Cheat Sheet - How to POP a spot

As much as any dermatologist will tell you not to pop, the fact is that you do. We do. You know you do, I know you do, the industry at large knows that you do, but they pretend that you don't. I know there are some of you that do manage to restrain yourselves, but you're in the minority and up there with those people that don't lick their lips when eating a donut or chew when eating a fruit pastille.
You exist, but the rest of us don't know how you manage it.

I'm a popper. Always have been, nothing more satisfying to be honest. And although some of you do seem to show great restraint, I know most of you pop because you tell me so - usually with a faint look of 'Don't shout at me' eyes.
As if! If it's the right time, I always pop. With that in mind, I offer you my way to pop. All risk is your own.

But before we go any further, for the sake of being professional, balanced and fair, here is my lovely friend Dr Sam Bunting telling you why you should not pop:

'Of course the correct answer is never pick a spot in the first place-treat them with an anti-inflammatory acne preparation containing salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide (no need to go higher than 2.5-5%); allow it to dry and then cover with concealer. Then – and this is key – divert attention away from the trouble zone. So if the spot is on the chin, work a mesmerising smoky eye. If it's on the forehead, rock a red lip. Remember to assess your face from what I call conversation distance – a good 1m away from the mirror (absolutely NO magnifying mirrors); remember no one every inspects you as closely as you’d like to think.
If you have been tempted to pick and its red and raw, it’s important to interfere as little as possible, to reduce the risk of pigmentation and scarring. This is especially true if the spot had not come to a white head and formed a pustule. Until the erosion has healed over, it will be almost impossible to get make-up to adhere and it may well cause secondary infection.  Wipe with a gentle antiseptic like witch hazel and apply light pressure for a minute. Then apply an anti-inflammatory acne preparation that will form a film over the area and leave it be. Don’t apply make-up until the skin has healed properly.'

That's the Dr. I love her. But I still pop.

Please bear in mind: Popping is not picking. They are two very different things.

How so?

Popping - 'Ooh I see a whitehead! Where did that come from? I think I can get that out. Let me have a go. Yep. Excellent.' *carries on with routine*

Picking - 'Ow. That red lump on my chin is KILLING ME. I must be due on. Bloody hormones. I'm going to get it out. *attempts to pop red lump for ages*
'OWWW. Ugh. I'll try again later. Ooh there's another one! Maybe that one will come out. *prods second bump until it bleeds*
'OOWWWW. Ugh. No joy. Why does my skin hate me?'
*plays with it all day with dirty fingers, doesn't leave it alone*

If you fall into the latter category you're making the simple mistake of opening the oven door before the cake has risen. A little patience changes the outcome.

A few simple guidelines will give the best result (although do bear in mind that every skin is different) and they will probably go against everything you've read from brands trying to sell you products. Nothing new there so let's crack on.

What you will need:
'Clean' everything. Clean hands. Clean skin. Clean flannel. Clean tissue. Acids. Cotton wool or on a ready made pad. A good quality (non-mineral oil) facial oil.

• Slipping it into your routine is the easiest way. AM or PM. Not lunchtime in the loo at work.
• Cleanse. With a flannel. If the flannel doesn't knock the head off the spot that's your first sign that it may not be ready. If it's sore, it's probably not ready. I steer clear of sore spots. They're still working their way up the dermis food chain and causing inflammation along the way.
• If you can see white, it's not sore or too tender and everything is clean, take a tissue, rip it in half and wrap it around the forefinger of each hand.
• Finger placement is also crucial. 
• One of the biggest mistakes made when popping is to go straight in from RIGHTNEXTTOTHESPOT. You put your two fingers on the spot and you just push your fingers together, so that you're so close, you literally just get a little teeny whitehead, then everything almost gets pushed back down into the spot. Not good.
• Do NOT use your nails. Pads of fingertips only.
• Put your fingers either side of the spot, to the best you can, depending on where it is, obviously. You should be able to SEE the spot. Gently push downwards and then at a 90 degree angle towards the bottom the spot, start to push upwards. If it's ready, it will come up and out. Gently repeat. When the white stops, and it's spouting pink, STOP. STOP. STOP. STOP.
• If you see blood (it's already too late but..), STOP. 

