Heading into your teenage years usually involves dealing with blackheads and acne. Everyone you talk to seems to have a different remedy for getting rid of these annoying bumps. Blackheads are essentially dirt and oil trapped in the pores of your skin, when the trapped oil is exposed to the air it turns black, hence the name blackhead.
Water Based vs. Oil Based Skin Products
First step in ridding your skin of these imperfections is to avoid oil based skin care products and make up. Adding more oil to your already oily skin will virtually guarantee a breakout of blackheads. Choose water based products to help keep your skin clear. There are products available, usually in high end retail stores, which are considered ‘non-comedogenic’, meaning they are considered clog free. With a little shopping around and experimentation you will find the right products for your skin.
Home Remedies
Dab a bit of honey onto the affected areas, cover with a band-aid and leave on overnight. Take the band aid the next morning and your blackheads will be gone. The honey breaks down the bacteria that are clogging the pores resulting in clearer skin. Not keen about sleeping with honey on your face? Try covering your face with a damp wash cloth for twenty minutes each night. Doing so will loosen the dirt, oil and dead skin cells and help clear out your clogged pores. For even better results boil the wash cloth first to ensure that there is no additional bacterium being introduced onto your skin.
Medications
Benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid are the two most common anti bacterial treatments for blackheads. These medications, applied directly to the skin, allow the pores to open up and bring the oil and bacteria to the surface for easy removal. Some of these medications can cause further irritation to the skin so it’s important to monitor how your skin handles these medications.
Tools
There is a relatively new tool on the market called a blackhead remover. This tool is simply a stainless steel rod with a small circle at the end. The circle is designed to fit around the blackhead and, when pressure is applied, pushes the material clogging the pores to the surface for easy removal.
Whichever option you choose, along with a little time and patience, will result in cleaner clearer skin.
