Lili Reinhart Opens About Suffering From Cystic Acne

Riverdale star Lili Reinhart sat down for beauty "story time" Monday night. The topic: adult acne.

The actress shared that she recently had to do a photo shoot while experiencing a breakout, which prompted her to open up. In a series of Instagram story messages, she revealed that she’s had cystic acne since she was 12 and that “it caused major self-esteem issues ever since.” Being in front of a camera with people staring at her all day forced her to put her “biggest insecurity on display,” she wrote. “There was nowhere to hide… All I could think about when I was in front of the camera were the pimples on my forehead.”

Actor or not, anyone who has suffered from acne can relate to feeling like your zits are the focal point of everyone’s gaze. Sometimes, as Reinhart expresses, it doesn’t seem like you’ll ever be able to love your skin when it’s dotted with breakouts. “It’s problematic. It scars easily. It’s painful,” the star wrote. But, the important thing is to not let your imperfections define you and to realize that you’re not alone in your struggle, as Reinhart displays. “Maybe if I normalize my broken-out skin, more people... including myself... will be able to feel okay about their skin,” she wrote.

Toward the end, Reinhart encouraged those reading to share their own skin story woes with the hashtag #BreakoutBuddy. “We have each other,” she concluded. “So let’s get through this acne experience together.”