You're in scarring territory. Show restraint.

• Now you need to move quickly. Take your pre-soaked acid toner cotton pad, or ready and waiting acid pad and apply it firmly to the spot, using a similar pressure as when you've ripped off a plaster or a wax strip. Hard pressure. Hold it down for a few seconds. Turn it over and repeat. There should be no bleeding. If there is, keep the acid on it until it stops. I have been known to walk around making a cup of tea holding a pad soaked with acid on to an overly pronged spot waiting for it to calm itself. The bigger the spot, the longer you hold acid on it.
• Note: this may sting like a MOFO. Stinging is good. I know I say it all the time but stinging is good. The acid will be helping to kill the bacteria, aiding a quicker healing time and making sure the skin is prepped ready for the oil. You'll have a 'Kevin at the sink in Home Alone' moment. Embrace it.
• Yes, oil. I don't use drying out products. You dry out the spot, you also dry out the area surrounding the spot causing a ton of inflammation and dehydration and frankly, making a prime breeding ground for bacteria and scarring. A Juicy Lucy skin is harder to scar. A dried-out, shrivelled up area will scar easily. Simples.
• Take your acid pad off, and put your chosen oil on the area.
• Massage it firmly in. You can't be mamby-pamby at this stage. Be firm. Good strong pressure massaging all around the spot and over the spot.
• Depending on the rest of your day/evening, finish your routine, but I try and do this either on mornings that I'm not wearing makeup and am working from home, or in the evenings at teatime.
• It's best to do it when you're at home with a little time afterwards as you're going to repeat the oil application as soon as it has all absorbed...
  Apply, wait, absorb, apply, wait, absorb. Repeat at least three times if you can. 
• Throughout the day or the next morning you will find that the spot erupts a little goo, like a mini-volcano. Wipe away with acid and reapply the oil. This sounds time-consuming but I promise we're talking seconds, not hours. And it's worth it if it speeds up the spot healing process and helps prevent scarring.
• IF you have a ready spot but you have to go to work, do everything as above, apply your moisturiser over the area, don't avoid it - and then proceed with your makeup. Powder is your friend. Once you get home, cleanse immediately and do it all again. You may find the rest of the spot just throws itself at you willingly, or that it has calmed significantly to be almost invisible. Just DON'T be tempted to start on it like you're climbing Everest with a pickaxe. 

The reason I do oil and not drying products is because in my experience, drying out doesn't always work and causes more damage. Using oil does one of two things: it either swells up the spot and forces the 'head' of the spot to show up the next morning, or it settles it down and almost disperses the remnants. 

Sidebar: you can of course, use extraction tools, but you can't use them where you can't see the spot - and you need to know how much pressure is too much. If popping is your thing and you haven't already discovered her, watch Dr Sandra Lee aka Dr Pimple Popper. Be warned: you may gag.

More info on products/people mentioned here:

Acids

Extraction tools

Dr Sam Bunting

Dr Pimple Popper

Effaclar Anti-Blemish System - Trial Results

Exactly three months ago I asked two people to test the new 2 step kit from Effaclar that included the cleanser, new toner and the original Effaclar Duo cream.

The results are in and they are to say the least, mixed.

My testers were a woman in her late 20's with hormonal acne caused by PCOS and a teenage boy with typical teenage spots/borderline acne.

Below are the actual transcribes of their reports (we'll give the teenage boy a break for his minimal use of vocabulary ;):

Female:
'First cleanse, tone and cream done. It doesn't irritate, the cleanser says its foaming but it doesn't really foam that much. It feels lovely and smooth when you put it on, the toner is really gentle, no sting or feeling at all - I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. Cream smells nice, face isn't too dry.

