In the beginning...

Alright, lets start at the beginning. My name is Ariella Kossin (which you probably all already know since I'm assuming no randoms are going to read this blog BUT in the off chance I dont know you hello) and I just decided on a whim, with inspiration from a great friend who also decided to start her own blog, to start writing about my Accutane horror story with a hopefully happy ending. Now I am not by any means a good writer, in fact I am not very good. But I do always have a lot to say and I have always found comfort in sharing my feelings and thoughts with others, which is why I believe the best way to handle my frustration with my skin is through venting to the world. Classic me.

I have never really been the girl to have horrible out of control skin. In middle school I had the typical puberty break out, but after that my face calmed down for most of high school. In my year in Israel I had some ups and downs, but again it stayed mostly fine. The real atrocity came this year. Now people always say how stressful college is and how each person handles this stress in different ways; some drink and gain weight, others lose weight. Some end up in odd groups of friends. And others stress ends up on their face for all to see in bright red speckles that share similar features to a pepperoni pizza.

As I contemplated my options first alone, then with my mom, and finally a dermatologist I realized that this stress of college is not going away anytime soon, in fact the next probably four years of my life is going to be a stress fest so just making due with it will not be a good solution. I tried creams, gels, antibiotics, and other medications all with no luck. So finally I was in the only field not yet played: Accutane. The government regulated acne medication that comes with severe and extreme side effects, but ultimately a 99.9% success rate. At this point what have I got to lose? I could not leave my house without makeup and I felt so insecure with myself which is something I rarely feel, being the confident girl that I am. So I was all in. Sign me up doc!

The first steps of this strenuous process start with peeing in a cup
A simple yet daunting task for any woman. What if I miss the cup and pee on my hand? What if I cant pee at all and I just end up sitting here for hours waiting? What if theres something wrong with my pee? What if I spill it while handing it to the doctor?
Well thank god I passed with flying colors and got the negative on the pregnancy test ((**SIDEBAR: One of the severe side effects of this medication is birth defects, so when women are on it they have to be constantly taking pregnancy tests to make sure they have no buns in the oven) and was now ready for the 30 day waiting period.

Now, during this waiting period they put me on a gel like cream for my face to "temper" my skin while waiting for the accutane to take effect. This cream, like the medication accutane, makes your skin break out into a horrible crimson sea of hell for the first month or so. Right now as I write this my face is pealing off right and left and forcing me to wear constant makeup whenever I want to leave my dorm room.

The next step is my final blood test and pregnancy test and I'll be on my way to perfect skin.

Welcome to my journey to a new face, and for any of you who know me, you'll know that you all reading this and supporting makes up for all the confidence I've lost during these first few weeks.

I'll update you all as the process goes along.