Remove blackheads, whiteheads and unclog pores
By: Rebecca R.
Updated: July 28th, 2008
The tips below are useful for cleaning pores such as greasy nose pores, shrinking pore size and having a clearer skin. Having clean pores naturally eliminates blackheads and whiteheads.
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Make your skin sweat and then clean it as soon as possible
The best way to have clearer skin than you already have is to make the skin sweat by running (exercising, playing, sports activity) or mildly steaming the skin.
When you sweat the body sheds most of the toxins stored under the skin from inside out.
Combine working out with a warm shower and a mild face wash, to remove the toxins excreted from your skin.
Steaming the skin or showering in warm water also opens pores but it is less effective than sweating.
Make your skin sweat with exercising about 2 to 5 times a week. If you steam the face then do it once in 2 to 3 weeks.
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Dry out the whiteheads
If your skin is mostly clear and the number of whiteheads is small then, use a drying lotion to dry out the whiteheads. Drying lotions usually leave behind a pink or white residue on the skin when they are applied, but they are most effective in drying out the sebum and infection in the pores that is causing the whiteheads to appear, for this reason it is best to apply the drying lotion at night before going to bed and leave it on all night and wash it off in the morning. The number of facial movements is fewer compared to day time, reduced facial movements allow the drying lotion to settle on the skin and penetrate the pores and dry out the whiteheads.
If there are too many whiteheads or if the skin is very oily and has acne or pimples frequently then apply the acne drying cream and lotion, which removes deeply rooted whiteheads by working under the skin. -
Use blackhead minimizing facewash
There are face washes available in the market that are specially designed to get rid of blackheads. Some face washes bleach the blackhead and make it thinner, they may not completely eliminate the blackhead from its roots. The blackhead would still need to be manually pulled out. Try different face washes and see which one gives you the best result.
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Watch what you eat
If your skin feel oily (for example, if the nose pores appear greasy) after a few hours or days after consuming food containing a lot of oil, fat, dough or sugar then replace these foods with vegetables and fruits.
Make it a habit to replace synthetic, sugary and fatty foods with nutritious and filling healty food. Try to cook your own food, this way you are in full control of what ingredients your food contains.
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Extract the blackheads (with blackhead removing tools)
Don't leave the blackheads on your skin, if you could remove them. There are many tools available to extract blackheads. Each tool is suited for removing blackheads from different areas of the face and each tool works on a particular type of blackhead. These tools are most effective when the skin's pores are opened up usually after a warm shower or facail steam.
If the blackheads are clearly visible (like hair - typically on the chin area), use a fine loop extractor, place the loop around the blackhead and press the tool against the skin, and the blackhead should simply slide out. If the blackhead is firmly rooted on the chin then use tweezers to pull it out. Be sure to firmly hold the blackhead so that no residue is left behind in the pore. The good news is that unlike hair, plucking out blackheads doesn't hurt. Try to remove the entire blackhead, from its roots. Use a tweezer that gives you a good grip ( slanted tip tweezer ), grab the blackhead portion closer to the skin and with a firm grip pull it out.
If the blackheads, whiteheads are in a tighter skin are, not clearly visible (typically on the nose area), then use a blackhead removal strip. These nose strips not only extract the blackheads, but they also extract whatever is clogging the pores.
Nose strips made by Ponds and Biore, are both very effective in removing small and difficult blackheads on the nose. Follow the directions written on the packet which usually requires one side of the strip to be wet. Wet the nose with warm water and apply the nose strip and let it stay there for about 15 minutes until it becomes stiff. Once the nose strip feels stiff or brittle gently pull it out from the outer edges, the blackheads, whiteheads, sebum are extracted and they appear on the strip (yuck! but, what a relief!). Then wash off the nose to remove any residue left behind by the nose strip.
Extract the blackheads whenever they become visible. After extracting all visible blackheads, wash face with a mild non-clogging face wash and pat your skin dry with a clean towel, then dab small drops of tea tree oil on the blackhead pores. Tea tree oil has antiseptic qualities which kills bacteria and germs.
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Avoid pore clogging and skin drying soaps.
The skin on the face is much more delecate and sensitive than the rest of the skin.
Wash your face with a mild (non-soap based) facial cleanser.
Stay away from soaps that leave a residue and make your skin dry, if the soap
leaves a residue then that could clog the pores and would make skin conditions worse.
Try different mild facial cleansers, study their ingrdients and see which one works best for your skin. A good facial cleanser would not dry up your skin, it would leave it soft, smooth and clean.
