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Giving those of us with acne more hope, one Instagram post at a time.
By Caitlin Butkiewicz — Written on Jun 11, 2020
Acne is every girl’s worst fear. No matter the skin texture, some forms of acne are inescapable, and we seem to lose all hope of ridding of our blemishes. We lose all hope — that is, until we see someone go through their very own facial-cleansing journey and succeed.
Twenty-two-year-old Kali Kushner rose to fame on Instagram — and not for being friends with a Kardashian or posting pictures of her daily Starbucks. Instead, Kali became a sensation in 2017 because of her acne.
Sounds weird, right? But what really got Instagram’s attention was her amazing Accutane before and after photos and the journey she had been documenting through the social media app for two years, accumulating about 30,000 followers in the process.
In an interview, she told all about her Accutane experience and the process she went through. Kali explains that she tried EVERYTHING to rid of her acne but nothing, not even a prescribed antibiotic from her dermatologist, worked.
With no other options, Kali took the next step and met with her dermatologist to discuss trying out Accutane.
“It was honestly like magic,” Kali said, explaining that her skin began to clear up just within the first few weeks. But there was a downside: the side effects. “It’d take me ten minutes just to get out of bed in the morning because my back was so sore,” Kali said, mentioning that a major side effect was an achy feeling that lasted all day, every day.
Pushing through painful side effects, Kali instantly took to her Instagram account and began to update her process through by taking Accutane before and after pictures. And as she posted, she gained tons of followers who sought advice, help, and inspiration for their own journey.
Kali has been finished with Accutane for more than a year, but she still continues to post updates of her skin transformation.
Kali explains that people with acne are completely misunderstood and that people often think that those with acne are unclean, which is completely false. Kali has learned that her skin will always have its ups and downs, but she’s not ashamed of it one bit.
“I know it sounds cheesy, but you are so much more than your acne, and if you want to go on Accutane to make yourself feel more confident, then do it, but do it because of you, and not because you’re trying to look like this perfect image that matches our perfect standards of beauty.”
Kali's Instagram rise to fame because we’re not used to real people like her. She doesn’t pretend that the transformation or process was perfect, and she showed the world what it was like to struggle with acne.
Through her updates and journey, we can only hope that strangers who view her feed will become inspired to take action and go through a journey of their own without feeling embarrassed or ashamed.
Caitlin Butkiewicz is a film fanatic and aspiring writer who is passionate about dogs, baseball, and pizza. Follow her on Twitter: @caitybuck.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted on October 26, 2017 and was updated with the latest information.