Big a** Pimple! What do you do?
I am sorry to be soo crass with my title but it's exactly what comes to mind when I break out. I'm broken out now actually.. so let me tell you how I am going to take care of those pesky little face infections called zits.
I noticed a couple pimples forming today while in full makeup but couldn't fix them at the time but I knew what I had to contend with when I got home and washed off my makeup. Let me first give you a mini-lesson in acne and what it is and how it begins. A pimple forms when one of your pores (little holes in which your skin breathes through) becomes clogged with either makeup, dead skin cells, sebum(your skin's natural oil) or dirt or all of the above. Most likely its a mixture of sebum, dead skin cells and dirt. 80% of the time, this stuff will gather in your pore and just form a little dirt plug called a blackhead but sometimes it goes deep down and forms an infection at the base of your pore which then swells, hurts and fills with pus. It then moves to the surface and the area around your pore becomes inflamed and turns red or pink and voila' you have yourself a pimple. They are ugly, painful and just down right annoying and I know our first instinct is to pick at them, squeeze them or in other words "pop them". DO NOT DO THIS! No matter how much you feel like it.. it will cause the area around the pimple to become more irritated, inflamed and may force more bacteria from your nails or hands into the pore and cause it to become larger or form new infections (pimples). Unless you are a an esthetician, dermatologist and know how to safely and effectively extract pimples, do not poke, prod or squeeze them. I will list some steps and or tips on how to deal with a sudden breakout.
1. Start with clean skin and hands, use a clean and gentle cleanser with little to no dyes, fragrances or oils.
2. Further cleanse your skin by sweeping your entire face and neck with a cotton ball saturated in toner also known as astringent, tonic or clarifying lotion.
3. Take a warm and clean wash cloth and press it to the pimple or affected area for about 5 minutes or until the wash cloth cools. This will bring the infection to the surface alot faster.
4. With a Q-tip, dab some salicylic acid or benzoyle perozide cream or gel directly onto the pimple(s)No more than a 2% grade. Let air dry and skip your moisturizer if doing this at night.
Repeating this a few nights in a row should remedy the problem and your skin will clear up soon. If this is not a once in awhile break out or if you are very sensitive and would rather stay away from the sometimes harsh pimple creams then fear not; there are other ways to handle this.
Acne prone skin and senstive skin need special care, especially during a breakout so below are some alternative steps and daily care tips to ward off and or heal breakouts.
1. Start with clean hands and skin of course and follow steps 2-3 from the previous routine.
2.Instead of pimple medicine or creams, take a q-tip and drench the tip in 100% pure witchazel and dot it directly on the pimple. Witchazel is a toner from nature, very gentle.
3. Use an anti-inflammatory product such as pure chamomile tea, white tea, aloe vera juice or one of my favorites, Dr. Weil's mega mushroom treatment lotion from his Origins line and dab that onto the affected areas with a cotton ball. You can make your own liquid concoction of anti-inflammatory remedy by steeping or mixing any of the products I just listed in warm water. Take your clean cotton ball and saturate it in the liquid and a lightly dab it over your pimple(s). Inflammation is the key cause of acne so this amazingly gentle remedy from nature will do wonders! You can do this too even if your not sensitive or prone to acne.
4. Another quick fix it remedy is Visine. Yes, it not only gets rid of red eye but it will also diminish the look or redness in or around a pimple. This is merely just a quick fix it until you can adequately address the problem in the privacy of your own bathroom but it really does work!
5. Finally, if your pimple has formed an enormous, gross and bulbous white head, resist the urge to squeeze it but instead with clean fingers to remove the thin layer of skin covering the whitehead. Do what? you ask.. yes every pimple has a very thin layer of skin covering it and if your pimple has reached whitehead status then chances are that a small ring of dry skin can be seen around the head of the pimple and can be easily pulled off. It sounds gross but it is better than squeezing the life out of your skin and causing scarring.
6. After you have remove the layer of dead skin covering the whitehead, use two q-tips or wrap your two index fingers in clean kleenex and gently push (not squeeze) on either side of the newly exposed whitehead and all the pus should come oozing out. When the pore is purged of all the infection then clean blood or a clear liquid will appear, this is a good sign because that means the pore is now free of debris and infection.
7. Use a clean cotton ball saturated in witchazel or toner and sweep it over the stressed out pore formerly known as pimple and let it heal by itself. Do not touch it, poke at it or pick it. It will still look and feel like a swollen pimple but this should go away overnight or within 8 hrs. Now that you cleared out the debris or pus your pore is completely exposed and irritated. Our bodies natural way to fight off intruding bacteria is to swell up so that nothing else can enter and infect.
