The best way to handle unsolicited acne advice
True story: A lady once chased me out of the bus to tell me what I should do to treat my acne scarsđ«
Whatâs been your experience with unsolicited acne advice?
In this post, Iâm going to share with you the BEST way to handle and respond to unsolicited advice.
âHave you tried cutting out sugar and dairy?â
âYou should try washing your pillow case every day.â
âTry this acne cream I found out about on TikTok.â
âYou really shouldnât be wearing makeup when you have acne.â
âThis magical device is going to clear your acne. You should try it.â
Do you feel upset & annoyed when you hear these things? How do you typically respond to them?
Here are two options for when you receive unsolicited acne advice from people:
Option 1: Take it to heart and be offended
Option 2: Take what serves you and leave what doesnât
I know you probably want to say something like...
âUgh, please just shut up.â
âWow this is so unhelpful. Can you not?â
âYou must be kidding me. You have no idea what youâre even talking about.â
âIâve already tried that okay!? Just leave me alone.â
âLiterally nobody asked you for your opinion. Bye.â
But my recommendation is that you keep it short & sweet and say this instead:
âCool, thanks."
âThanks, good to know."
âYes I have/No I haven't tried that. Thanks."
Why? This is the best approach because...
The more boring & neutral the situation = the better.
Donât add anymore meaning & story to the situation than there needs to be. You donât have to tell yourself âTheyâre only trying to help,â but you also donât have to tell yourself âTheyâre so insensitive & rudeâ either. All of these stories are completely optional. The added meaning & stories only perpetuate more negative feelings. So take the advice for what it is at face value and just leave it at that. They are just words coming out of someone's mouth. The end. See how boring that was?
Itâs not your responsibility to teach them.
Now if itâs a family member or close friend, this might be different. But at the end of the day, itâs not your job/responsibility to teach people how they should/shouldnât behave. What they should/shouldnât say. How they should/shouldnât act. We only have a limited amount of time & energy in a given day. You can redirect and invest that time & energy into taking care of your own emotional health & well-being rather than trying to change/correct other people. Because...
People are going to continue to be people.
And they're going to keep doing what they want to do, period. As annoying & frustrating as this can be, it's the truth. Itâs not easy to change other people. Itâs one thing to make a request and try to communicate our boundaries & expectations, but itâs another thing for them to follow through on them. Think about how hard it is for us to even change ourselves? Donât expect other people to change so that you can feel better.
Next time somebody tries to tell you how you should "fix" your skin, remember this:
Unsolicited acne advice can be annoying, but it doesn't have to be.
Because YOU get to decide how to respond and how much energy & attention you want to give it.
PS, I still use the product that the lady from the bus told me about ;)