Now there are many commercial products that are specially designed for reducing blackheads. In my experience Biore blackhead cleaning scrub seemed to reduce or eliminate the occurance of blackheads. Over a period of time, using blackhead reducing face wash makes the blackhead stubs much thinner, the face wash also seemed to bleach the blackheads. Try different brands and see which one works best for you.
Wash your face everyday once in the morning and once before going to bed.
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Vacuum the pores (very gently)
Your skin is not rough and tough like a carpet, it needs to be handled with extreme care.
There are a handful of suction based pore cleansers available in the market. None of them seem to visibly suck out the blackhead or sebum that clogs the pores. Use these suction based pore cleansers only on the nose (where the skin is thicker), and on the chin. When used on the chin it makes pulling out the blackheads a little easier with a tweezer.
After using a suction based pore cleanser on parts of the skin, the skin does feel pulled, so some amount of the clog may be eliminated and deposited outside the skin. Use suction based pore cleansers gently on your skin, dabbing it on the skin should be sufficient.
Don't hold the suction on the skin for any longer than one second and don't use it if it hurts the skin. Use the suction as infrequently as possible, about once a week is good.
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Avoid greasy/oily makeup
Discontinue any makeup that clogs the pores. Powder based makeup is much lighter than creamy makeup. Replace greasy makeup with lighter makeup.
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Remove whatever blocks your skin, before hitting the bed
If you use sunscreen, makeup, moisturizer or anything else during the day they not only clog the pores, they also attract dust particles in the air. Before going to bed wash of everything that you've applied to your face with either a makeup remover or mild face wash.
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Treat your skin well
Test your makeup, creams and lotions. If they irritate the skin, or if the dates on them is expired, or if they smell bad then just throw them away.
Exfoliate the skin, with microdermabrasion, this renews the skin cells and gets rid of dead skin cells.
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Visit a spa
Spas and beauty salons usually have blackhead removal services. Most of the spas perform a facial to soften the skin and to open up the pores and then they extract the blackheads.
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Does baking soda remove blackheads?
Baking soda with water does not remove blackheads. Some suggest adding water to dilute the baking soda and then applying it over the comedones. Baking soda seems to irritate the skin and makes it red, when applied over the skin. The number of blackheads did not reduce nor did the pores become smaller after applying backing soda on the face. Do not use baking soda to eliminate blackheads and whiteheads.
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How to remove blackheads on chin - instant removal
- To remove blackheads easily, wet the skin with mild warm water.
- Stretch the skin surrounding the blackhead with one or two fingers.
- Pull the blackhead out with a sharp tweezer.
- After all blackheads are removed, wash the tip of the tweezer to steralize it. Wash the facial skin with a blackhead and pore minimizing face wash.
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How to remove blackheads on the nose - takes about 15 minutes to remove blackheads.
- Nose blackheads are harder to remove with tweezers or the loop tool because, they are buried tightly and deep in the nose's skin.
- To remove blackheads and whiteheads from the nose, wet the nose area with mild warm water.
- Apply a blackhead remover nose strip and leave it for about 15 minutes till the nose strip dries and becomes brittle.
- Gently pull the nose strip off starting from the outer edges, this pulls the nose blackheads out.
Home Remedies for Removing Blackheads
- A great at home remedy to use to remove blackheads and clean pores is a mixture of lime juice and boiled milk. Use this mixture as a face wash to remove blackheads.
- Making an acidic at home facial scrub will also help to remove the oil that is trapped in your pores. A mixture of salt, lemon, honey, and yogurt applied to your face and rubbed in for 5 minutes is a great remedy to try.
- Gently steaming skin before washing it can help to loosen the oil that is trapped. This will make it much easier to remove blackheads and clean your pores.
Track the disappearance of your blackheads: Take a close up picture of the skin area with blackheads, treat it with different blackhead removing face washes a few days apart, and compare the results.
What causes blackheads?
A blackhead is a type of acne. Blackheads are also known as comedones.
Blackheads are an annoyance that many people deal with on a daily basis.
The cause of blackheads is oil getting trapped and building up in the pores.
The air hitting the oil is what causes the black color that appears on the skin.
Prevention is key to not getting blackheads.
Keeping skin clean and rid of excess oil is the best way to prevent this skin problem.
There are other causes that may cause oil to build up on your skin besides not washing your face well.
One such cause is medications that you may be taking. There are many times that blackheads will still pop up
even with prevention. They must be treated to get rid of them.
Squeezing a blackhead to get rid of it is one the worse things that you can do. This will cause a scar that can end up looking worse then the original blackhead.
Don't go overboard with any of these suggestions. None of the above is medical advice and does not substitute medical advice. If you have any kind of skin problem, acne, blackheads, whiteheads consult a dermatologist or your doctor for medical treatment. The above tips may not work for everyone.