Day 5:
I had a massive breakout over the weekend. Big, red, painful spots. The spots I had before haven't gone and the cream is leaving a gritty texture on my face. It doesn't feel nice and smooth like it does after I use the products that you recommend.

2nd August (2 weeks of use):
I stopped using the products yesterday. It hasn't worked for me. I've had massive breakouts (big red painful spots), the spots I had before haven't cleared up and it left my skin feeling gritty and dry. Just used a balm cleanser and it felt like heaven. My skin is smooth again and the bumps have gone down instantly.

Final verdict:
Cleanser - definitely a no. The toner is really gentle so that's okay, it just doesn't seem to do anything. I don't rate the moisturiser at all. I think it made my spots worse, it didn't clear anything up, it left a horrible texture on my face and makeup looked awful over it.


Male:
First text.
'My skin feels a bit dry and tight.'

Then it was quiet for a few weeks...

26th August (4 weeks of use):
I've been using the products for the past 4 weeks. I haven't had any new big spots but my face hasn't really cleared that much. My skin felt good for the first few weeks but now it feels a bit dry. I got quite a lot of new pimples on my forehead. Cleanser - ok, maybe a little too harsh. Toner - didn't really do much. Cream - the cream is probably the best out of the three. Face always felt smooth after using it. No massive new breakouts and no blackheads. I think my face is pretty much the same. It didn't make it any worse but it didn't make it much better.


So the final verdicts would appear to be:

Cleanser - too drying
Toner - ok but doesn't really do anything
Effaclar Duo - better on younger skins perhaps? Good topically on spots but too drying over long term use if used as an all-over face moisturiser.

Thank you to my two willing testers. I removed any mention of brands they preferred/balm cleanser used etc to try and keep it fair. The next post is from the same 20-something woman and is about a cream she raved about.....

Cheat Sheet - Sudden breakouts - what to do and what to do it with

Last week happened to be half term and coincided with me falling off the 'face' wagon. You know what I mean, you drink things you know you shouldn't (coke), eat things you know you shouldn't (Kettle chips I'm looking at YOU) - and unbeknownst to me, I was also pre-menstrual.
You'd think after having periods for 30+ years I'd see the thing coming. But NO.
I couldn't figure out why I was so tired and craving all the bad things - I even took an energy supplement to see me through - with catastrophic results* - more of which later.

I digress.

Consequently I woke up on Sunday morning with my period and a random attack of zits that would make the most hormonally-challenged teen proud (cry).

I had 3 particularly attractive (what I call) 'throbbing cysts' that perched happily right in the middle of my face - just in time for a week full of appointments with clients. You know, the appointments where I advise people how to have great skin? Yes, those.

I immediately went into my usual plan of action - and as I've been talking about it a lot with clients on appointments I thought it may help some of you who suffer from those extremely irritating red spots/welts/cysts/whiteheads/swellings - anything really that comes on in a hurry and tries to teach you who is Boss. Rude. If the cause is unrelated to food/changes in diet or routine or you simply don't know why your skin is reacting...try this anyway.

First things first - food:

• Pop an antihistamine (assuming you have no medical contraindications). Antihistamines job is to calm the redness and 'put out the fire'. Chlorphenamine maleate is better for the skin problems than cetirizine. This translates as Piriton over Zyrtec/Clariton - but ask your chemist/read the boxes. Technically of course, antihistamines do the same thing, I just found a slightly better result with the Piriton. To each their own.
• Be honest about any dietary changes you've had and make adjustments. For me this means no coke or crisps - for a lot of the people I've seen in the office it means the 3 C's. Coffee (the extravagant kind that involves shots/cream/syrup), Coke and Cadbury's. Sadly you need to get rid.
• Drink water likes it going out of fashion. Still. No fizzy. (Although fizzy is obviously my favourite. It would be.)
• Ingest fish oil and salmon like you haven't eaten in weeks. My default 'fix my face' eating plan is pretty much anything Dr Perricone mentions in his 3 Day Diet. I tend to go overboard but in all honesty, nothing works as quickly for me as this eating regime. Dr P really is the King of the anti-inflammatory diet. He pioneered it when everyone thought he was crazy and has stuck to his guns to be proven correct. Read all his books. You won't regret it.
• If you are vegetarian and fish isn't an option you need flax/Udo's oil and should binge on seeds and nuts high in omegas. Flax, walnuts and soy are your friends.
• No sugar.
• Minimal dairy - and dairy should always always be organic full fat.

