By now, you’ve probably read that a group of scientists at King’s College London released the findings of a new study that showed that acne-prone skin may not age as quickly as the rest of ours does. How do they know this? Because they discovered that those who are burdened with an abnormal abundance of pimples often have longer telomeres—that is, those segments at the end of your chromosomes that keep DNA from deteriorating as you age. Longer telomeres mean that your skin cells don’t die as quickly. Likewise, your acne-prone skin retains its youthful glow way longer than it would if it weren’t so damn greasy.

But before you go ahead and ditch that fancy salicylic acid face wash because “acne is good for you,” or whatever—as so many misleading headlines published over the past few days have suggested—let us be perfectly clear: this study did not say that acne causes skin to age more slowly. No, what the study merely stated was that those who have a had acne in some for or another may not wrinkle as quickly as the rest of us. Big difference. Also of note: the study also did not differentiate between levels of acne severity, or age of acne onset. So basically, all they figured out is that there is potentially some connection between acne and elongated telomeres, but what exactly that connection is remains unknown.

Regardless, this all got us to thinking: would you rather deal with pimples on the regular, or have a couple of lines appear on your face a little earlier in our lives? Frankly, we couldn't decide. And so, we took a minute to weigh out the pros and cons.

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First of all, let’s talk about optics. Because the fact of the matter is, everyone gives at least a little bit of a damn about what other people think. Acne sufferers have it particularly rough on this front, because there’s very little good to be said about the sight of whiteheads and inflammation. Wrinkles, however, have the benefit of lending a man an air of gravitas, bringing to mind words like “distinguished” and “dignified.” Sure, both are just nice ways of saying “old,” but they’re both better than nothing. Point one for wrinkles.

On the other hand, there’s the manner of maintenance. In this respect, acne may have the upper hand. Because you see, while dealing with breakouts may require a number of moving parts—from face wipes and washes to overnight treatments and masks—there are plenty of options to choose from when the time calls for it. With aging, that’s just not the case; unless you want to go the Botox route, there are only so many things you can do to reverse fine lines once they start to appear, and if they doesn’t work, then you’re shit out of luck. Acne for the win.

Which is to say, when it comes to grooming, we all have our struggles. No guy—pimple-ridden, smooth-skinned, or any variation in between—has it better off. And so, as sappy as it might sound, all you can do is work with what you’ve got. And try not to fuss too much about it, alright?

Nothing’s less attractive than insecurity.

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