This last part is totally optional but if it is too gross for you and you have the means to do so, then schedule an acne facial with an esthetician at the spa. They will pretty much do the same thing but with precise attack and confidence. :)
Tips on preventing breakouts:
1. Keep your makeup brushes clean
2. Wash your pillow cases often
3. Clean your cell phone surface (its very dirty and causes horrendous breakouts!)
4. Never sleep in makeup! NEVER EVER!
5. Drink tons of water on a regular basis.
6. Mask your skin once a week with a good clay based mask.
I noticed a couple pimples forming today while in full makeup but couldn't fix them at the time but I knew what I had to contend with when I got home and washed off my makeup. Let me first give you a mini-lesson in acne and what it is and how it begins. A pimple forms when one of your pores (little holes in which your skin breathes through) becomes clogged with either makeup, dead skin cells, sebum(your skin's natural oil) or dirt or all of the above. Most likely its a mixture of sebum, dead skin cells and dirt. 80% of the time, this stuff will gather in your pore and just form a little dirt plug called a blackhead but sometimes it goes deep down and forms an infection at the base of your pore which then swells, hurts and fills with pus. It then moves to the surface and the area around your pore becomes inflamed and turns red or pink and voila' you have yourself a pimple. They are ugly, painful and just down right annoying and I know our first instinct is to pick at them, squeeze them or in other words "pop them". DO NOT DO THIS! No matter how much you feel like it.. it will cause the area around the pimple to become more irritated, inflamed and may force more bacteria from your nails or hands into the pore and cause it to become larger or form new infections (pimples). Unless you are a an esthetician, dermatologist and know how to safely and effectively extract pimples, do not poke, prod or squeeze them. I will list some steps and or tips on how to deal with a sudden breakout.
1. Start with clean skin and hands, use a clean and gentle cleanser with little to no dyes, fragrances or oils.
2. Further cleanse your skin by sweeping your entire face and neck with a cotton ball saturated in toner also known as astringent, tonic or clarifying lotion.
3. Take a warm and clean wash cloth and press it to the pimple or affected area for about 5 minutes or until the wash cloth cools. This will bring the infection to the surface alot faster.
4. With a Q-tip, dab some salicylic acid or benzoyle perozide cream or gel directly onto the pimple(s)No more than a 2% grade. Let air dry and skip your moisturizer if doing this at night.
Repeating this a few nights in a row should remedy the problem and your skin will clear up soon. If this is not a once in awhile break out or if you are very sensitive and would rather stay away from the sometimes harsh pimple creams then fear not; there are other ways to handle this.
Acne prone skin and senstive skin need special care, especially during a breakout so below are some alternative steps and daily care tips to ward off and or heal breakouts.
1. Start with clean hands and skin of course and follow steps 2-3 from the previous routine.
2.Instead of pimple medicine or creams, take a q-tip and drench the tip in 100% pure witchazel and dot it directly on the pimple. Witchazel is a toner from nature, very gentle.
3. Use an anti-inflammatory product such as pure chamomile tea, white tea, aloe vera juice or one of my favorites, Dr. Weil's mega mushroom treatment lotion from his Origins line and dab that onto the affected areas with a cotton ball. You can make your own liquid concoction of anti-inflammatory remedy by steeping or mixing any of the products I just listed in warm water. Take your clean cotton ball and saturate it in the liquid and a lightly dab it over your pimple(s). Inflammation is the key cause of acne so this amazingly gentle remedy from nature will do wonders! You can do this too even if your not sensitive or prone to acne.
4. Another quick fix it remedy is Visine. Yes, it not only gets rid of red eye but it will also diminish the look or redness in or around a pimple. This is merely just a quick fix it until you can adequately address the problem in the privacy of your own bathroom but it really does work!
5. Finally, if your pimple has formed an enormous, gross and bulbous white head, resist the urge to squeeze it but instead with clean fingers to remove the thin layer of skin covering the whitehead. Do what? you ask.. yes every pimple has a very thin layer of skin covering it and if your pimple has reached whitehead status then chances are that a small ring of dry skin can be seen around the head of the pimple and can be easily pulled off. It sounds gross but it is better than squeezing the life out of your skin and causing scarring.
6. After you have remove the layer of dead skin covering the whitehead, use two q-tips or wrap your two index fingers in clean kleenex and gently push (not squeeze) on either side of the newly exposed whitehead and all the pus should come oozing out. When the pore is purged of all the infection then clean blood or a clear liquid will appear, this is a good sign because that means the pore is now free of debris and infection.
7. Use a clean cotton ball saturated in witchazel or toner and sweep it over the stressed out pore formerly known as pimple and let it heal by itself. Do not touch it, poke at it or pick it. It will still look and feel like a swollen pimple but this should go away overnight or within 8 hrs. Now that you cleared out the debris or pus your pore is completely exposed and irritated. Our bodies natural way to fight off intruding bacteria is to swell up so that nothing else can enter and infect.
This last part is totally optional but if it is too gross for you and you have the means to do so, then schedule an acne facial with an esthetician at the spa. They will pretty much do the same thing but with precise attack and confidence. :)
Tips on preventing breakouts:
1. Keep your makeup brushes clean
2. Wash your pillow cases often
3. Clean your cell phone surface (its very dirty and causes horrendous breakouts!)
4. Never sleep in makeup! NEVER EVER!
5. Drink tons of water on a regular basis.
6. Mask your skin once a week with a good clay based mask.
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