Help getting rid of blackheads

ChillyWilly

On my nose, specifically.

I wash my face on the regular, but am careful not to overdo it, as my skin has a tendency to dry out (especially during the winter months). I've used those nose strips that are supposed to pull blackheads out to absolutely not avail. I did not find them to be helpful in the least.

I can squeeze them out and get rid of them if I want, but it's annoying and messes with my already dry skin if I do it too much.

Do any of you other manly men deal with this problem?

Invisible

I use the boire strips, but if you're not finding them useful I'm not sure what to tell you. I also use a 3 step face washing regime, it's mainly for acne and clearing up any problem spots, but it's a face wash, followed by an after wash cream and another cream for specifically bad areas.

radroadkill

Try a charcoal based cleanser. It's one of the most absorbent things you can put onto the skin; it's also going to give you a slight scrub which is great for decongesting the pores.

Just make sure it's balanced out with some type of oil or find a balanced moisturizer to follow up with. Avoid alcohol/petroleum/mineral oil based moisturizers and cleansers as they are basically filler ingredients that literally do nothing for the skin aside form coating it. Alcohol, in large quantities, dry it out more and and petroleum and mineral oil coat the skin and make it seem like you're getting a thick moisturizer but they actually block any effective and beneficial ingredients from getting into the skin.

Satsumomo

+1 charcoal based cleanser.

For moisture on your face, I would recommend finding Jojoba oil, since it's supposed to be very similar to our natural oil composition.

nuka

Those biore face strips don't pull anything out either, but after continuous use I saw an improvement on my nose.

It took a good while though. 2-3 months? I don't actually remember. I'm trying them again but I think it's too soon to see any changes.

TOGSolid

What about stuff on the back too? I'm running out of things to try and it's not like I can layer my upper back with those strips.

Usagi

You need this

Shit works like whoa, but will absolutely dry out your otherwise oily skin so make sure to use a facial moisturizer too (such as this one)

Caveat: they do look pricey but a little goes a long way, and my personal experience has been that over the counter/Walgreens stuff makes my face breakout way worse

TOGSolid

Usagi wrote: »

You need this

Shit works like whoa, but will absolutely dry out your otherwise oily skin so make sure to use a facial moisturizer too (such as this one)

Caveat: they do look pricey but a little goes a long way, and my personal experience has been that over the counter/Walgreens stuff makes my face breakout way worse

Neat, I'll get some of that stuff ordered, give it a whirl, and report back. Thanks!

radroadkill

TOGSolid wrote: »

Usagi wrote: »

You need this

Shit works like whoa, but will absolutely dry out your otherwise oily skin so make sure to use a facial moisturizer too (such as this one)

Caveat: they do look pricey but a little goes a long way, and my personal experience has been that over the counter/Walgreens stuff makes my face breakout way worse

Neat, I'll get some of that stuff ordered, give it a whirl, and report back. Thanks!

This is actually what I was thinking about but I didn't want to whore them out since, you know, I work for them. It's truely amazing. You might want to give the Vanishing Cream a shot rather than the Cosmetic Lad, though. It's a bit lighter.

Invisible

nuka wrote: »

Those biore face strips don't pull anything out either, but after continuous use I saw an improvement on my nose.

It took a good while though. 2-3 months? I don't actually remember. I'm trying them again but I think it's too soon to see any changes.

How long are you leaving them on? Are you getting your nose sufficiently wet? I use them about once a week, leaving it on for about 15 minutes and it never fails to pull some stuff out.

Maybe I just have a really bad nose.

Usagi

radroadkill wrote: »

TOGSolid wrote: »

Usagi wrote: »

You need this

Shit works like whoa, but will absolutely dry out your otherwise oily skin so make sure to use a facial moisturizer too (such as this one)

Caveat: they do look pricey but a little goes a long way, and my personal experience has been that over the counter/Walgreens stuff makes my face breakout way worse

Neat, I'll get some of that stuff ordered, give it a whirl, and report back. Thanks!

This is actually what I was thinking about but I didn't want to whore them out since, you know, I work for them. It's truely amazing. You might want to give the Vanishing Cream a shot rather than the Cosmetic Lad, though. It's a bit lighter.

The lotion will probably be a little trial and error, but I have pretty oily skin and I only use Coal Face in the summertime - it's way too drying for me in winter but it may be just what he's looking for.

nuka

Invisible wrote: »

nuka wrote: »

Those biore face strips don't pull anything out either, but after continuous use I saw an improvement on my nose.

It took a good while though. 2-3 months? I don't actually remember. I'm trying them again but I think it's too soon to see any changes.

How long are you leaving them on? Are you getting your nose sufficiently wet? I use them about once a week, leaving it on for about 15 minutes and it never fails to pull some stuff out.

Maybe I just have a really bad nose.

Sometimes I put them on right after my shower, since my face soap is activated by steam or something I dunno? I know that pores open up after a hot shower and my face is already wet anyways. I don't always do this, in case the pores decide to close up and tighten around the blackheads. I admit I don't know jack shit, so I experiment and do both but I haven't noticed any changes.

I leave them on for 15 minutes, until they are hard like paper-mache and maybe like 1 blackhead will show up.

I got another strip to deal with blackheads on my chin too, and I have seen pictures of the strips on wikipedia with a bunch of blackheads on them so I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Maybe I have mean, jerk-face blackheads.

Robman

Talk to a doctor and get yourself some Rx level salicyclic acid or something. The strips might be satisfying, but they're medically useless.

starmanbrand

My girlfriend gave me some of this Silver Powder that she wasn't using anymore and I'm pretty happy with it.

Although since everyone is gushing about coal powder I'll probably try that out as well.

radroadkill

I know zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are both good for surface oil and keeping the skin matte but I'm not sure how effective they are at deep pore decongesting. It seems like they'd definitely help with surface breakouts and oil control but they might not be the most effective thing for blackheads.

Have you noticed a decrease in blackheads when using it? I'm curious.

Robman

They aren't good for blackheads at all.

There are two ways to stop pimples forming - kill the bacteria, or decrease plugging of the pores. Keralytic agents loosen the skin cells on the surface, and antibiotic agents kill the p. acne that causes the blackhead/pimple. Washing your face 1-2/day with water and a mild soap is enough to manage the oil.

Go to a doctor and get Rx level stuff - the junk you can buy in a drugstore isn't strong enough to be efficacious.

Zephyr180

Aside from going to the docs to find serious anti blackhead potions Id go with holding your face over a bowl of hot water with a towel over your head, then use a pore strip on your nose.
Wet thoroughly then allow to dry completely before pulling it off. Then wash with an exfoliating, oil free soap and finish with toner. The toner will shrink the pores so you're much less likely to have a relapse in blackheads. If you cant find a good toner vodka and lemon juice works but will dry out the skin.