Do You Have A Blackhead Problem?

Poll posted by BR Natalie

What is it about blackheads that make you feel like a dirty girl?!  I hate them, and yet, confession time...if I don't keep up on my skin care routine judiciously, well, my chin is like a little village of blackheads.

The Basics.

Pimples occur for a number of reasons - the overproduction of sebum, blocked pores (either blocked with dead skin cells or cosmetic/environmental debris) or a build up of bacteria.

Every hair follicle (the medical term for pore) is connected to sebaceous glands.  Sebum from these glands usually travels up the hair shaft, out of the opening of the follicle and onto the outer surface of the skin.  When your body produces too much sebum it combines with dead skin cells and solidifies.  This usually causes a whitehead.  If the follicle is wider than usual, debris (grime, dirt, makeup) may come in to the follicle and oxidise, causing blackheads.

You can probably guess that picking and squeezing your blackheads is not the recommended way to remove them - not only is it likely to transfer more grime to your skin, it's also quite agressive and can damage your skin.   When you think of blackhead removing products, you probably think of the pore strips like the one pictured.  Now as satisfying as it is pulling off a pore strip and trying to count the number of blackheads, again it's a very aggressive method. It can cause burst capillaries and damage the skin.

So what's a girl to do?  

It's easy - look for gentle products to remove debris from your skin.  Even better than that, use products with blackhead clearing ingredients!

Garnier Pure Active Intensive Charcoal 3-in-1 is a multi-purpose formula that can be used as a wash, scrub and mask to visibly reduce even the most resistant blackheads and help to prevent their reappearance. Salicylic acid removes dirt and impurities; natural exfoliating particles unclog pores and visibly reduce blackheads; and charcoal absorbs oil and impurities, neutralises shine and leaves the skin comfortable and smooth. Blueberry extract works to keep the skin more pure and balanced.

It sounds pretty fantastic, but of course - it's not us who will be putting it to the test - it's forty of you guys!  So if you fancy taking this out for a whirl and reporting back, why not get chatting to us below about all things charcoal, multi-tasking products and blackheads!