Routine:

• Evening cleanse is key. Balm/oil cleanse the skin. Make sure you've rinsed properly.
• Acid tone. Make sure you go over the spots/cysts really well. If they are bleeding, go over them until the acid quells the bleeding, which it should. Don't be traumatised by a little blood, work your skin normally.
• Apply something topically to the area - my go-to is Aesop's Control gel. It contains vit c, niacinamide and salicylic acid but its in an aloe base so it calms, gets rid of the redness and hydrates - as opposed to harsher products designed to 'dry-out' spots. They don't need drying out, they need nourishment.
• Apply a facial oil. One designed for a combi/oily skin is ideal but in all honesty, most oils will do the trick (assuming you personally are not allergic/intolerant to them). My go-to here is Clarins Lotus oil. Put 3-4 drops into your palm, swipe across the other palm, apply to the areas affected first, then elsewhere. Don't saturate your skin. Less is more. Layer. Don't suffocate.

Now you need to monitor the situation. Keep the Control gel to hand, and reapply after you've used the oil. Leave it half an hour or so, check your skin, reapply the oil if its absorbed. I had to reapply 3 times last night over the space of a couple of hours. My skin was drinking it. Alternate: Control gel (your spot treatment)/Oil/Control gel/Oil.

Before you go to bed check your skin. Apply a last hit of Control gel, followed by your oil. I chose to seal the deal with some Kate Somerville moisturiser, in the way you would add an extra blanket to the bed. It was cold, I was just going the extra mile. This routine works best with little or no silicone. Layer upon layer of silicone gives you 'rolling' and gets in the way of absorption of the gel/oil.

In the morning:

• Light cleanse
• Acid tone
• Hydrate tone - Darphin Intral is a bit of a gem for this - brilliant for redness
• Control gel
• Couple of drops of facial oil
• Moisturiser

You should find the redness has subsided a little and the spots have either come to a head or started to go down. 

Keep an eye on your diet, check your skin regularly throughout the day - the Control gel is clear and can be used over makeup etc if you want to - and repeat the process the next evening until you start to see results.

This may not work for everyone - but when you're at the end of your tether it's worth trying!

*The energy drink I had was purely vitamin B6. B6 triggers my skin something shocking. B12 I'm absolutely fine with - but the other B's? - NO. I should have read the label. Never again. This is one of the many reasons I don't advise taking multi-vitamins. Target your supplement needs to your body. Don't just take a one-shot-hits-all pill and think it's doing the job. I promise you it isn't.

*No affiliate links and I've been using/buying these products forever.

balance Me Cleanse and Smooth Face Balm (and Radiance Face Oil - secret spot weapon)

balance Me (their spelling) are an old favourite - if you like 'natural' products that really are 'natural' - this brand is for you.

What is it?

The Cleanse and Smooth Face Balm is the balm cleanser in their range and is lush. Note: If you used this when it first launched (as I did) and hated it because of the huge pieces of oats in it (as I did) fear not - it was very quickly reformulated and now has the very softest of oatmeal grain - soft enough to use around the eyes. Give it another go.

What's in it?

