Last week in an Instagram post, Keke Palmer shared her struggle with chronic acne, which she said is due to polycystic ovarian syndrome. Keke received many questions about how she covers her acne and scars so she decided to post a makeup tutorial. In her video, Keke told a story about dating Kim Porter and Al B. Sure’s son Quincy Brown. She said that, despite her fame, she felt uncomfortable in his circles as she struggled with acne and was a girl from a poor neighborhood in Chicago. (That’s at about 7:30 in.) She also showed her products, like Aquaphor Healing Ointment for her eyelids, M.A.C. Studio Fix Conceal and Correct Palette on her acne scars, NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer and M.A.C Pro Longwear Nourishing Waterproof Foundation. Keke also used several concealer shades and layers of her products to create an almost smooth textured finish. She advised those watching that if they have textured skin to stick to matte products. In the caption to her video she warned not to give unsolicited skin care advice in the comments. Keke was so cute when she talked about dating. Below are a few excerpts via People:

“Ever since I have shown my acne scars and just my struggle with acne, I saw a lot of comments following that post because people [were] looking at my makeup coverage and how I was able to camouflage and hide my scars. I’ve been dealing with acne and struggling with makeup and trying to cover it for a really long time. I don’t think there’s any shame in it,” Palmer, 27, said on Instagram.

“I really encourage everybody watching this to do it your way. Everybody’s skin is different,” Palmer said as she blended the concealers out with a damp Beautyblender Sponge.

“When I was younger in my movies sometimes they would just put whatever was the darkest color of my acne scars. Sometimes you look at my movies and you see I was three, four, five different shades at once because if I had a bunch of acne, they would make me whatever the color of the acne,” she said. “I had to learn to do my makeup on my own to make sure I felt happy and comfortable. I had to find the best way to advocate for myself.”

“If you’re having texture problems like I always do you really should try to keep your skin as matte as possible because you don’t want to highlight that,” she said.

[From People]

I used to work for M.A.C. for 6 years and I spent a full year doing makeup in Italy for photoshoots. Everything Keke did in her video is exactly what I would have done for someone in her situation. As a MUA I never put glittery products on textured skin whether it was acne or wrinkles. I always advised my clients with textured skin to use matte products, especially on their eyelids. And yes, if you have deeper skin tones and you wish to conceal dark discoloration, any product that’s orange will cancel out the color. If you are lighter skinned and you have red scars or pimples use a green corrector to neutralize the color out before concealing it. Also understand that you can never fully conceal texture but you can create the illusion of smoother skin.

As someone who advocates for healthy skin care, I do advise people to see a doctor first because their acne issues may not be caused by a hormonal imbalance like Keke’s and they may be able to improve the issue with a change in diet, products or medication. I also would not advise wearing that amount of makeup on a daily basis as it will definitely make your skin worse. With that being said, I feel that Keke is doing the best that she can despite her situation. I really liked that she told her followers to figure out what is best for their skin and situation. Keke’s tutorial was damn near expert level. Like I said before, I am so proud of how Keke is using her platform to encourage others and help them not feel alone in their struggles.

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