piiiiiiimples. eww? Options

[tchotchke]

I decided to pull an all-nighter and I'm bored. So this is what I came up with.

BTW... don't ask about the all-nighter.. its complicated...


The Basics
- Don't pop them. It's simple really. Don't touch them. There is no good way to pop pimples.
- Toothpaste doesn't belong on your face. Use benzoyl peroxide instead.
- Eat healthy. Drink water. Exercise. You'll notice the difference after a week.
- Use products with salicylic acid if you have acne-prone skin.
- Tea tree oil is great. You can use it straight from the bottle (100% tea tree oil) or mixed in with products (a shampoo that contains tea tree oil)
- Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque is supposed to work wonders. It isn't sold where I live though.

Popping pimples
Yeah, I said you shouldn't. But you will anyway. Heck, I will too. Here is a technique suggested by karamelle:

boil some water. get a towel, put your face over the pot and the towel over your head, to keep the steam in. do this for about 10 minutes. (it feels so good!) Now before you do all that, get a clean wash rag and soak it in warm water. let it soak while you do your little steam bath. When you finish, and I mean as soon as you finish, get that rag, and cover your 2 index fingers with it. place your finger tips besides the pimple, not on top, and push straight into your skin. dont push towards the pimple, that can cause all the ickies to go further into your skin. So sit there and be patient with it. If nothing happens after a few tries, dont force it. Go under the steam again, and soak your rag again. come back, and use the other side of the rag. push INTO your skin, a few times more. if it still doesnt work, leave it alone. try it again tomorrow. whatever you do, dont force it. And dont use your bare hands. that just puts more oil on your face that you would have started with.

Acne Scars
- Vitamin E oil can be applied to scars to slowly decrease the visibilty of acne scars.
- Tea tree oil can also be applied to the scars. If you're using the pure oil, it's got a really strong smell to it. Most people don't like it but m'eh, I don't mind it.
- Emu (yes, the bird) oil. It's proven to help with almost every skin problem out there.
- Sea buckthorn seed oil helps a bit too.
- Scar-zone is a product used for scars. It can be found in places like Walgreens, CVS, etc.


Hair and Acne
Chances are if you have bangs you probably get pimples where your bangs are. Your hair gets oily after a bit, and the oil from the hair clogs up the pores on your face causing pimples. Try shampooing with products that contain tea tree oil.

Cleansing your face
-Make sure you clean your face everyday! Even though it may not seem dirty, it is. Be careful though, don't clean your face too much. When you clean your face, you are stripping it of oil. The more you clean your face the more oil glands will work to produce oil. Some people wash their faces so much they think that their skin is oily, when it actually isn't. They're just putting their oil glands into overtime.
-It is said you should wash your face morning and night, but if you really do have oily skin, the maximum times you should wash your face is thrice daily.
-If you have acne prone skin, use products that contain salicylic acid. It helps break down blackheads and whiteheads and prevents clogged follicles.
- Benzoyl peroxide releases oxygen to help kill bacteria. It also helps breakdown blackheads and whiteheads.
- You're suppoesd to use salicylic acid in the morning, and benzoyl peroxide at night.
- Be Gentle. Don't over do the medication.
- Make sure you MOISTURIZE after washing your face!
- Don't use bar soaps! I'm not sure why, but it's something like theres a residue that gets left on your face even after rinsing, which can lead to pimples. MAN! I wish I knew that before I went out and bought Clinique.
Try products like: Cetaphil, Clearasil, or Clean and Clear.

You can use Rubbing Alcohol also. I tried it.. it doesnt like.. make ur pimple go away.. buh it makes it go away faster in combination with whatever product you use. Just use a q-tip or cotton ball.. and put it in rubbing alcohol.. and lik jus place it on ur pimple.

This is really great. One tip: If you are willing to splurge, make an appointment at a Clinique counter.....If will help so much. The Clinique lady will give you a total make over, tell you how to take care of your slin, what skin type you are, and all that good stuff. She'll tell you what kind of facial things you need too. My package cost me about $35 dollars, and it works GREAT!!!

Moisturizing
- If you have oily skin, use a light moisturizer. (I currently use L'Oreal Hydraclear for oily skin)
- Usually moisturizers for oily skin are more like gels rather than lotions.
- If you have dry skin, use a product like Clinique's Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion. It's REALLY moisturizing. =)
- If you have normal skin, use a moisturizer designed for.. well.. normal skin!

Acne on the body
Unfortunately some of us have acne on our backs. Use a loofah (or something like it) to exfoliate with. Pour some medicated body wash (like Neutrogena Body Clear Body Scrub) and scrub scrub scrub. I'm testing this out, I'll tell you how it goes. ;)

The End
No matter what, no one will be able to help you more than a dermotologist. Look one up. I'm sure s/he'd help you a lot, and give you medication (retin-a, differin etc.) if you needed it.


P.S. I didn't write all of this, just think of me as someone who gathered information and put it all in one spot. I haven't tried all of this either. So don't blame me if the results aren't what you intended. If you have any questions, ask them... and I'll answer them to the best of my ability.

And feel free to post stuff that I can add to this.

Great. Now I need to find something else to occupy my time with....

[sheddingtears]

dang. this is awesome. you're awesome.

[pinklove_stains]

great topic well said

[gingerxsweet]

hmm clearasil doesnt really work for me, and neither does the oxy vanishing formula. i was so disappointed, i thought i was gonna be the end of my breakout problems haha. well i heard that clean and clear harms your skin because of all the alcohol they have in it. i dunno...

