5 Celebs Who Have Been Refreshingly Honest About Their Acne Struggles
While millennials may have grown up thinking the life of a celebrity must be nothing but glitz and glam, social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram have introduced more unfiltered glimpses of their day-to-day routines. From "get ready with me" videos to makeup-free skincare updates, public figures are sharing moments that once felt sacred and reserved for behind the scenes. The candor many stars have embraced, with some celebs going as far as opening up about their breast augmentations, has been particularly evident when it comes to struggles like acne — an issue that impacts roughly 85% of people in their early teens and early adulthood and often persists far beyond those years.
As celebs choose to show their skin in real time and speak openly about their acne journeys, moments once treated as something to hide are becoming part of everyday conversation. Their refreshing honesty has contributed to the rethinking of beauty standards, and it's encouraging the prioritization of transparency over perfection. It has also helped set more realistic expectations and allowed people to feel more confident navigating their own skin concerns.
If the heavily filtered and photoshopped photos of celebs have been making you feel like everyone but you has flawless skin, or even have you wondering whether you have too many steps in your skincare routine, it may be time for a reality check. So, here are some of the celebrities who have chosen to be refreshingly honest about their acne struggles, offering a more relatable perspective on skin.
Millie Bobby Brown
Millie Bobby Brown rose to stardom for her role as Eleven in Netflix's hit series, "Stranger Things." Despite becoming an instantly recognizable star, the actor has built a reputation for being an open book with fans. From sharing that she was born with partial hearing loss to being honest about past and present relationships, Brown has rarely shied away from personal topics.
It's no different when it comes to her approach to her struggles with acne and unrealistic beauty standards. They're topics she has spoken about openly across interviews and social media platforms. In an early 2022 interview with Teen Vogue, Brown explained that she hoped her beauty brand, Florence by Mills, would encourage people to embrace their real skin and feel confident in who they are. Since then, the "Enola Holmes" actor has embodied that confidence herself, frequently sharing makeup-free moments that show real texture and breakouts on her Instagram.
In October 2023, Brown shared a carousel of selfies showing her skin both with full coverage makeup and without, tagging her brand and jokingly writing, "@florencebymills send help!" The post prompted supportive responses, with one fan commenting, "You saved me [from] hating my skin thank you so much for [normalizing] it."
Maude Apatow
Breakouts don't pause for filming schedules, which means actors still have to work through very real skin concerns. In a February 2022 episode of Vogue's Beauty Secrets series, Maude Apatow, who has had a gorgeous transformation over the years, opened up about how wearing heavier makeup for work affected her skin. She admitted to experiencing frequent breakouts while filming HBO's "Euphoria."
She even recalled one moment in particular when several large blemishes appeared across her forehead during production, breakouts that proved difficult for even professional makeup artists to fully conceal. The actor explained that she had to have a conversation with the show's director about lighting and camera angles in an effort to avoid drawing any more attention to the blemishes than what was already unavoidable.
In the series, Apatow spoke candidly about the skincare routine she developed through a lot of trial and error, along with habits like a thorough face wash at the end of the day to ensure all of the makeup is off, and avoiding picking at blemishes after learning it could worsen irritation and cause breakouts to spread. She also said that her sister, Iris Apatow, has influenced her approach to how she takes care of her skin.
Keke Palmer
For some celebrities, acne struggles go beyond just a skincare concern and can be tied to underlying health conditions. Keke Palmer took to Instagram in December 2020 to share that her persistent breakouts were actually linked to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (often referred to as PCOS). Alongside real and unfiltered photos of her skin, Palmer wrote a vulnerable reflection on her diagnosis and the long journey that led to it.
She explained that there were many instances in which her breakouts were so severe people would reach out to see if they could find a solution for her, but it was ultimately the undiagnosed hormonal disorder that had been "attacking [her] from the inside out." The "Nope" star wanted to bring awareness of PCOS and let fans who might be struggling with it know they weren't alone. Fans flooded the comments to tell Palmer how beautiful she was and to show appreciation for her honesty. "Having PCOS ... is like being at war with your body!! Your skin, your weight, your moods. Thank you for being real," a fan wrote.
Almost a year later, in November 2021, Palmer expanded on her PCOS journey during an appearance on the "Tamron Hall Show," explaining that her diagnosis helped her understand why she continued to experience acne well beyond her puberty years. She described opening up about PCOS and her skin struggles as a way to advocate for herself and embrace self-acceptance and self-love.
Lili Reinhart
While many people experience occasional breakouts, there are those who live with more persistent forms of acne, including cystic acne, which is acne that develops beneath the skin. And because celebs are human, they are no exception, including Lili Reinhart, who has been refreshingly honest about navigating flare-ups.
In 2018, the "Riverdale" star shared a series of Instagram Stories (via Teen Vogue) that reflected on living with cystic acne and the emotional toll that she's experienced when dealing with breakouts while working in front of cameras. The actor reflected on a long photoshoot during an active flare-up, writing, "I had to put my biggest insecurity on display. There was nowhere to hide," describing how throughout the shoot all she could think about was her skin. The posts unfolded less like a typical update from a celeb, and more like a raw conversation with a friend, as Reinhart stressed the importance of sharing her struggles to help normalize acne for others who might be facing similar issues.
She concluded the series with a powerful message: "My breakouts don't define me ... To anyone out there who feels embarrassed or ashamed by breakouts. I feel you. We have each other. So let's get through this acne experience together." She also went on to encourage fans and observers to share their own experiences via a hashtag. Over time, Reinhart became so passionate about helping herself and others dealing with cystic acne that she went on to launch a skincare line for acne-prone skin called Personal Day.
Charli D'Amelio
Not every refreshingly honest celeb moment has come with a heartfelt post. Sometimes it's as simple as sharing an unedited selfie, which Charli D'Amelio did in early 2022. The TikTok star uploaded a carousel of selfies on Instagram that showed visible breakouts around her chin and wrote, "i think i'm going mad," in the caption. The post received more than 3 million likes, and fans thanked D'Amelio for her openness. One fan commented, "thanks 4 this, I felt better," and another wrote, "This is amazing!!! Love the authenticity."
D'Amelio later elaborated on that mindset shift in a reply to a user on X (formerly Twitter), who shared some of the selfies and praised the star for not editing out her acne. "It's taken me a long time to feel comfortable in my skin but this is how i look and makeup only helps so much i have to be confident and learn to love every 'imperfection' that i have but each one makes me unique and special in my own way," D'Amelio explained. The user replied, "it's a lifelong journey!! your fans are lucky to have your confidence as inspiration." The interaction illustrated how honesty can create a more supportive space for celebs and their fans.