Lili Reinhart Says Cystic Acne Used to Keep Her From Leaving the House

Whereas some celebrities reject the “role model” label, Lili Reinhart appears to be doing the opposite. When she’s not calling out magazines for unnecessary Photoshopping or sharing her inexpensive skin-care hacks, the “Riverdale” star is also transparent about her struggles with cystic acne.

Although she’s grown to accept and find ways of treating her painful breakouts, Reinhart says that they’ve also triggered flashbacks to her middle and high school years, when her insecurity evolved into “slight body dysmorphia,” which is best characterized as a mental disorder where a person views a part of their body as extremely flawed and takes severe measures to hide or fix it.

MORE: How I Learned to Love My Skin Without an Acne ‘Success Story’

In a recent interview with Seventeen, she recalled doing makeup in the dark to avoid seeing her skin under bright light and even staying in the house to avoid exposing her “bad skin” to others.

Source: Instagram

“People thought I was b*tchy because I wasn’t really trying to socialize or make too many friends, or step outside my comfort zone,” she said. “But that was because I had social anxiety, which made me uncomfortable and a little withdrawn. People interpreted that as me sticking my nose up to them, which looking back on it, I understand. But it was definitely not the case.”

MORE: Lili Reinhart’s Favorite Mask is Amazon’s Worst-Kept Secret

Thankfully, the 21-year-old has since found strength in sharing her story with others, even if it’s through something as simple as a makeup-free selfie.

“I’m still growing up — my body’s still changing. Maybe my acne will go away eventually, but for right now, I try to acknowledge it,” she said. “Acknowledge in my Instagram Stories when I’m wearing pimple cream on my face. And poke fun at it in a way, as much as I can. At the end of the day, I tell myself that if I’m walking down the street or having lunch, other people don’t give a sh*t what my skin looks like — it’s just me who cares.”

We applaud Reinhart for using her platform to promote body positivity in all forms. Brava!