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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at PSU chapter.

I have always had mild acne. I luckily have never gone through more rigorous treatments, like accutane, but my blemishes always needed more attention. After trying every cleanser, moisturizer, and astringent that Target has to offer, I decided to try curology. 

 

During my excessive YouTube-watching during quarantine, Curology caught my attention after I saw numerous ads for it. I found the advertisements to be reliable because although the YouTubers were being paid to sponsor the company, I trust them. I watch the same bunch of content creators, so I felt that I could trust their beliefs. 

 

Additionally, the before and after clips the influencers provided seemed legitimate. I also found that Curology would provide a dermatologist prescribed formula. This was appealing to me because during quarantine, I was hesitant to go to a real dermatologist’s office. 

 

Due to my fear of the COVID-19 virus, I did not want to take my mask off to show my “mask-ne.” Knowing I was able to receive a dermatologist prescribed formula with the convenience of home was very reassuring to me. 

curology product set with box
Curology

In quarantine, I was also trying to establish any kind of structure to my day. Curology has morning and nightime parts of their procedures, which was very helpful in incorporating some sort of routine. Therefore, I placed my order. 

 

The process of placing my order was fairly simple. First, I filled out a quick questionnaire discussing my symptoms. Next, I sent photos of my skin to the dermatologist. Within a few days, the dermatologist explained how to use the product, what was in the formula and why the formula would work to help clear up my skin. 

 

I found the website very user friendly. I received my products in about a week. 

 

When my products first arrived, I was excited. I started using my morning cleanser, moisturizer and nighttime-only prescribed formula. Within the first couple days, I noticed a significant change. My skin felt less dry and was clearing up. 

 

With this, I would consider a few things. To begin, I went from zero to 100, meaning that I went from doing no skin care to having a full-fledged routine. I feel like this could have contributed to such a positive result, because I was doing the bare minimum before I ordered Curology. 

 

However, I eventually started to slack off in my routine. This made my skin worse, especially when I got my period again. I have mostly hormonal acne, and there is nothing you could do for it. 

 

Eventually, I did not see any change to my skin. Before I started college this fall, I decided to schedule a dermatologist appointment. I explained to my dermatologist that I began using Curology and she had a few critiques. To begin, she said that because the dermatologist online could only gage from pictures, it would have been very difficult to fully judge what ingredients should be put in my prescribed formula. 

 

I also had no idea what chemicals and ingredients were in prescribed formula, and my dermatologist claimed that this was very harmful. With this, my dermatologist prescribed me a decent variety of topical medications to try out. 

 

With all these trials and tribulations I still have issues with my skin. I would recommend that you keep with a consistent routine and try very basic products. You are beautiful regardless.

Health Policy and Administration student at Pennsylvania State University.
Arden Ericson will graduate Penn State in May of 2023. As one of the Campus Correspondents for Her Campus at PSU, she is a double-major in Public Relations and French Language. After graduation, she will pursue a career that combines her passion for educational equity, social justice and French.