Blackheads, help me get rid of them...

[returningstress]

I have them on my nose and chin. The ones on my chin have turned into tiny little spots and when I squeeze them white stuff comes out. (sorry if too much info). My chin has loads of lil bumps on it.

I tried simple everyday scrub, but it brings spots out on me, so I stopped using it.

What do you use? I am sitting here with a nose strip on as we speak...

if you discover the answer to getting rid of blackheads, and can bottle it, you'll make a fortune.

I've had them on my nose for about 28 years. Only time they went was when I was vegan, aged 24 (for about 6 months) and didn't drink or smoke. i.e. lived as an angel.

Otherwise I find using a gentle face exfoliating brush with natural bristles every morning with my cleanser keeps them at bay best. If I drink even a little they are much more visible than if I abstain. Also, must cleanse at night, every night.

I don't use a toner, but can recall using a mix of witch-hazel & rosewater which worked quite well years ago. The chemist would mix it up for me. Must try that again.

I've tried loads of specific blackhead taming products - all rubbish!

I had them on my t-zone for years until I discovered the Prozone Sonic cleanser (like a Clarisonic but cheaper!)

Its an electric facial cleanser (soft brush that rotates), probably best to google 'Clarisonic' for reviews as I did not manage to find any reviews on the Prozone, but they are very similar and Prozone is £100 cheaper!...makeupalley is great for product reviews I find.

It is amazing...it really worked for me from day one. Expensive but has saved me loads on scrubs/exfoliating washes etc!

i have the answer!! seriously.. the oil cleansing method. look it up, it sorted my skin out. just wish i knew about it years ago!

basically you ditch all cleansers and scrubs and moisturisers and just massage your skin instead with olive oil. you then use a really hot flannel to steam your face and wipe the oil away. that's it! do it once a day, the other end of the day just wipe with hot cloth. some people try various mixtures of oils. many like castor oil mixed in. find what works for you. anyway, i now have no black heads, no spots and no more oily t zone

Go for a facial and ask for extractions. Dermalogica does brilliant ones.

I agree ruddynorah! Should have said but also use oil to cleanse religiously, either olive or avocado is great too (got from neals yard).

It really seems to dissolve the oil and rubbish that causes blackheads when you massage it in.

The oil cleansing/prozone and a decent night cream has transformed my skin. I still have quite large pores but at least they are clean

oh thanks for this thread. I think I am going to try the oil cleansing method. I was going to say that I put jojoba oil on my skin before bedtime and not much else, and it seems to have helped with the oiliness and shiny probs during the day - anything with alcohol in it or all of these spot or blackhead cleansers don't seem to work on me and make it much much worse.

scrubbing and exfoliating too much can cause your skin to produce excess oil hence the fact that the oil cleansing method is great

loving the sound of the oil cleaning method. going to give it a go. cheers

ruddynorah I use the oil cleanse method and havent seen an improvement on my black heads yet, instead I have large painfull spots - but I am 6 weeks PG to maybe thats not a fair comparison.

that is all the gunk coming out!!

honestly i am constantly amazed at what a difference it has made to my skin. i think people sometimes give up on it too soon, or they don't go the whole hog and ditch the other products. also of course hormonal stuff may well affect things.

how long till I see a difference then? xx

Possibly worth a look as well is the Sanctuary hot clay mask here

Works well for me!

Origins Charcoal Face mask, just using on the problem areas, it's about £16 a tube I think, but last for bloody ages, 18 months or so at least, I get whopper chin spots and it really shortens their duration and draws out all the redness and gunk!

first try of oil method last night - I just used olive oil (will pick up some castor oil at lunchtime today).

It felt bloody marvellous!!! I think I will try it down to my chest tonight. Hard to describe but I could almost feel my pores being released & then shrinking!

Just used water this morning in the shower (as advised). Going to keep this up for a bit & will report back on any progress with blackheads & skin congestion.

I think any cleanser where you use a muslin will help, scratchy scrubs can exacerbate things, but a bit of gentle exfoliation every day seems to be good. I've used eve lom, liz earle, the boots organics one, ren do a lovely rose cleansing balm, sanctuary do one. Just put the cleanser on, soak muslin in hot water, put over your face for a bit, rub cleanser off gently, pay attention to the bits that give you probs, then if you want, soak muslin in cooler water and put back over your face. Body shop sell fine muslins, but they are a bit small, liz earle and eve lom do ones that are just the right size - think the eve lom ones are more money. You could use a baby muslin, but they are a bit coarser.

yes def to muslin/flannel cleansing. it has made my ropey old skin 100 times better

pretty much any fabric shop sells muslin for a couple of quid a meter - cut to size yourself.

I think I might try the oil cleansing method as everyone on here talks about it. I'm off to get some tips