Blackheads - i could have paid off my mortgage- it has been my life's work so far

[Pillow]

To get rid of them, and to no avail. Have tried a LOT of things, including Mario Badescu power which I got from googling and was rubbish. Weirdly the only time they went away was on a trip to New York years and years ago when I had a horrible rash and had to see a doctor and he gave me tablets for a week, 7 tablets on the first day, 6 on the second etc. My great regret is not noticing what on earth the tablets were. Is there an American make-your-skin-lovely tablet? Anyway, any tips? And WHY WHY does any fake tan make them look like someone's attacked me with a black pen??????????

my experience with blackheads is that they tend to occur more in people who live in hot countries.
weird isnt it?
steam? squeezing them out?
general cleansing? i assume you have tried all those things.

Have you tried silicol skin?Made by a company called laguna -I just googled it and a fair amount came up about it. I used it cos I sometimes get acne when I'm stressed, but I found it quite drying. It might be worth a go though?

Um, general cleansing I hope i have

Oh shreddies, I am a total sucker for a googled solution. Has it worked for you? Apart from the drying bit.

Where they little red pills?

If so they may have been Prednisilone - which is quite a strong steriod

go sit in a steam room for a while . i always find them reduced after i come out and have a good scrub.
but seriously. when i lived in the middle east, everyone had problems with blackheads. and when i first moved to england, i was shocked that i seemed to be theonly one with the problem. and soon it disappeared, well, got better.

Pukka I am from Scotland. Go figure!! I have indeed tried the steam and squeezing etc. I think squeezing is fine and SOOOO satisfying, but much better when you have say ten as opposed to mine, where really I would be better to put my entire face in a mangle...

This is funny because when I'm in Syria, my blackheads go and my complexion is fab albiet a bit dry....I return to England and well, put it this way, DS can play dot to dot on my face....

I can't really remember, it was about 7 years ago. The thing was the spots I had were around my jawline, which isn't an oily area and because it's quite drying I stopped. Had it been my t zone I think I would have persevered. I think I read about it in a newspaper. My family has all had crap skin, tho mine is okay now. My brother once tried to scrub his blackheads off with a pumice stone - he was about 13 at the time - poor thing twas bright red

KatyMac no they were white. But i think now you mention it steroids. Why do steroids get rid of blackheads then??

lol
dont do that. the blackheads will probably survive, but your head wont.
sorry, i cant really advise then. mine have been sorted by things like good skincare routine, steam, mudmasks, facials etc.
well, not sorted as such, just minimised.

Would exfoliating help, like real proper, professional exfoliation?

HA HA at pumice stone

You should be able to get Anit biotics for them - my dad had a 3 month course last year & it really helped

I've thought of something else that's quite good - it's a cathiodermie facial - they roll metal thingys over your face. Can't explain how it works but I used to have them every so often and they really cleared up my skin. Lots of high st beauticians do them, I used to get mine in the department stores on Oxford St. Quite pricey though.

Mazzy - done that. That Crystalclear microdermabrasion thing helped a bit, but only the first couple of times. Maybe I have killer blackheads that just get stronger from the treatments...

Shreddies - no they loved the Cathiodermie like food. They grew. I was very sad as I bought into the whole "there are electrical pulses and other sciencey things going on" bit.

No help here but I agree with the fake tan, it really shows them up. I feel like its a pay off between looking grey or looking tanned and blackheady.

The only time Ive got rid of them was in the run-up to my wedding when I had a monthly facial and the facialist spent forever squeezing them all out. She said she really enjoyed it!

Watching this post with interest.

But OWWWW when the facialist takes them out. And one said to me "I can't possibly deal with them all in this one facial" COD PLEASE DO A CODPIECE

oh no! that's terrible! how disappointing

The thing is, my skin is otherwise really good, and it used to be crap. But I can't believe that the solution is not OUT THERE. Only i haven't found it yet. Also, I have tried glycolic acid and glycolic acid peels - also rubbish.

oh it is, it is! there must be something.

Do you want my 2pence? I've found the best thing with mine is to be nice to them.

If I try to get rid of them by using harsh oil free cleansers they just get worse. My skin just overcompensates for the lack of moisture and they go crazy. If I cover them with foundation they get worse. i recently tried using the hot cloth thing, they got much worse.

Simple moisturising face wash followed by Simple toner and at the moment I'm using Hope in a jar moisturiser. It doesn't get rid of them totally, but they are alot smaller, the pores seem to have closed up.

I also save foundation for special occasions, I've never found one that doesn't aggravate them. And clean face at night

That thinking tho Shreddies is what has cost me my mortgage - but there DOES have to be something tho, in this day and age. Doesn't there. And the more googly and sciency the better.

Clean face at night. Hee. You are, Woody, like pukka telling me about "general cleansing". WOMEN - I WASH!!!!!! I PROMISE

I will take your advice tho re the be nice to them: "Blackheads I love you. Don't go. You are a fixture now. People wouldn't recognise me without you."