How to get rid of blackheads
Just about everybody gets the occasional blackhead, although unfortunately some people get a lot of them.
Blackheads are simply small quantities of oil that have accumulated in the pores of the skin. This oil blocks the pore, and expose to the air turns it its characteristic black colour, although some blackheads have yellow pus underneath. Blackheads can also form by small pieces of dead skin or makeup blocking the pores.
Blackheads are more likely to occur on oily skin. The t-zone – the t-shape formed by your forehead, nose and chin – is particularly prone to them. They sometimes also form in a hair follicle or ingrown hair. However, blackheads can occur just about anywhere on the body.
How to remove blackheads
A good first step to removing blackheads is to give your face a steam treatment. Get a bowl of steaming water, put your head over the bowl, and cover yourself with a towel. Be careful not to scald yourself.
This will loosen any blackheads in your skin. Incidentally, it’s also a very good treatment for blocked noses!
Once you’ve steamed, you can remove the blackhead. You can get a specialist blackhead remover tool at any large pharmacist or beautician.
Otherwise, you can squeeze the blackhead. Be sure that your face and your hands are clean, to reduce the risk of infection. Then, put a finger each side of the blackhead, and squeeze! It’s weirdly satisfying, but also disgusting, to watch the pus coming out!
If you have a big blackhead, then you may want to gently pierce the top of it with a pin before you squeeze. It should come out more cleanly.
Remember that squeezing blackheads can cause scars, and has to be done at your own risk. If you have made a mess of squeezing one, or just don’t feel very confident about attempting the operation yourself, then most beauticians will be able to help you to get rid of your blackheads.
Some people use wax strips to remove blackheads, in a similar method to that used to remove unwanted hair. Although this can be satisfying, the strips may be of limited use. Because the pores are still open, you may find that they simply fill up with blackheads again. Also, using wax strips does not address the underlying causes of the blackheads.
If you have one or two blackheads, then this should be a wake-up call to the fact that your skin care regime may need to be improved. Read on to find out how to do this.
Preventing blackheads
Prevention is always better than cure, and the good news is that a little effort will make it extremely unlikely that you will be troubled by blackheads:
Stay hydrated: If you don’t drink enough water, your pores will become noticeably larger and more open. This is not a good look in the first place, and it’s especially unattractive when the same pores start becoming blocked with blackheads. Drink lots of water so your skin does not dry out. Also, make sure you avoid consuming both excessive amounts of alcohol and caffeine to keep your skin in tip-top condition.
Eat your veggies: Introducing more vitamins into your diet is a sure fire way of reducing your risk of blackheads. And eating fruit and veggies will also help you consume more water and increase your fibre intake, both of which are good news as they help process toxins through your body.
Take off your makeup: Makeup is one of the prime culprits for the emergence of blackheads. Tiny fragments of foundation or powder clog up your pores and cause spots to form. Therefore, always make sure that you remove all your makeup at the end of the day or evening. Even if cleansing, toning and moisturising as below seems like a lot of hassle, don’t go to bed without taking your face off first!
Cleanse, tone and moisturise: Every evening, wash your face with a gentle soap, making sure you get all of the day’s grime off. Pat dry, and apply toner. Various brands are available, and they all contain alcohol. The alcohol in the toner helps to shrink your pores, and discourages any blackhead-forming nasties to linger in them. Once the toner dries, massage your face with some gentle moisturising cream. Et voila – clean, soft skin that is now unfriendly to blackheads.
Spot cream: There are many brands of creams and washes that claim to prevent spots. To be honest, if you stick to the regime listed above, then the chances are that you will already be doing everything that a spot cream could do. Their main advantage is that they can be faster to use than the cleansing, toning and moisturising routine above, and may be cheaper than buying products separately. However, they can dry your skin and may also leave white residue on your face unless you are meticulous about washing every trace of the product away afterwards.
Hair removal: Sometimes, blackheads form in hair follicles and through ingrown hair. If this is where yours form, you may want to review how you remove unwanted hair. If you use a razor, make sure it is sharp. Wash any hair shavings away after use and clean your skin after shaving. Waxing, sugaring or threading may be a better bet for removing hairs, as they reduce the likelihood of blackheads appearing when the hair re-grows.
If you can stick to a regime of facial cleansing, drinking water and eating fruit and veg, then you should find your skin looks much better.
However, if you do all of this and still have problems with blackheads, then a visit to your GP may be in order. You can get prescription medicine that doctors will prescribe to clear up the worst cases of acne and blackheads.