[yellowgurl]

MY MOM HAS BEEN POPPING MY FLIPPIN` PIMPLES FOR AGES. it hurts! psssh. she still does it after i tell her not to. and after i showed her this she said it was just a bunch of bullcrap.

lol. sounds like something my mom will say too. My family is really into popping and basically picking at your face.. it basically just spreads the bacteria around.. instead i find that the main ingredients of many skin care products are aroudn the household things.. like alcohol for oily skin will absorb the oil but may over dry it and baking powder and alcohol water will mix you a good batch of pasty blackhead remover.. next time before you splurge on $$$$ costly cleansers etc. match up the ingredients with something not so costly =)

[3ssx]

thanks.
lots o info.

[Aoiro]

Learns something new everyday.
Nice and helpful.
Shankyu.
:3

[sheridan_whitesi...]

nothing but straight-up isotretinoin for me.

[charanjust4yu]

i agree dont pop pimples ... but to prevent them you can put your face over boiling water and put a towel over your head so the steam will stay and do that for 15 minutes and go take a shower ... it opens up your pores which supposedly will decrease the chance of new pimples from forming

[fisher0fman]

Here's a note about the "bacne" (acne on the back):
DON'T use a loofah. It traps the dirt and all the nasty oils and all other nastiness and just places it/rubs it ALL on your back..(blech)

[*reflection*]

this is very helpful
thanks

[lea_]

ty, thats was very helpful for gang who has it
i dont have, but its really help full...gj

[o0olaalaa]

i use stridex =) it wrks

[xsign_my_heartx]

wow, lots of information. and very helpful.

[XoAshlyCeciliaoX]

Theres a ton of stuff you can buy to help pimples at grocery stores and stuff, and believe me, I've tried them all.
The Best Thing From The Grocery Store:
STRIDEX ;; Most def. I did it 3 or 4 times a day, but it dries out your skin way easily. So you need a mosturizer. And its cheap.

I bought something from the doctor, not a prescription or anything, but yea.
Maybe your doctor has something? And It worked well. It was maybe $10.

And all those adds for Proactiv? NOT FAKE. I used it 3 times, and noticed a difference. The size of the pimpples decreased, didn't completley go away yet though. And then one night, I didn't use it ONCE, and I noticed I started breaking out again. So, it's worth the money, but just you have to do it constantly.

Those are some things I know worked well from experience, just so you don't have to wase a ton of money trying everything from everywhere.

[*mona lisa*]

I know there isn't a scientifically proven conection between chocolate and pimples, but trust me when I say that I get them a lot from eating chocolate. What bothers me is that some people refuse to believe me. Blah blah blah, chocolate doesn't cause pimples and some crap like that. Really annoys me. They wouldn't know unless it happened to them, know whould they?

Yeah, so I use a lot of stuff. I eat Homeopathic medicine for healthy, clear skin. It somewhat helps, although I can't really pinpoint anything right now. I use a lot of stuff like I said.

If you can get it, use that oil-control soap from Pears.

[De112]

chocolate could just be a minor allergic reaction to you..

[*mona lisa*]

Nah, I don't get rashes or anything.
In fact, I'm not allergic to anything.

[demolished]

Thanks mona lisa for the details. I'm starting to eat more chocolate because i miss sweets ever since i obtained my braces in January. Darn it. No wonder, i got plenty of pimples.

[Anime_gurl_4eva]

this helped a lot.
what i found worked the absolute best, is to wash your face once in the morning, once at night, with a regular bar of soap (preferably Dove). it works sooo well, its cleanses your skin leaving it soft too!

[Elleusion]

I have this pimple cream that's also a mosturizer, and it works on zits...

[swimgirlarc]

Here's just a list of what works for me

I used to have severe acne, but now i'm totally clear!! thanks to alot of different things i've tried...it works for me, but maybe not everyone


*Hot rags work for me, but i heard it causes more scarring. I also found putting an icecube on it works very well, but only when its ready to pop. If its like white, but not ready to pop, i put a small dab of benzyl peroxide just on the pimple and that seems to bring it out.

*i've gone on a low carb diet recently, and i've noticed a dramatic change in my skin. Its so much clearer!! i only get breakouts when i have my period, when i'm under stress, or if i eat a piece of cake or something with high sugar content...even fruit juice (that stuff's actually supposed to be bad for you). Yeah i'm a swimmer, and after every swim meet, i get break outs from the stress.

*the dermotologist perscribed for me the following
~anitbiotics-worked for a little, but i built up a resistance and came back eventually
~birth control pills-miracle pill, it got rid of the worst of it, but i was still getting a few break outs here and there...they just weren't huge cysitc ones like i've had before
~differin-i works very well, but made my skin super dry

*now that my skin is clear, i just use purpose face wash, and sylacylic (sp?) acid cream on my face or Klaron (perscribed...sulphur based)

*if i use moisurizer, i make sure it has a little sylacylic acid

*benzyl peroxide is good for a little are of black heads or a big zit, but i wouldnt recommend using it all over the face. #1 it dries it out horribly #2 it bleaches clothing and hair (my bed sheets are all bleached thanks to it) #3you can build a resistance to it, so you'll eventually have to use more and more

[Teesa]

Moved to Health

[aubbob]

haha thanks this was awesome!

[aicilah999]

thanks. this is really helpful

[ecargnmyst]

these r such good tips..thnx =]...but i dont know where to find any of those oils for the acne scars. and how much are they? lol..reading this i really need tea tree oil =\ lol..how much is that?

i dont get that many pimples but since i do have bangs (and im pretty much the only person in my school still w/ bangs O.o) i do get pimples on my forehead ..and now theyre gone but i still have the scars =\
and i was thinking about getting that neutrogena acne scar medication kristin kreuk was advertising..but dunno how effective thatd be