Removing blackheads.

[Newadventure]

I've got a skin condition so I can't use any chemicals (face wash, make up etc) on my face and have to use an aqueous cream to wash. This leaves a sort of layer on my skin after I've used it (which I do twice a day) it's leaving a build up causing me to get blackheads. I only noticed this the other day and I have so many! Almost every pore on my nose has them!

As can't use any chemical washes or peels, does any have an tried and tested home remedies to get rid of them??

Thanks

One of these little beauties? Not sure how good it is for your skin though and is cure rather than prevention.

Oh so satisfying though.

I’ve heard folk swear by the Australian Pink Clay....are they ‘real’ blackheads or sebaceous filaments?

Would you be able to use a natural oil instead? I use either grapeseed oil or jojoba oil to cleanse with and I don't find they cause blackheads (and I'm very prone to them). I have sensitive skin with rosacea, and they are the best thing to wash with in terms of sensitivity, I find.

Maybe a konjac sponge used with just water would help.

You can do gentle acid masks at home, have a google for aspirin mask (salicylic acid) or yoghurt, honey and oat mask (lactic acid). Patch test first.

Thanks I'll look into them!

tolleshunt I actually moisturize with extra virgin olive oil, could I just use that to wash with then?? Didn't know you can do that.. makes sense now I think about it!

I got an electronic blackhead sucker someone posted about on here

They are on Amazon

You can make a peel of strip but soaking a strip of kitchen paper in egg whites. Apply to skin but wet skin with warm water first to open pores. Then when it's hard just peel off and blackheads should come off with it

queen I'm not sure.. how can you tell the difference? It just looks like all the pores on my nose are grey little dots

They're probably sebaceous filaments, not blackheads. The best way to treat is to use something like salicylic acid (I get mine from The Ordinary) and be prepared to accept that you can minimise the appearance, but it's practically impossible to get rid of them.

Of should be off and but should be by sorry

Oooh ew1990 I'm gonna try that right now!

Ah ok pomegranate I'll have a look and make sure I know what I'm dealing with before I try anything.

new let me know how it goes :)

Ah yeah they are sebaceous filament!
So can salicylic acid be used on sensitive skin??

Try a patch test - hopefully you will be fine. Btw, I spent most of my life trying to treat what I though were blackheads on my nose, only to realise very recently that they were sebaceous filaments, thanks to a chance listening to a radio programme!

The salicyclic acid really helps to minimise the appearance. Best of luck, it's such a pain in the butt! I use the salicylic acid am and pm.

Yes, New, you could use the olive oil to cleanse with, I sometimes do in emergency, if I've run out of grapeseed/jojoba, though I find it stings a bit.

All you do is massage a little oil over face, including eyes (best eye makeup remover ever!), then wet a muslin cloth with hot water and wipe it off. The water does have to be at least warm to effectively remove the oil, so you will have to rinse it out a couple of times. Job done!

The reason it works, apparently, is that the oil molecules are larger than the sebum molecules, so the sebum is attracted to the oil, sticks to it, and can then be wiped away with the cloth. I find muslin cloths work better at removing the oil than a flannel, but if you find them scratchy, then use a flannel, it will just take a bit more wiping. Microfibre cloths are great too.

Ok I'll give it a try!

Thank you

Fab well I'll start doing that with the oil (may look into jojoba oil actually) and try out the salicylic acid and see how I get on.

Thanks all. I was about ready to try and squeeze them out!

I like jojoba best, but I'm using grapeseed currently, as it's way cheaper, and I'm temporarily on a tight budget tightwad. It's almost as good as the jojoba, but not quite.

Ive just looked and Holland and Barrett have it on sale at. £8.99 down from £19.99!
I think I'll try it.
It'll be nice to feel like I've got an actual skin care regime rather than just using the aqueous cream (that I don't think it's very good for my skin, I seem to have aged loads of over the past two years since using it.. But that could also be because I can't even use sun cream on my face to protect it either )

At that price I would give it a go!

I used to get horrendous eczema on my hands, and found aqueous cream quite drying, though in fairness at the time it seemed like nothing suited my skin. I would be interested to see if you feel your skin is looking a bit better after a few days of using it. These things are so personal, though.

It's a real shame about the SPF, that must be tricky in the summer if you want/need to be outside. Can you tolerate makeup at all? The bare minerals foundations naturally have a bit of a SPF effect, and I find them really non-irritant, if anything they improved my acne and made my skin less reactive. The only problem is you have to buff the powder with a brush, which of course may in itself cause irritation...... hard to square the circle sometimes with sensitive skin conditions.

Would the Amazon blackhead sucking machine work on sebaceous filaments?

tolleshunt
My issue is peri oral dermatitis. It affects the skin around the folds of my nose and around my nostrils. I have reoccurant flareups made worse from when I was prescribed a steroid cream for 8 months by a gp. (We didn't know at the time it was peri oral dermatitis and steroid cream makes it worse.. As I found out ) so now I don't wear any make up on my skin and don't use washes or anything for fear of having a big break out.. things will happen like if I'm washing the dishes and some soap splashes on the area I'll get a break out and it takes weeks of using metronidazole (sp?) Cream for it to go away.
I can use eye make up but now stay away from anything going near my nose.. which is a shame as I loved a good bb cream! I don't even scratch my nose if I've got hand cream on now.

I will try what has been suggested. I'm glad I ask as these days my sink looks worse than ever. I can't exfoliate or anything, I think using the cloth like you suggested will act like a gentle exfoliant too.
I'll come back to the thread and let you know I get on

Skin not sink!

This thread is like a light bulb!! I have sebaceous dermatitis so it now makes perfect sense that my nose isnt full of bla kheads!
Going to step up my sacylic acid use, got a citrus thingy gel acid cleanser en route and will try double cleansing i think. You lot are ace!!