Oh blackheads! Those little dark pumps on the surface of our skin caused by the clogging of hair follicles due to dead skin cells or excess oils. How annoying are they?
Blackheads make their appearance when a clogged pore opens and the exposure to the air causes it to become dark/black in color.
Tip: Avoid over using oily products on your skin.
Where can you find blackheads?
Blackheads form when there is an increase in the production of sebum, an oily substance, secreted from our sebaceous glands. These glands are present under the skin and the sebum is responsible for moisturizing and protecting our skin, naturally.
So blackheads can be found almost anywhere on your body, excluding your hands and feet as they’re little to no hair follicles there.
How to get rid of Blackheads on: Your Body
One thing I recommend doing is taking a warm shower to recreate Hammam conditions. The aim is to use the steam as a way to open up your pores/ make it easier to rinse excess oils out. What you don’t want to do is to use water that is too hot because you do not want to damage the proteins in your skin which could do more harm than good.
Steaming in the shower also makes it easier remove dead skin cells on your back, legs, neck…pretty much your whole body. This can be done easily with an exfoliating glove.
Or you could try the Hammam experience out! It is a pretty interesting one;)
Tip 2: I know, I know! It is very tempting but…Popping your pimples/ blackheads out is not recommended. “Why not?”
ahhh, I was waiting for that question. Because no one wants pimple popping scars or bacteria from the pimples to be pressed deeper into the skin. These consequences make the pimple itself look a whole lot better, trust me…
There are things you can do to avoid them such as reviewing you skincare routine, reviewing your diet and mood.
Diet and mood are very intertwined but that deserves a whole other post.Anyway… sebaceous glands secrete sebum and just like other glands they are controlled by hormonal changes in our body. Of course, hormonal changes are natural as we grow and develop. On the other hand, their are many things we can control, such as the list above; our diet, skincare routine and emotions.
How to get rid of Blackheads in: Your Ears
Our ears can often be forgotten in self-care routines but blackheads can present themselves there too! There are two ways to prevent blackheads forming in your ears/ get rid of them:
- Boil some water in a kettle and pour it into a soup bowl, allow the water to cool for 10-15 minutes before using a small, soft towel and dipping it into the warm water like so…
Squeeze out any excess water and use the towel to wipe the surface of your ear as well as around it.
2) The Method above can be done during a warm shower, however, if you do not yet have a towel similar to that one available then feel free to use the warm water from your shower.
IMPORTANT FINAL STEP: How Do You Close The Pores?
We have just opened up our pores and made them a bit more vulnerable to dust and dirt in the air . Therefore, before you get out the shower, reduce the heat little by little rinsing yourself as you do so. It is up to you to decide how cold to turn the water too. However, I do not recommend switch the water from hot to cold too abruptly.
In the instance where you are cleaning your ears outside of the shower, just use another small towel. You can dip into a bowl of cold water and wipe your ear with it. This process is probably the quickest and only takes 5 minutes!
Finally, this is optional as some people’s ears may be oily than others and not require this step. But you could moisturize your ears using your favourite facial body cream, products like shea butter or cocoa butter.
If you do use butters to moisturize you ears make sure you don’t use them in excess. You could make sure to thoroughly massage the butter (shea or cocoa) into you hand first. Then use your moisturized hands to massage your ears.
Bye Bye Blackheads…