Well, you could look at the balance Me website as they have a full inci listing for every product clearly labelled.    *JAZZ HANDS, tips hat to balance Me team*

No 'active ingredients' nonsense - just the full list. For your ease though:

Prunus amygdalus dulcis (sweet almond) oil, Colloidal oatmeal, Cera alba (unrefined beeswax), Mangifera indica (mango) seed butter, Butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter***, Theobroma cacao (cocoa) butter, Polyglyceryl-4 caprate, Oleic/Linoleic/Linolenic polyglycerides, Hydroxystearic/Linolenic/Oleic polyglycerides, Rubus chamaemorus (cloudberry) seed extract, Cocos nucifera (virgin coconut) oil***, Aleurites moluccana (kukui) oil, Rosa canina (rosehip) fruit oil, Camellia oleifera (camellia) oil, Citrus reticulata (mandarin red)*, Litsea cubeba (litsea may chang)*, Citrus aurantium amara (petitgrain)*, Anthemis nobilis (Roman chamomile)*, Cananga odorata (ylang ylang)*, Coriandrum sativum (coriander)*, Tocopherol (vitamin E), Rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) extract, Limonene**, Linalool**, Citral *natural pure essential oil **naturally occurring in essential oils ***certified organic ingredient

Who is it for?

Labelled as 'normal to dry/sensitive' - although the shea butter and beeswax content feels quite refined and shouldn't therefore break out any oily/combo skins.

What's good about it?

• lovely texture - perfect for massage
• doesn't emulsify into a runny milk - holds its form
• does not sting the eyes - at all (on me)
• removes makeup but I would still use a pre-cleanse oil over eye area first
• doesn't leave oily residue
• affordable!

What's bad about it?

I'm ignoring the muslin cloth. 

How much is it?

Cleanse and Smooth Face Balm is £20.00 for 125ml (I know!) - £20.00! available from balanceme.co.uk 

Highly recommended.

While you're there:

If you are someone who suffers from spots/breakouts/acne and slaps on toothpaste (loads gun) or nappy cream (fires gun) - use the above instead. This little rollerball is on my bedside and in my MU bag. Any sign of a zit and it gets rolled to death. Continuous use of an oil like this one is much better for your skin and your spots - and helps prevent scarring - in essence if you use this it will either:

• bring the spot to a head without scarring - OR
• make it completely disperse before it comes to a head
• Also helps heal scarring old and new (remember scars can only be helped without machinery intervention if they are still red/pink, showing blood circulation - this will not fix the scar on your knee that you did when you were 6).

Everyone should have one. £15.00 from balanceme.co.uk  - the 10ml size is the rollerball.

Aesop Petitgrain Hydrating Body Gel and Control Anti-blemish Gel

Launching at Aesop counters today, this revolutionary Petitgrain Body Gel is a beautiful addition to the Aesop family. Perfect for the warmer weather, it is scented with grapefruit and lemon peel and feels AMAZING on the skin - I'm keeping mine in the fridge.

Already on counters but equally as exciting is the new (ish) Control Anti-Blemish Gel.

Containing Niacinamide, Tea Tree and Salicylic Acid - this is perfect for applying directly to the affected area and is both anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial.

Two lovely additions to the range.

On sale now from Aesop.

Petitgrain Body Gel is £23.00 and Control is £15.00.


*PR Samples. Lovely ones at that.

Cheat Sheet - Spots

Spots.

Oh Spots.

So many of the emails I receive asking for skin advice start with 'Can you help me with my spots...?' - and there are so many different types I figured it was cheat sheet time.

So without further ado:

