Thousands of girls suffer from blackheads and waste their money on products that prove inefficient. Today we will help you understand what blackheads are, why they appear, and how they can be treated.
The first thing you need to understand is that blackheads are extremely persistent, so getting rid of them won’t be easy even if you develop an efficient skincare routine. You will need to wait for quite a while to make positive changes stick, but the right treatments will provide almost immediate results.
The key to fighting this kind of skin condition is consistency. If you have blackheads, your beauty routine must account for them even after they disappear. Otherwise, they will come back again and you will need to start over with your treatment.
Blackheads: Cause
Despite the fact that these nasty blemishes look like specks of dirt stuck in your pores, they don’t occur because your face gets dirty. However, lack of proper cleansing is a major factor that can contribute to their appearance.
In the vast majority of cases, the real reason behind blackheads is a hormonal imbalance. They appear when your sebaceous glands produce too much oil and your skin cells can’t shed normally. In this case, dead skin cells mixed with sebum oxidize and turn black.
Considering the ‘mechanics’ of their appearance, exfoliation is the key element to blackheads treatment. In essence, an effective treatment of this particular skin problem consists of the following elements:
- Removing the buildup of dead skin cells.
- Reducing the overproduction of sebum.
- Absorbing excess oil.
- Restoring a normal sebum flow by improving the overall state of your skin, which will improve the condition of your pores.
When you put it this way, it seems like the problem is easy to solve, right?
Unfortunately, nothing is simple when it comes to blackheads. The vast majority of ‘anti-blackhead’ products aren’t capable of doing all of the above effectively, and missing even one point renders all your other efforts useless because the problem will persist.
In many cases, the products that claim to target blackheads specifically contain ingredients that contribute to their appearance. Therefore, using them actually reduces your chances of successful treatment. You need to consider this and other factors that make the problem worse in order to make sure you don’t make mistakes in your beauty routine.
These factors are:
- Irritation.
ANY kind of irritation makes blackheads worse. Your body reacts to this by
releasing hormones that increase oil production, which affects normal skin
shedding, which leads to blackheads. Therefore, the first and most important
thing you need to do is to exclude ALL products that contain irritants of any
kind. Remember, even if your skin doesn’t turn red and itchy, you might be
suffering from irritation. The ingredients you need to avoid are alcohol, lime,
peppermint, eucalyptus, menthol, and lemon. For more detailed information on
this subject check out our post on skin irritation treatment. - Over-scrubbing.
Despite what it may seem like, you cannot ‘scrub blackheads away’. They sit extremely deep in the pores and trying to pry them out only damages the skin, which makes it overproduce oil to protect itself from the damage. This starts the cycle all over again.
Exfoliation is indeed essential, but you should never rub your face too vigorously. Using a high-quality product, like PureLx Perfection Cleanser Micro-Dermabrasion Scrub regularly will help you solve the problem without traumatizing your skin. - Using bar soaps.
The ingredients that allow these products retain their shape clog your pores. - Trying to ‘pull out’ blackheads with
pore strips.
While this method isn’t harmful in any way, it also isn’t effective, as blackheads lie too deep. The strips can remove only a small part of the blackhead, so their effect is very short-lived.
How to Get Rid of Blackheads Once and For All
Consistent specialized skincare is your solution. The tips that will help you solve this problem permanently are:
- Using water-soluble cleansers.
Be gentle when cleaning your face to reduce physical irritation. - Use light moisturizers.
- Find products with salicylic acid.
- Absorb excess oil.
Use specialized oil blotting papers to remove extra sebum during the day,
For a detailed skincare guide for treating blackheads check out this post.
