The Craziest Guidance For Treat Blackheads You Could Ever Give

WHAT THE HECK ARE BLACKHEADS?

Annoying blemishes. They appear when skin produces too much sebum (thanks, hormones!). The excess can’t flow out of the pores. It gets trapped inside the pores, together with dead skin cells. When it comes in contact with air, this yucky mixture oxidises (i.e. turns black).

HOW DO YOU TREAT BLACKHEADS?

To treat blackheads, you need to keep oil production under control and exfoliate skin, so dead cells won’t clog your pores anymore.

1. CLEANSE

Wash your face twice a day with a gentle cleanser suitable for your skin type to remove dirt, excess oil, makeup and everything else that could clog pores if left on your skin. Just stay away from bar soaps. They contain ingredients, like sodium bicarbonate, that can dry out skin. And that too often leads to excessive oil production.

SHOP CLEANSERS

2. EXFOLIATE

Listen, girl. Brands will tell you that every single exfoliant they make can clog your pores and treat blackheads. It’s a lie.

The ONLY exfoliant can treat blackheads is salicylic acid.

Scrubs, the Clarisonic, glycolic acid & co only remove dead cells on the surface of your skin. So yeah, they can get rid of the black tip of the blackhead. But if you don’t remove the icky mixture that’s still lodged deep into your pores, it’s only a matter of time before those blackheads come back.

Salicylic acid is different. It’s oil-soluble so it can penetrate the skin’s lipid barrier, get inside the pores and remove ALL the gunk that’s accumulating it there. It gets rid of the entire blackheads so it won’t reappear again anytime soon.

The catch? You have to keep at it. If your skin’s oily and prone to blackheads, you need to exfoliate on a regular basis or those pores will get clogged again before you can say “blackhead”.

SHOP EXFOLIANTS

3. AVOID GREASY MOISTURIZERS

Rich moisturizers may be godsends for dry skin, but they’re so not useful when you’re trying to get rid of blackheads. All those thickeners in the formulas could actually clog your pores, giving you blackheads and even pimples! Much better to stick to lightweight, gel-like formulas.

SHOP OIL-FREE MOISTURISERS

4. AVOID IRRITATING INGREDIENTS

Did you know that skin tends to produce more oil when it’s irritated? The worst culprits are:

Alcohol denat
Citrusy extracts
Fragrance
Menthol
Peppermint

If you’re serious about preventing blackheads, avoid them!

Not sure what to avoid? Click on the image below to sign up ton my newsletter and receive the “Irritating Ingredients Cheat Sheet” with the most irritating ingredients lurking in your cosmetics:

5. DON’T USE PORE STRIPS

Same reason as scrubs: the can remove only the tip of the blackhead, not the whole thing. Plus, they’re irritating as hell. Stay away!

6. DON’T SQUEEZE!

Squeezing blackheads feels so good, doesn’t it?

Problem is, it terribly backfires: squeezing blackheads tears open the walls of the pores, so the bacteria inside can jump onto the skin and wreak even more damage. In other cause, you’re causing more blemishes.

If you really must squeeze, use a comedone extractor:

Clean the area well to sanitize it.
Warm it up with a warm washcloth to soften skin.
Pat dry.
Place the comedone extractor over the blackhead and gently press it down.
If you still can’t extract it easily, give up.You’ll just damage skin if you insist to keep going.
Clean the area with an antiseptic.