After years of hiding her face from the world behind make-up and shutting herself away from family and friends, Louisa Northcote is on a campaign to free the pimple.

Campaigner Louisa Northcote used to mask her acne – until she decided to #FreeThePimple.

“Acne was kind of one of my biggest secrets,” she told Stylist. “Make-up was my mask and I would put on foundation even to walk down to talk to my family in my house. It affected my mental health so much, I kind of shut down as a person. It affected me going out with friends. If I had loads of acne all over my face, I didn’t want to go to a lecture at university.”

Northcote finally began to embrace her skin and go make-up-free online when she created #FreeThePimple. The positive response Northcote received proved what a prevalent problem skin confidence is among women and men.

“I just thought, ‘You’ll get the horrible comments.’ However, I think I’ve been very lucky and I’ve actually got nothing but love and support. It’s made me be more open and want to share my story even more. I’ve gained a lot more confidence. I used to wear make-up as a mask, now I wear it because I enjoy wearing make-up.”

“Accepting my acne”: Louisa Northcote on embracing her skin – spots and all