Teenage girl concealing 'monster egg' acne under her make-up shares make-up free selfies

Being a teenager is one of the more dramatic parts of your life. As a teen, you believe that the world is against you, you worry about your future prospects while wrestling with issues such as your sexuality and confidence. On top of all this psychological pressure, you have to deal with immense physical changes. Puberty strikes you in your teens and brings with it a wave of inconveniences: guys' voices break, pubic hair begins to grow and - worst of all - acne rears its ugly head. One girl who knows all about the struggle of having acne is 17-year-old Hailey Wait. Wait suffers from cystic acne and has since the age of 11. Cystic acne refers to a skin condition which occurs when hair follicles beneath the skin become clogged, leaving the victim with painful bumps. Hailey says that she wants to break down the stigma about conditions such as acne and is using her social media accounts as a vehicle to do so. [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BcZ6Y5ghfUx/?taken-by=pigss]] Hailey uses her Instagram to take photos of her make up free face, exposing both her bumps and acne. She says that when she began to realise how fast her acne was spreading, she became "overwhelmed". "It started with my cheeks and then it went to my chin and then my forehead and then it kind of went all over the place." "It’s difficult because you can't get rid of it right away and it always feels like there is a little monster egg in your face but you can't get rid of it." "Every time you bump into it or barely touch it or something it feels like your face is on fire. It was too painful. [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BcfU2DEhOGs/?taken-by=pigss]] "I remember one night crying in my bed because I was just in so much pain." Hailey says that at time, she felt "gross", saying: "It was red and splotchy and I just felt like a garbage can." [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc-ai-6hlzL/?taken-by=pigss]] "I felt disgusting. I felt like I wasn’t pretty. I didn’t feel like I fit in anywhere, which is silly because everybody or at least more people get acne." "I had a lot of people at school kind of just give me dirty looks. They’d call me 'pizza face’ - you know, those generic acne terms." "I felt so insecure about myself, I couldn’t leave the house without foundation." "Sometimes I wouldn't even go anywhere but still put on make-up just so I didn’t feel gross..." [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BdIszoth1jE/?taken-by=pigss]] However, things have changed for the teenager and Hailey has decided to left her skin breathe and no longer bother applying foundation to her face. She says that she wants to set an example for others to see that life isn't all about having perfect skin. "I feel like I've influenced a lot of people that have insecurities in general, by setting an example and showing it’s not the end of the world if you don’t have the perfect skin." "For me acne just represents humanity because it’s something a lot of us have." [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BdUWVzkBtIw/?taken-by=pigss]] "I hope my story regarding acne really helps people to realise, just because you have these imperfections, it doesn’t mean you're not amazing." "It doesn’t mean you can’t be successful, it doesn’t mean you can’t be glamorous. Beauty is so much more than your face." Credit to Hailey for speaking up and embracing her imperfections. Suffering from skin conditions is something that all of us have to deal with at some point and the more people like Hailey, the better.