1. What kind of spot is it?
   Don't start poking about at your face if you don't know what you're dealing with. You'll end up scarred, bleeding and all manner of annoyed.
2. Blackheads - not typically a spot, but No.1 on your emails for 'what can I do??'
   Blackheads do not mean you are dirty or unclean and they are not caused by germs - so no antibiotic is going to help (I hate antiobiotics for skin 'care' - more of which later). Blackheads are the result of your DNA. Blame your parents. I'm nice like that.
   I'm not a fan of trying to remove blackheads on your own. I've seen more scarring from people trying to remove blackheads than from poking at huge red spots. Obviously there are exceptions, but the best thing you can do for blackheads is to have a brilliantly, amazing cleansed skin - every day, use the right products, which do help somewhat (below) and go for a targeted facial to get them removed gently and professionally. Not all facialists are good at extraction by the way - some of them frankly, are horrendous - ask specifically when you make your appointment - 'I need extractions - who is brilliant at them?' If they umm and ahh, go somewhere else.
3. Whiteheads - the easiest spot to deal with. Typically appear ovenight, fully formed - and have a very noticeable 'white head'. If you don't usually get them it could be the result of a too-heavy night cream, sweating while you sleep, or a big night out that involved greasy food/booze etc Or all of the above..
   Feel around the spot - whiteheads are usually not sore. If it's not sore, and you can see a large amount of sebum (the white gunk), cleanse your face as normal - sometimes - if you're doing it PROPERLY - the flannel will take care of it. If not, finish your cleanse and hold the warm flannel over the spot for a minute. Now take clean hands, split two bits of loo roll and wrap them around your forefingers and gently squeeze in from the outside. It should come away easily. If it does, great - make sure the area is clean, tone, moisturise and go on your way. If it doesn't come away, it's not ready and it's a .....
4. Pimple (pastule) - a pimple is deciding what it wants to do - its small, red and has no head. Leave it alone. Cleanse, tone, moisturise (yes, moisturise the pimple too), conceal and be on your way. It may go away on its own, if not - and it decides it's going to grow, it's a.....
5. Large pimple (pustule) - this one is angry and wants you to know it. Sore, red, inflamed and infuriatingly nearly always without a head. So it doesn't want you to pick.
   Do not pick.
   Step away from the spot.
   If you suffer from acne or acne rosacea this is your common irritant. Keep it clean, keep it moisturised, keep an eye on it. It will go away. It just wants to do it on its own timetable. Sometimes you can see a teeny weeny whitehead forming at the top. Normal cleansing (BM style) will remove what your skin wants you to remove. If your skin is not offering up that sebum to you - back off. Your skin will win. And you'll get a bleeding, angry spot that is ten times the size as when you started. Or maybe even a scar. Back off. For it may be a.....
6. Cyst - deep, painful, really painful. Doesn't always look like a spot - just an angry red lump. These you do not want to play with. These are caused by all manner of things but usually hormones. No amount of picking, playing, poking will do anything to this spot. It will laugh at you. And you WILL scar if you start attempting to do anything with it. You need to take a look at your diet, your lifestyle and you need a...
7. Dermatologist - I'm going to make a sweeping generalisation here but GP's are generally CRAP at skin issues. They'll look at you knowingly and prescribe antibiotics. Months and months of antibiotics. Antibiotics prescribed for the skin make you sun sensitive like you would not believe and completely mess with your stomach. I highly, strongly, urge you to come off them (in a controlled manner) if you are on them. Antibiotics - one of the most brilliant life-saving inventions - ever - over prescribed and given out like sweets by GP's - when there are other ways.....Ditto the Pill. Yes, you can have success treating your skin by taking the pill. Although if it works? You probably have high testosterone levels in your body - the pill has balanced you out by increasing your oestrogen. Stop taking the pill, stop eating dairy (see below).
   If you have a problem with your vajayjay you'll be told to visit a gynaecologist. If it's your throat - it's an ENT specialist. If you have a problem with your skin - go to a dermatologist. It's what they DO. Our American sisters get this. They have no reservations about going to a specialist, unfortunately our brilliant (and I do mean brilliant) NHS system means that we resent paying for professional medical services. And some of you ladies that ask me for advice? And don't want to spend money on a derm? I see that £200 handbag honey. Your life, your skin, your priorities.
   But remember this: you only get ONE SKIN. You can always buy that handbag later.

A little list of do's and don'ts. If these don't work - make that appointment.

