Riverdale leading lady Lili Reinhart may seem like a perfect goddess of a human on screen (and in our opinion, she totally is), but the actress wants fans to know that the flawless face we see on TV is not necessarily realistic. You see, Lili has struggles with acne – and she wants it to be known that her complexion isn’t quite as smooth in real life. And hey, that makes her all the more beautiful. Skin imperfections aren’t a bad thing. It’s just part of life.
“I cried last night to my mom over FaceTime because of how ugly I felt I looked,” the 22-year-old star told Glamour. “My skin has caused me a lot of anxiety and sadness. I have a specific type of body dysmorphia that stems from acne. I see any acne on my face as an obsessive thing. [It’s] the only thing I can think about, and it makes me want to hide.”
She’s not the only celeb to feel this way, as Lorde reached out to her to express that she deals with the same thing.
“Lorde actually messaged me on Instagram when I had spoken out about my acne,” Lili said about the 21-year-old singer. “She was like, ‘Girl, I feel you. I’m totally on the same page as you.’ It was really comforting and very sweet of her.”
This isn’t the first time she’s opened up about her struggles with acne.
“It makes you feel like s–t when everyone on TV or in the movies has perfect skin because it’s just not realistic. I look at myself on the show and my skin looks pretty perfect, but it’s not in real life. It really isn’t. It’s smoke and mirrors, really. I have cystic acne so I get major breakouts and have to go to the dermatologist all the time,” the actress previously revealed in an interview.
After doing some research, Lili found out her battle with acne actually goes deep.
“I had the worst breakout over this break [from shooting Riverdale I had three cysts on my forehead, one on my chin, and then two little spots on my cheeks. It was god-awful. And when that happens, it sparks up body dysmorphic disorder inside me. I’ve done a little research. There’s a specific body dysmorphic disorder related to acne. And I feel like that’s pretty spot-on with how it makes me feel. I don’t even like to go outside or look in the mirror when I have a breakout because I’m so paranoid about it,” Lili opened up to V Magazine.
It even effects her work at times, which makes it really hard for her to film scenes.
She continued, “I have to be on camera when I have a breakout. It’s like my worst nightmare. I remember filming episode six and being so paranoid and in the worst mood because I had a breakout on my forehead during some scenes, and I could barely look anyone in the eye. That’s something that I’m still battling with, obviously. I think I talk about skincare a lot because I want to learn more about it. I feel like I’d be an aesthetician in a different life because I’m super into skincare.”
Sometimes seeing the way stars look on screen can totally warp people’s sense of reality. That’s why Lili loves the fact that another Hollywood actress is super upfront and open about her acne. Yep, that’s right. We’re talkin’ Bella Thorne.
She told Us Weekly, “I really commend Bella Thorne. She talks about her skin all the time. I think the way she talks about her skin and the way she just accepts it is something that I really do genuinely admire. It is something that I still struggle with. I do get self-conscious. I do cover up my skin with concealer every time I leave the house in case someone wants to get a photo. Definitely being in the spotlight is hard.”
There’s nothing wrong with feeling a little better with makeup on, but going bare-faced is totally beautiful too. All we know is we’d love snapping a selfie with Lili with or without makeup. She’s flawless either way.
Lili continued, “This is my skin. It’s me and there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s not like I can hide it by wearing a baseball cap on the red carpet.”
SO. MUCH. YES. Way to keep it real, Lili!
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