Scarlett Johansson reveals ‘painful memories’ from her teen years

Scarlett Johansson got candid about her struggles with acne before she started her very own skincare line.

The Black Widow actress reflected on ‘painful memories’ in an interview with Stylist, about how she got through in her teens and into her early 20s.

“I struggled with acne forever,” she told the outlet. “My brother actually just showed me photos of myself at a family thing when I was probably 19 or 20, and my skin quality is completely different. When I saw that photo it just, you know, it brought everything back.”

The actress, 38, continued, “All those painful memories. I just struggled with my skin for such a long time.”

The Lost in Translation star shared that she “used to wear concealer to work in the morning, even though somebody was about to put make-up” on her face.

She added that when during her younger years, the messaging around acne was that “your skin was grimy and dirty, and you’d get rid of the blemishes by washing it.”

“It was all so negative – and also incorrect. At that point, I was using every product I was prescribed and that I saw in the media. I would go through these cycles of drying out the acne and then having all this redness and irritation. It was a non-stop cycle,” she explained.

“Then, when I was in my mid-to-late 20s, I just couldn’t do it anymore. I started using gentle products consistently, I began moisturising, and within a week my skin was completely different.”

Johansson has delved into the skincare business, The Outset, which she co-founded with Kate Foster in March last year.