Black heads

[siouxsieandthebanshees]

DD is 15 and in the last few months since AF started, she has loads of black heads on her nose. I have brought her quite a lot of different black head strips, and facial washes but they dont seem to work for her. Has any one got any ideas for shop brought products, or would it be better to get her some sort of facial at a salon, a fresh start and all that, and if so what sort. (bearing in mind the rest of her skin is lovely, she is not prone to acne, just blackheads)

TIA

[brimfull]

a good facial will help sort them out

or you could try the oil cleansing method,search on mumsnet for the thread

really good for preventing blackheads

[notjustapuppymum]

Hi, I'm a beauty therapist and I would advise that a facial would sort them out. Go for a dermalogica one and specify when booking that you want one that includes blackhead extractions. Then, to keep them away, I would recommend regular exfoliation with a grainy scrub like dermalogica skin prep or St Ives medicated scrub and a weekly clay based mask. Also important to use an oil free moisturiser. Hope that helps.

ps. I wouldn't recommend the oil cleansing method on a young skin type

[BonsoirAnna]

The most important thing is for her to wash her face with a soapy cleanser and clean flannel morning and night, scrubbing gently at all the blackhead prone areas, and then rinsing with lots of water until her skin is squeaky-clean (ideally she should do this in the shower).

If her skin feels tight she should use a light moisturiser afterwards.

As others have said, a good deep cleansing facial from time to time is a good idea to get rid of stubborn blackheads and to stop them getting too large.

[siouxsieandthebanshees]

Thankyou ggirl, puppymum and anna for your advice
I will book her in for a facial asap, I wondered tho do all beauty salon's do dermalogica facials or should I just specify that she would like black head extractions. Obviously dd's main worry is scaring. Thanks again.

[Romanarama]

I recommend buying the 2.5% benzyl peroxide gel for her to apply every evening before she goes to bed (not expensive at all). I'm not sure that all the scrubbing is a great idea, and my experience of facials with extractions is that you end up with zits.

[BonsoirAnna]

2.5% benzoyl peroxide works quite well but she must wash your face well first and exfoliate gently (which is where the scrubbing with a flannel comes in - better than an exfoliating product, providing the flannel is clean).

We have two teenage DSSs with blackhead problems and they regularly see the dermatologist and beautician.