Acne-covered woman branded ‘ugly burns victim’ defies trolls by embracing skin

A woman is bravely sharing snaps of her acne-ridden skin online – and she refuses to hide her authentic self any longer.

Maia Gray spent years covering her face with makeup after cruel bullies made fun of her appearance in school.

But, now aged 27, she has accepted her skin and is sharing incredible photos of her face to show other acne sufferers they’re not alone.

While Maia loves herself now, this took years to achieve after bullies taunted her and made her feel like life wasn’t worth living.

The content creator, from London, exclusively told Daily Star: "Acne is something I have struggled with for most of my life.

“When I first started secondary school, I wasn’t self-conscious. It was only until a girl came up to me in an English class and said ‘I would look prettier if I wore makeup’.

“When I got home, I begged my mother to buy me makeup so that I could cover my skin. This later became a necessity and a habit.”

From then on, Maia would wear makeup every single day and would wake up exceptionally early before school to apply it.

During lunch breaks she would re-apply it, causing her to break out even more as she wasn’t giving her skin time to breathe.

The influencer continued: “From wearing makeup in school, I then would wear makeup at home around my family. I would not let any member of my family see my acne.

“As the years went on, I was bullied so much that I considered moving schools. My attendance began to drop as I was constantly being picked on.”

A particularly heartbreaking moment that sticks out for Maia is when she went into the girls' bathroom and saw “Maia is ugly” written on the cubicle wall.

The bullying was constant and it later developed into her disliking everything about herself.

She became hyperfocused on her acne and would cancel plans because she’d rather stay indoors all day.

“When I left those negative secondary school memories behind, I slowly decided to work on myself,” she explained.

“It took time but with the support from my family, was able to regain this confidence. This is why I decided to create my acne positivity Instagram page @its_just_acne.

“It was a way to not only push myself out of my comfort zone but a way to be able to help so many others going through the same acne journey.”

Maia explained that acne positivity isn’t about being positive all the time but rather accepting your skin and knowing you are worthy.

It’s also about showing the world that it is okay to have acne and ending the negative stigma surrounding it.

Maia first developed acne when she was 13, which originally started as just a few spots on her forehead.

Over time it developed into cystic acne, which spread across her face.

The 27-year-old later found out that she has PCOS, which is the root cause of the skin concern.

Eventually, Maia decided to create her Instagram account @its_just_acne in September 2020, which now has over 66,000 followers.

Initially, it was a private page that she created to document her acne journey.

One day she decided to make her page public, which is when support from all over the world came flooding in.

“Not only has my page helped me in so many different ways, it makes my heart full knowing that I am able to make a difference in thousands of people's lives from all over the world,” she said.

“The message I am trying to spread is that you do not need filters to feel beautiful.

“I want to do more to help stop airbrushed photos within advertising and I truly believe people with acne should be represented within film, TV and media without judgement. I am happy that I am paving the way for change.”

Maia’s account has proven to have a positive impact as she receives hundreds of messages from people all over the world telling her how much her posts have made a difference in their life.

The influencer wants people to know that acne isn’t something that just affects one's skin.

She explained: “It is something that can affect one's mental health and can also lead to extreme bullying, making a person feel excluded.

“The fact I can make such a positive difference to so many people means the world to me.”

While Maia’s account elicits mainly positive responses from people, as her page has grown she receives negative comments too.

A few weeks ago, one person compared her to a burns victim.

“That is such an awful comment to make. It does shock me how unkind individuals can be but it is important to know that comments like this, speaks volumes of the type of person they are,” she shared.

“Unfortunately, we can never stop someone from having an opinion. We can never stop someone from being unkind, we can only change how we react to those comments.

“It is important to ignore trolls and unkind comments. It is best to delete and block them because half of them comment for a reaction.”

Maia recommends that others with skin concerns visit a GP or dermatologist to work on a plan and to not suffer in silence.

She also suggests joining an online community of like-minded people with similar experiences.

Maia added: “Follow pages that lift you up and unfollow/remove anyone that is making you feel sad or bringing you down.

“In a world full of filters and edited images, it is important to know your worth. Filters do not define you. Acne does not define you either.

“The beauty industry is slowly changing for the better. I hope that one day acne can be fully accepted and not looked at as 'unhygienic' because it is far from that.

“Let's hope one day we can see a cover model with acne! That would be a dream come true for myself and millions of others.”

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