Irish model Maeve Madden has spoken about about her acne breakouts, which she says seriously damaged her confidence.

When she was younger she struggled with spots which eventually developed into painful acne.

She used to cover her blemishes up with make-up, but now she just embraces her skin and shares her daily routine with her 178k Instagram followers.

“I always wore a lot of make-up or tried to cover it a lot. I would’ve never sat in front of people without make-up and I guess if you’re trying to hide something, it does mean you’re lacking confidence,”  she told RSVP Live.

When she was using medical products for acne and they didn't work, she felt really down about herself.

"I remember when I got the worst episodes, when it was painful and sore I’d just cry about it," she continued.

"Then I thought I needed to go and see someone a skin specialist that used really heavy laser medical treatments to get rid of the scarring."

Since seeking treatment, Maeve still has some scarring from the acne but nothing too visible. She claims that her skin is much tighter, her pores are much smaller and her face is healthier than ever.

“I still go for check-ups and for facials and I still use the medical products that the dermatologist recommended," she said.

"I always wear SPF too."

If you have a hormonal imbalance, it’s really common to have acne. Many of Maeve’s Instagram followers go to her for tips and advice: "I sympathise with them because they suffer with acne, they are in pain and they want to try and do something similar like I did, so they want to know how to care for my skin, what products," she said.

Maeve claims that making some dietary changes improved her skin.

“For me it was sugar, so I definitely cut down on that, it makes my skin so inflamed. If I ate dairy I’d always get little spots around my mouth because it worsened my condition. When I started using dairy alternatives it was very beneficial."

Maeve said a lot of people squeeze their spots, which they should try to avoid: "You don’t want to be walking around with a massive whitehead on your face. When you squeeze your spots, some of the white stuff will come out but a lot of it goes deeper into the layers of your skin."

"That’s why you’d often get the same recurring spots because you’re just squeezing the puss back into the skin again and again.” 

"It will lead to scarring and breaking the skin. I used to squeeze the spot and then it would bleed, so that’s breaking all the skin tissue so you should just leave it. I know it’s really hard."

Another bad habit is coming in from a night out and not washing your face: "When you go out you’re sweating, you’re obviously out in the air. You have night creams and stuff because while you’re sleeping your skin is repairing and absorbs a lot more. When you wear make-up to bed, it absorbs and it seeps into the layers of the skin and lead to aging and spots, your face isn’t getting any oxygen."

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"When I was at uni I used to do it all the time and now I really regret it. It’s one of those things that people do, when you go home and just pass out on the bed but it is really bad."

Speaking about her morning routine, she said: "I use a mineral water, I try not to use the tap water, especially tap water in London. Some people may think that’s crazy but there’s so many chemicals."

"I spray my face with the water and then I use a cleansing wash and I wash my face and I use the water again to take it all off. Then I’d apply a vitamin C serum, eye cream and then a moisturiser and an SPF.”

She added: "When I had acne I used to drink so much water and I thought it didn't help, but the acne I had was hormonal, so it didn't benefit that type of acne but it did benefit the skin on my face and kept it really hydrated, it keeps a good blood flow through spotting."

"It’s not only good for the skin on your face, it's good for your entire body. It’s so beneficial to stay hydrated especially now when it’s coming into the summer, as the weather changes your skin tends to get a little bit dryer."

"For the past year, I haven’t really had as bad a breakout. I just get the odd hormonal spot which is great.”

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