Blackheads – something most of us are unfortunately familiar with, some more than others. Let’s deal with the facts and what we can do to combat these unsightly beasts. Blackheads are open pores or comedones that are plugged at the surface (also known as the pilosebaceous unit) with excess sebum (natural oil produced in the skin). This sebum reacts with the air (oxidises) and turns black. Blackheads are not caused by dirt and whilst it is not possible to banish blackheads from our lives forever, we can keep them at bay with regular maintenance.

Firstly, here’s what NOT to do: don’t squeeze them. This can inflame the skin and create localised infection. Don’t scrub vigorously and harshly at the blackheads as you don’t want to tear the skin.

Should you search on the internet you’ll find a whole array of solutions to help combat blackheads. Some, in my opinion, are far too harsh, whilst others involve the use of animal ingredients, which of course, I am wholeheartedly against. Luckily, there are several ways we can fight this battle the kind and natural way.

I highly recommend STEAMING your face to help the pores sweat, soften the pores and encourage the blackheads out. Be careful not to get too close to the steam so as not to burn your face. Immediately after steaming, wipe your face with a muslin cleansing cloth paying particular attention to the blackheads area. Then rinse your face with warm water and pat skin dry with a clean towel. Whilst you won’t want to use this method every day, wiping your face with a muslin cleansing cloth whilst in a hot shower or bath will also help to cleanse away the blackheads and keep the pores clean. This you can do easily every day.

EXFOLIATING – this is something that should be done once or twice a week – no more. This is extremely important but equally should not be overdone. Exfoliating will slough off the dead skin cells that you certainly don’t need to be hanging around clogging up those pores, adding to the problem!

FACE MASKS. Not all face masks are created equally!! Our mask contains 80% bentonite clay . Bentonite clay is the mother of all clays! It has a unique quality in that once it is combined with water, the molecules in the clay reacts to extract and absorb toxins and excess oils. A truly detoxifying clay! This amazing clay also contains a multitude of minerals, including calcium, magnesium, silica, sodium, copper, iron and potassium. Therefore, this clay takes out the bad guys and puts in the good guys! Again, this mask need only be used once a week (twice at most) but with incredible benefits. We have had excellent feedback on how effective it is for getting rid of blackheads.

After using any of the above mentioned regimes, do moisturise the skin afterwards. But this comes with a few words of WARNING. With blackheads being caused by excess oil/sebum production, we want to ensure this is minimised in the first place. Some moisturisers are ‘comedogenic’ AKA pore clogging. This is of course, what we want to avoid. As per our last blog on facial oils, we only make facial oils as we believe they are closest to what the skin produces itself. Therefore the skin will readily accept the oil as own of its own and not try to fight it by producing even more oil. BUT, we hear about many people using coconut oil on the face. Yes, coconut oil is a wonderful and highly versatile oil but we do not recommend it for use on the face as it can cause the pores to clog up. I know of several people who use coconut oil on the face successfully but I’ve also met many people who have experienced some breakouts on their face as a result of using it. Best to avoid!

So there it is, steam, exfoliate, use a muslin cleansing cloth and use our mask! These are our recommendations for the fight against blackheads! Good luck and remember, fight a clean fight!