Do:

• Keep your skin clean. Cleanse properly and use good skincare.
• You want products that contain acids. Nice acids, Salicylic, Lactic, Glycolic - all brilliant for helping your skin and they don't have to be ££££ to work.
• Take supplements. Lots of companies now do ranges for problem skin. As a minimum take omega oils - either in fish or flax form - and quercetin (cheat sheet about supplements coming I think).
• Eat well. Your outer is a reflection of your inner. Stay clear of white products - think flour, sugar, pasta etc. Eat a LOT of salad. Even if its just green leaves. That's a start. Don't cover them with a dressing though - they are loaded with sugar

Don't:

• Eat too much sugar. And yes that includes chocolate. It's not an old wives tale....
• The type of chocolate that affected people usually prefer is milk chocolate. Milk contains androgen hormones - and they basically increase your testosterone levels. And thus make your skin oilier and more prone to problems. Lay off the dairy. All dairy (that doesn't include eggs - why does everyone think the chicken is dairy?!) these days contains androgen hormones.
• Use those strip things to rip out your blackheads. First of all they RIP your skin, NICE. Secondly - they're just nasty.
• Drink too much alcohol. Booze is loaded with sugar - see above - also raises your body temperature (hot flush anyone?) and thus raises inflammation. And massively dehydrates you. Which makes your skin look like you've just been dug up.
• Smoke. Need I say more?

*addition - someone just tweeted me about milia. They are not spots. So I'll do them next.

Cheat Sheet - Spots

Zits. Pustules. Papules. Wheals. Comedones. Milia. There are lots of things that happen to the skin - especially on the face - on a regular basis.  This is purely for:

SPOTS.

Acne? I'm not talking to you. Blackheads? Nor you. Pustules? Nope.  I'm talking about your average spot that pops up occasionally - you know it's coming - you can feel it, it started with a bump, felt sore, then got a little red, hurt a little more, then you see a faint hint of something that could be a head. A little white/cream shows underneath.

And THEN if you are the average female, you:

• Stab it (leading to ...scar)
• Poke it (absolutely nothing)
• Squeeze it (if too early, will bruise, then scar)
• Load it with tea tree oil (no need - it's probably not bacterial)
• Load it with spot treatment (see above)
• or GOD FORBID - put toothpaste on it (please no)

Toothpaste. Paste for TEETH. On a spot. Genius.

I have reached the point of no return.

So here is my gift to you. You can also use this for milia (the little hard, white bumps usually found around the lower eye, upper cheek area).

Next time you feel one of these mothers coming up (or get a milia) you will need the following:

• Your hands
• Your moisturiser
• Your concealer
• Patience

Repeat after me: moisturise, massage, moisturise. Repeat. Moisturise, Massage, MOISTURISE.

Moisturise the area like its going out of fashion. Yes really. This is particularly good for those big on-the-chin once-a-month spots.
Moisturising it does a few things:

• Softens the area around the spot - how often have you destroyed the surrounding area of a zit because you treated the area of the said zit so abusively??

And then either:

• makes the spot retreat entirely
  OR
• brings it to a head quicker - in which case you have my permission to pop. 

Pop pop away. Have at it.

Words of warning:

• A 'popable' spot shouldn't really hurt when popping - it should be satisfying
• If it hurts - stop - it's too soon and you will bruise and then possibly scar
• Stop at the first sign of blood - you're about to scar
• Never, ever, ever try and pop a milia - this technique will eventually make them go, or disperse on the surface. If they don't, get them removed - professionally. Milia can only be taken out safely by piercing the skin - and a lot of therapists are not trained in milia removal. Ask before you let them attack. And don't bother trying yourself - all you'll get for your trouble is a bleeding hole, a bruise - and the milia waving at you from underneath when the dust has settled. And take note - if you do suffer from milia you need to up the hydration level of your creams - less oil, more water based ones.

So the next time you feel Mount Vesuvius brewing under the skin - give it a chance, treat it with care, and save the Crest for your mouth. Please.