If you had to choose between clear skin or wrinkles, which would you go for?

[Sunhorse]

Whilst I've never had acne, I struggled with my skin from my teens, in that I always had a handful of spots at any one time.

I tried everything over the years - changing my diet, drinking water, expensive skincare, simple skincare, supplements, you name it - but finally in my early thirties I hit upon the solution which was... absolutely nothing. If I wash my face with plain soap and water and put nothing else on it at all (no moisturiser, no cleanser etc) then my skin is mostly reliably clear.

Hooray! Except... when I hit my early forties, ageing began to announce itself. I was not happy with the frown lines and so forth, so embarked on a skincare programme. This has generally been great (have seen real results from retinol etc.) but it has meant that my spots issue has returned with a vengeance. I've tried switching products several times but no joy.

So it looks as though I've got to make a choice: clear skin or wrinkles.

I'm currently leaning towards the wrinkles as I just hate being conscious of my blemishes, it really impacts on my confidence, whereas the wrinkles I guess are more of a low level dissatisfaction.

WWYD?

I chose no wrinkles!

My skin has become worse as I've got older, I went to the docs and got some cream for the spots but I've given up on the rest as I've no idea what to do with it! It's not terrible but it's not great either.
I'd rather have more youthful skin and cover the rest with a light make up.

No wrinkles for me. I have similar problems: I can mask the blemishes with decent make up but I reckon wrinkles aren’t coverabkd

Clear skin here. I had horrific acne as a teen and took roaccutane. Theres nothing worse than spots and the self consciousness that come with them.

clear skin, i can get botox to sort out the wrinkles

I’d rather have a blemish than a wrinkle.

My spotty greasy skin probably helped my skin look younger. Like you, I found the best thing to use was nothing at all. Even SPF back then was thick and gloopy.

Now in my 40's and peri menopause, my skin seems worse than in my teens. I can't be arsed with make up though and wrinkles are unfortunately inevitable.

Clear skin. But if it was just a couple of spots I’d choose no wrinkles. If it was bad acne I’d choose wrinkles

Wrinkles over acne.
Pimples are infectuous and look bad when they start oozing/popping.

Wrinkles for me too. I'm going to get them, they're inevitable and I'm at the age where they are normal.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like them, but I'd definitely choose them over acne.

Go and see a dermatologist!

A few of you need dermatology or your dr to help you.

You can have clear skin & no wrinkles. I had roaccutane in the end. Best beauty decision ever after sunblock every day.

I’ve said this before & I'll bang on about it forever we need to reclaim acne as a medical problem in the same way we need to stop Tena lady being the first port of call for female incontinence when there’s physiotherapists trained to help.

Never be embarrassed to present to your dr with acne, they all spent time in A+E at some point with people explaining how a courgette or similar came to be in their rectum 🤨.

I hate my spots and I don't hate my wrinkles. I'd rather have wrinkles than acne.

Botox

Clear skin yes
Wrinkles no
So it’s a pretty clear choice for clear skin surely ?

I would chose to have wrinkles and clear skin.
I actually think wrinkles aren't too bad, but even skin tone and lumpy texture is (imho)

I've got some wrinkles but clear skin, I have to say I prefer it that way.

The bad skin may be caused by peri menopause and the change in skincare routine might be a red herring. Where are the spots? If on your chin it's highly likely hormonal.

[whispers] you can't stop wrinkles. It's all going south. You will spend a very long time hating yourself if you don't accept them. A very very very long time.

What do you think looks better /more youthful? Clear skin with a few wrinkles or heavily made up skin (to cover blemishes) with (potentially) fewer wrinkles?

Clear skin with a nice sheer, dewy skin tint all the way for me.

Clear skin every time. But pretty sure they should not be mutually exclusive.

I hate my blackheads way more than my wrinkles

Clear skin all day long.

I have both acne AND wrinkles. I sort part of that with botox and it works.

I've had acne for 23 years now. It's a proper pain and I hate it.

Acne. I have wrinkles and spots. The only thing that has helped my spots is salicylic acid. It’s been a life saver for me. I try to help my wrinkles with other products - and keep out of the sun - but i think my only choice will soon be Botox!

So the choice is clear skin plus wrinkles vs spotty skin minus some wrinkles possibly. Clear skin and wrinkles definitely.

I choose wrinkles.

I have acne, have always had since teens. Tried everything including roaccutane (didn’t work, dermatologist was mystified by mean). One of the few things that helps is sunshine. So not only do I not wear SPF but I deliberately sunbathe. Helps the acne but I’m sure I will pay for it later.

OP, think of all that money you haven’t spent on lotions and potions over the years - probably enough for a mini facelift 😁