Bella Thorne Is Over The Acne Haters

Despite a thriving career in Hollywood, Bella Thorne is very much a normal 18-year-old. Yes, she faces challenges unique to the spotlight, but chatting with her proves she's just another teen coming of age — albeit in a slightly more glamorous environment. With that adolescence comes the beginning of an (often lifelong) journey to clear skin, a desire to find your look, and the realization that you absolutely do not need to please everyone — or anyone, for that matter. But unlike many teens, Thorne isn't worried what you might think of her. In fact, she's over that and taking to social media to share these universal struggles without reservation. Thanks to a partnership with Burt's Bees centered around celebrating what makes each of us unique — and just in time for our Acne Diaries — Thorne gave us an exclusive sit-down in which she held nothing back. Read on for her very real, candid answers.

You’ve been sharing your skin struggles on social media lately — what inspired this?
“For so long, I was told acne is such a bad thing and that directors can’t hire me, because they’re all just looking at my skin, which is not true. I was seeing girls on Twitter struggling with it, too, and I just wanted to help them, you know? I don’t really know that what I’m doing for my skin is that right, and I am not sure that it will work for anybody else, but if I can just help one person, that’s what I am put on the earth to do. That’s why I have come out about it."

What has your personal skin journey been like?
"[At one point] I was just riddled with acne...I had to go on Accutane for almost two years, which was definitely one of the times that I have been the most depressed. It's a journey. I literally just tweeted how I don’t have a breakout, then I got a breakout. I jinxed myself!"

It's inspiring to hear you acknowledge that clear skin will always be a work in progress.
"It is such a work in progress. When I was on Accutane, they told me, 'You’ll never have another pimple in your entire life!' They said nine out of 10 people never have a pimple again. So, I’m like, ‘Well, fuck me, I guess I’m just that 10%, aren’t I?'"

What products are working for you now?
"Right now, I am using this Sisley plant-based cleaner; it’s really light and doesn’t irritate my skin, it’s very calming. I can’t use cleansers for treating acne, because I think they just make the acne angry, so I try to use calming stuff, then treat it with spot treatments. I also like the Burt's Bees towelettes for removing makeup. You know when you remove your makeup and your face looks red and all irritated? That doesn't happen with these. "I am using that cream I shared online all over my face and I’ve been hearing from a lot of people that Tazorac is really good. I don’t use it, but I may try it. [Ed. Note: Both of these are prescription-only.] Besides that, I am not touching my pimples — I am trying to just let them come and go. "I use a Kate Somerville toner — I just spray it all over my face in the morning and whenever my face is sweaty — and I really love their oxygen spray, it's really dope. I usually don’t go out with makeup on, I will have something on my lips, but for my skin I like to leave it natural."

What would your advice be for those dealing with acne?
"It’s hard. Nobody can tell you, 'It’s not that bad, just wash your face,' or, 'Just take care of your skin.' I have done so many things to my face to try to fix my skin. I was just telling my sister I have a big pimple on my face and how angry I was. She was like: ‘You love your skin. Your skin is beautiful. You like that pimple. That pimple is okay. It’s angry right now, but it will be okay!' And that's what you have to say. "When you have acne, you keep thinking about how ugly it is and how everyone is just looking at it all the time — and it makes it so much worse! It really stresses your skin out to another level, which causes more stress acne. It is literally so difficult. I’m like, 'ARGH this pimple!' but then I stop and I’m like, ‘I love this pimple.’ It is so hard to take your own advice, but I try a little and hope it will get better." Speaking of social media, we have seen you do your friends' makeup on Snapchat. Where did you learn your beauty skills?
"I learn some of it from tutorials, I learn some just by trying something out and being like, 'Whoa, that does work!' For example, really underlining the brow with a thick layer of white pencil. Everybody knows that, so I don't know why I wasn't doing it earlier! "Then, I have also seen some crazy tricks, like when the girl contours with the shoe — she contours her entire face with a shoe! I was thinking, Wait, does that work? Should I pull out a Louboutin? [laughs]."

Do you have any beauty regrets?
"The whole four years I was on Shake It Up was a big beauty regret. I hope my friends don’t come across that today!"

Wait, why?
"I just wanted to please everybody, I wanted to be what everyone else wanted me to be — the funniest, the prettiest, the most interesting, the one with the sweetest voice, all that shit, and I had no idea what my style was. But now, I'm coming into my own."

What's are your go-to beauty looks now?
"I do pretty funky makeup styles, I am always rocking a purple lip, that’s my shit right there, the dark purple and the crazy colors, and like putting little hearts on my face, fake freckles — all of that is so fun, because you wear it for the day and then you’re done."

What is your biggest beauty splurge?
"Getting my extensions done is such a splurge, it’s not my choice, but I’m like, okay I gotta get ‘em done. I don’t want to sit there in the chair for six hours! And that’s pretty expensive. I do micro-needling, which is really expensive, comes out to almost two grand — two grand for straight-up pain. "The thing about being in the position I am is that my face is, in a way, half my career; so, it’s like it has to look a certain way all the time. Then, I thought, Why?! Why does it have to look that way all the time? So, I have been going out without makeup and rocking my natural scars and breakouts and whatever else."

This campaign you've partnered on with Burt's Bees is all about being different and unique. How are you different?
"I was so different in school — I only spoke Spanish and I was always the kind of weird outcast girl in a way. I got over that, but it has taken me a long time. I used to post something on Instagram and someone would comment, ‘You spelled this wrong!’ and so I would be like, ‘Oh my god I hope no one notices!’ which is so ridiculous. I am dyslexic and I’m not trying to hide that, I am just trying to be me." How does the campaign work?
"You can get involved by sharing something on social that you love about yourself and tagging it #loveyournature. We spend so much time telling people, 'Don’t love this about yourself,' that [when you do say you love yourself], you sound conceited or you’re full of yourself! And it’s like, are you teaching me that I don’t actually like this about myself, that I look in the mirror and don’t like what I see? That’s crazy! I am so happy that the brand teamed up and came up with this idea for everybody to put what they love out on social. It’s anything about you that’s different that you love. "