"Up until I was 20 years old, I felt like I could have been the poster child for oily skin and cystic acne. I had painful lumps on my chin and cheeks day in and day out. I would beg my parents to let me get cortisone shots to help with the pain but they rarely obliged. What I felt was worse was the oil that uncontrollably poured out of my pores. My skin was slick, makeup wouldn't grip to the surface — regardless of the products I used — and the bridge of my nose was literally a waterslide of oil. I saw countless dermatologists, was on antibiotics for almost four years, and tried every oil-controlling and acne-fighting product under the sun. At one point, though, I was tired of taking oral antibiotics and decided to just give my skin a break. It was a risky experiment, but it paid off. I ended up throwing out my entire skin-care routine and starting from scratch. My skin responded phenomenally. My excess oil calmed down and my acne (with the help of some prescription topicals) slowly but surely started to fade. Granted, I'll still get a pimple or a cyst here and there, but my acne has come a long, long way." — Samantha Holender, former assistant editor
