Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think teenage skin isn’t a thing anymore?!

95 replies

ShitOnItt · 16/12/2018 10:58

I was out for the day yesterday Christmas shopping in a big city, so obviously lots of teenagers around and I couldn’t believe how much completely clear and flawless skin I saw! I don’t think I saw anyone with the oily spot prone skin I (and lots of my friends) had as a teen.

Has teenage skin been cured??

OP posts:
hairypaws · 16/12/2018 11:26

My poor 16 year old has only just started getting spots. We have tried so many things. She doesn't wear a scrap of make up, has no fringe and always cleanses. It's such a shame but thankfully it doesn't really knock her confidence too much.

Dahlietta · 16/12/2018 11:29

I suspect that a lot of people remember having terrible skin as teens, but actually it wasn't as bad as they remember - they were self-conscious because they were teenagers. I think that there has always been a small proportion of unlucky teenagers who have real acne, and that is still the case. I teach teenage boys and, assuming that most of them aren't improving their skin with make-up, I would say that the majority still have clear skin, but yes, there are some unlucky ones who don't and it's nothing to do with their skin routine

Original poster
ShitOnItt · 16/12/2018 11:39

@Dahlietta that rings true that there are often unlucky ones.

Mine was definitely as bad as I remember though, I even went to the doctor about something unrelated once and he commented on my acne. I must have been about 14 at the time and was mortified!

OP posts:
Notsoaccidentproneanymore · 16/12/2018 11:40

I think skin treatments aren’t much more effective now. It used to be you’d use a really astringent toner which basically stripped any oils from the skin. Your skin would produce more oil to compensate, meaning more more clogged pores etc.

DS2 has spots and blackheads. We’ve tried a handful of different products before finding one which has made a noticable difference.

Notsoaccidentproneanymore · 16/12/2018 11:41

Are much more effective.

TripTrapTripTrapOverTheBridge · 16/12/2018 11:42

I think it's just hidden by all this really heavy makeup that everyone seems to wear now. There is no normal skin on show, they're literally painting on faces that don't really blend! Makes buying light natural foundation and non drag queen mascara a blimmin nightmareGrin

Christmasgone2018 · 16/12/2018 11:43

I think this is a really interesting observation. I'm in my 50s and there wasn't a girl in my class at age 13-16 who didn't have a face full of spots. My own children and their friends were completely clear skinned. Very odd

Christmasgone2018 · 16/12/2018 11:44

Oh and we spent so much on stupid clearasil etc but my own children wouldn't have even known such products existed

Bestseller · 16/12/2018 11:44

Both my ds's have a few teenage spots but i dont think you see thAe severe angry looking acne so much now because it can be treated.

AGHHHH · 16/12/2018 11:44

The difference is literally just makeup. I'm only mid 20s and still the difference between teenagers now and when I was in school makeup wise is huge.

goldengummybear · 16/12/2018 11:45

There is definitely teenage skin but thanks to the Internet you can learn how to apply make up well and what products to use.

ErictheGuineaPig · 16/12/2018 11:48

My poor dd definitely has teen skin. She doesn't wear make up all the time either so it's very visible. It doesn't seem to bother her thankfully.

Cooella · 16/12/2018 11:48

I also think those with really bad skin r more likely to go to the GP for help these days.

Dahlietta · 16/12/2018 11:53

I even went to the doctor about something unrelated once and he commented on my acne

Got to love a sensitive doctor Grin!
I suppose it's also true as pp have said that treatments are more effective and, accordingly, there's probably also more people who go to the doctors. I only knew a couple of people as a teenager who were in that position, both boys as it happens.

WhoGivesADamnForAFlakeyBandit · 16/12/2018 11:54

I think people are not prepared to suffer or put up with it so are more proactive with make up, potions or medical treatment. My parents were definitely of the "you have to put up with it" attitude and just provided soap and a flannel (not to be washed more than once a week, mind.)

There were all sorts of myths and attitudes about hair washing too - you don't see many teenagers with greasy hair either these days. Is that cheaper hot water, bigger water tanks, more combination boilers?

Lost5stone · 16/12/2018 11:54

Make up is better but I would say "teen skin" is declining anyway. I'm 26 and I don't remember any of my friends having issues and I didn't suffer either. It was mainly the boys at school that had issues. Whereas my step sister is 5 years older and her and friends really suffered.

Minta85 · 16/12/2018 11:57

Yes I’ve noticed this too. It also seems to be the case that it’s not the teenage girls that have acne now; it’s women in their twenties and thirties. Whereas when I was growing up in the late 90s/early 2000s, acne was very much a teenage thing and you never saw adult women with spots.

Cooella · 16/12/2018 11:58

You don't see many teenagers with greasy hair either these days. Is that cheaper hot water, bigger water tanks, more combination boilers?

Dry shampoo&avoiding sport from what I see of many teenagers

CarolDanvers · 16/12/2018 12:00

My 15 year old ds gets loads of spots. As for the taking care of it, I find that keeping it clean and using clearasil wash and cream makes it look better and they dry up much quicker than if he doesn’t wash thoroughly twice a day but it certainly doesn’t prevent them from coming.

SaucyJack · 16/12/2018 12:02

I agree that make-up, skin care and decent shampoo have all improved massively since our days of cakey orange Rimmel.

But I also agree with Dahlietta. Teenagers are very critical of themselves, and each other. When I look at my teen DD and her friends, it’s from the perspective of an affectionate adult. They all look lovely to me- spotty foreheads and all.

Crinkle77 · 16/12/2018 12:03

I had amazing skin as a teen. It's worse now at 41 than when I was a teen.

Johnnycomelately1 · 16/12/2018 12:03

You definitely don't see as many severe cases of acne in teenagers as you used to. I imagine doctors are more pro-active in prescribing and parents are probably more proactive in demanding it.

Nocado · 16/12/2018 12:04

I think the GP can sort quite a lot of the severe teen skin conditions now. I know my friend's daughter has beautiful clear skin now and was very spotty before getting a prescription , Lymocyclin I think.

headinhands · 16/12/2018 12:07

Drs definitely take it more seriously. Eldest dd was just given cream slightly stronger than what we could buy whereas youngest dd, same level of acne, and she's on stronger cream and low level antibiotics which work a treat.

Thesmallthings · 16/12/2018 12:07

I never really got spots as a teen

My ds has got loads. We used a charcoal mask from pound land the other day and it really has helped. There not so angry