One day you wake up with a pimple and the next another, and then this continuous cycle of never not having acne mounds on your up until this point seemingly flawless skin. What’s one to do then? This was the story of my life this past summer. My whole life I’ve dealt with pimples popping up every now and then, but nothing like what I experienced this summer.

After consulting with countless dermatologists, and after using just about every drugstore and high end beauty product to stop this epidemic, I came across an article one day that changed my life. It was a vegan blogger talking about the health benefits of having a no diary diet, and one of her main points was how clear it can make your skin. So I spent days researching this highly talked about topic, and made the executive decision to start living a dairy free lifestyle.

I know what you’re thinking. “I could never live without __________.” So don’t. If you want to avoid dairy but you could never give up pizza, then give up dairy except for pizza. I will say that for most of your favorite foods there are some pretty outstanding alternatives. Almond milk typically makes your favorite cereal taste a little sweeter, and I know for a fact that Ben and Jerry’s coffee caramel fudge non-dairy ice cream will make your bad days turn around. There are endless amounts of dairy-free options, and there’s even more benefits to cutting it out of your everyday diet.

Fast forward a few months, the acne scars are slowly but surely fading, and my skin is even better than before, not to mention my confidence level has never been so high before, because those months I was dealing with my acne I never wanted to go anywhere in fear of everyone staring at my skin. I’ll forever be grateful that I came across that article, and that I was motivated enough to follow through with it.