My journey to average skin has been long. I have battled acne my entire life and about nine years ago I developed the most embarrassing of conditions, melasma. I want to share how after so many one-time, quick fix treatments, I learned to manage it and truly improve it. You know what worked? Patience. I am olive skin hispanic, so any kind of laser is out of the question. I am also lucky that I always went to doctors who advised against it, as I do understand through posts here on RealSelf, that there are doctors who would do laser on darker skin. Knowing my skin the way I know it now, it would have gotten worse. I have done triluma, I have done Cosmelan (twice)- the doctor is the best known dermatologists in Orange County and my after picture is featured here on RS on his page. The results only lasted a few months, and in fact, might have made the melasma worse. The last time he recommended VBeam Laser. No idea why, and I am glad I did not go for it. Having both acne and melasma didn't make finding a treatment easy. Every time I would find a treatment that worked wonders for my melasma, the acne would get worse and vice versa. Vicious cycle I could not escape. I consulted high end and high priced professionals whose medical office looked like a spa and whose personnel including the doctor would look at me gauging how much money I could spend on treatment and they would act accordingly. This of course being in Orange County, Ca made me a rather bottom feeding patient. I am not a rich person and I am sure I don't look the part, but at the end of the day, they do not know how much I was willing to invest to improve my skin. So this is what I did. I looked away from the wealthy areas of the county and look for a dermatologist whose webpage seemed to belong to a medical professional, not a spa. I looked for a doctor who specialized in medical dermatology. I found her and I am glad. I talked to her at length during our first consultation and expressed I wanted a rest of my life relationship with a dermatologist (LOL), not a one time treatment and send me home to keep trying to figure out my skin. You know what worked? GLYCOL PEELS. Not one, not two for a quick fix. I have gone every month in the last six months and both my acne and melasma are under control for the first time. Though my skin will never be perfect, I now go around without make up without feeling self-conscious and utterly embarrassed by my appearance. I wish I had some good before pictures, but I don't. When you have the conditions I described, taking pictures is not something you do. Never. Suffice it to say, I would have never taken the pictures you see here in close up and without any filters. My skin began to look so normal for the first time, that this time I thought it worth it doing more for the aging part (I'm 44), so I just got a fat transfer to address the under-eye bags and facial fat loss! I review that procedure separately, so fee free to see my profile for that. I hope this helps anyone who has been affected by real medical conditions, that somehow the medical community still considers cosmetic. Thanks for reading!