems real choices every day. “When you share your story, you begin to realize that there are so many of us and we are so deeply connected to each other,” she says. "I meet so many people who say, 'I buried my face too.' Acne seems so simple, yet it is so deeply rooted in emotional experiences.”

Powerful Choice

If there's anything that Malena's personal history has taught her, it's that skin care has its limits. At a certain point, under certain conditions, there comes a time when you need to look for other options, and Dermablend provides this powerful choice for men and women experiencing a variety of skin concerns with a diverse array of skin tones. “My mission is to give us the best choice…because there is a choice,” she says.

One such choice is whether or not to wear makeup every day. Calling the current "no makeup" trend unfair - favoring those with already flawless skin - Malena says Dermablend allows women with skin like hers to choose whether they want to participate or not. “Personally, I cannot and do not want to participate in this,” she explains. “But I can make that choice, and it makes me feel more beautiful and more confident.”

It was this choice that gave rise to the idea of ​​"Beautiful-beautiful" for the new image of the brand. They replace the words before and after, because it's not about worse and then better, but simply about showing people that they have the opportunity to make a choice. “I don’t want the conversation to be about closing or not closing,” says Malena. "Just make big decisions that you really enjoy."

More proof that Dermablend has changed the way women like Malena feel about their abilities? And the last story: “On Saturday I was at home with my son and without makeup,” she says. “I asked him for a kiss, but he was afraid that the redness would come off his face. The old me would have collapsed on the spot, but because of the power I feel with Dermablend - and I say this as a person, not as a CEO - I showed him how I put on makeup and got my kiss."