Popped: Adult Acne In The 'Perfect Skin' Era

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Charnel Hunter

Dealing with pimples and blackheads in middle school is practically a right of passage. But when acne is a defining feature of your adulthood... it’s a whole different experience. Anita meets two acne content creators and a photographer who talk about the emotional toll of severe acne, the myth of normal skin, and the responsibility of being today’s skincare influencers.

Meet the Guests:

  • Patsy Chem, an acne-positive skinfluencer, shares the experience of getting severe acne in her 20s and how that shaped her social life
  • Peter DeVito, photographer behind the "Acne Normalization" project, talks about creating a safe space in portrait photography for models with acne and the ripple effect of those photos
  • Cassandra Bankson, a medical esthetician, model and skinfluencer, discusses how she handles the responsibility of challenging beauty standards while also reviewing skincare products and practices

Dig Deeper:

Cassandra's viral video and YouTube channel

NYT on adult acne

Jessica DeFino in Teen Vogue onthe myth of "normal skin" and in Vanity Fair on dermatology’s biggest rule that was meant to be broken

Patsy Chem on accepting her acne

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Gabriela Glueck
Gabriela Glueck is a producer for Embodied, a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, health and relationships.
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Kaia Findlay
Kaia Findlay is the lead producer of Embodied, WUNC's weekly podcast and radio show about sex, relationships and health. Kaia first joined the WUNC team in 2020 as a producer for The State of Things.
See stories by Kaia Findlay
Anita Rao
Anita Rao is an award-winning journalist, host, creator, and executive editor of "Embodied," a weekly radio show and podcast about sex, relationships & health.
See stories by Anita Rao