Thread: Zits! Ack!!!!!

Two days ago seven of the suckers appeared and without any hormonal influence, I might add. They're sore and feel pretty deep, concentrated on the lower part of my face.

What are your favorite products to avoid breakouts? What do you use to heal them quickly?

My skin is sensitive and oily in the T-zone, some yucky pores and breakouts do happen though not usually like this!

Originally Posted by Doozer

What are your favorite products to avoid breakouts? What do you use to heal them quickly?

I like the gels with salicylic acid in them, but I apply them sparingly to avoid drying out my skin too much.

Oh poor you!:(

Nexcare Acne Patch is the best spot treatment I´ve ever tried,especially if I have to put on makeup the day after..They do not dry out the skin.

http://www.skindeco.net/2009/03/revi...tch-by-3m.html
http://sharonandheradventures.blogsp...cne-patch.html
warning:closeup picture of zits

They are avaliable in asian grocery stores,or Ebay.

maybe OT:I rarely get acne problems after starting to use Paula´s Choice.Her methods has really helped me.Great products,cheap and effective;if you don´t want to use them she recommends other products than her own brand.

OMG, I have THE best treatment. Our local pharmacist told us about it, it is soo simple and very effective on those really deep ones. Just avoid the urge to squeeze or mess with it to avoid any further swelling. Mine seem to disappear overnight! (or 2 if they are really bad)

Here it is:

Pure Tea Tree Oil & Clearasil Daily Acne Control Vanishing (it's 10% Benzoyl Peroxide)

I put this on during the day (if I'm hanging around the house) or put it on at night (most effective). The Tea Tree Oil is smelly so don't overdue it, a little goes a long way.

Good luck!

Panoxyl (a 10% benzoyl peroxide treatment) which comes in either a face wash or a foam. I use the wash. I apply at night with for 1 minute then rinse face and apply a nightcream over treated area. Panoxyl can be drying so expect some peeling after a few days use. It works great and benzoyl is the effective ingredient in more expensive treatments like Pro-Active but Panoxyl is significantly cheaper.

I love Queen Helene's Mint Julip Masque. It's a really nice clay mask and makes everything feel better... kinda helps dry out some of those big nasty painful ones.

http://www.queenhelene.com/skincare_...tail.php?id=48

Avene Triacneal is part of my daily skincare regime.

Not only does it have glycolic acid, which is good for brightening the skin and warding off acne, but it has retinaldehyde, which is good for anti-aging.

I use frenchcosmetics.net for the best price (not affiliated, just sharing).

I read in an old magazine from the late 80's(?), to put ice on the breakouts.

Their theory was, the ice will stimulate blood flow to the blemish, and 'wash' it from inside.
Don't leave the ice on too long, just enough to stimulate.

Wether it works or not, I'm not sure.
I don't get many breakouts.

I believe the article was in Glamour magazine.

Please refrain from touching your face as much as possible, and always....always wash your hands before you touch your face. (Also from the article)

I hope it all clears up quick!!!

Originally Posted by gothique

I read in an old magazine from the late 80's(?), to put ice on the breakouts.

This works if the zits are in the early stages/forming. I don't know about increasing bloodflow, seems like it would do the opposite, by constricting blood vessels?

But it can help when they're just forming by reducing/preventing swelling. They don't get as large and it helps your body reabsorb it more quickly. I swear by this, if I see something forming, I go sit with an ice pack on it.

Originally Posted by mathkitty

This works if the zits are in the early stages/forming. I don't know about increasing bloodflow, seems like it would do the opposite, by constricting blood vessels?

But it can help when they're just forming by reducing/preventing swelling. They don't get as large and it helps your body reabsorb it more quickly. I swear by this, if I see something forming, I go sit with an ice pack on it.

I don't remember the article verbatim, but I forgot to mention that part of their theory, was the cold stimulated blood flow to the blemish, trying to warm the skin back up....thus washing the dead white blood cells away from underneath the skin.

I wish I could remember all of it.

Just be careful! I always start off with the "for sensitive" skin product. My skin has "burned" with regular strength applications. This was with the similar brands of "pro active" products at store.

Gotta second Paula's Choice products, especially the Beta Hydroxy Acid -- it exfoliates inside the pores so the oil can flow out easily instead of getting stuck on dead skin cells and getting infected. I'm old now, but still get the occasional hormonal spot -- hit it with Beta Hydroxy and Paula's blemish treatment and they usually disappear within a day or two -- no more nasty ginormous red bumps!

I love my Zeno Mini!! http://myzeno.com/ I use it as soon as I feel one of the nasty suckers coming on. It improves vastly on the hot compress method by concentrating heat at the site for 2 1/2 minutes, thereby killing the bacteria responsible for the breakout. If I remember to use it every 4-6 hrs as recommended, I can reduce the healing of a zit from 5-7 days down to only a couple days.

I've tried tea tree oil in the past but found that it made me break out even worse. What seems to work well for me is Tamanu oil. It's a natural anti-bacterial so it works well in combination with the Zeno. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-tamanu-oil.htm

I get the replacement cartridges for my Zeno on e-Bay at half the cost of the in-store price & have found good prices on the Tamanu oil on Amazon.

Okay, I'm confused. Heat or cold? Which works? Can they both work? I too get the horrid under the surface zits that never surface-they only hurt and look HORRIBLE!

I am intrigued by the oil and benzoyl peroxide mix too.

Originally Posted by clueless23de

OMG, I have THE best treatment. Our local pharmacist told us about it, it is soo simple and very effective on those really deep ones. Just avoid the urge to squeeze or mess with it to avoid any further swelling. Mine seem to disappear overnight! (or 2 if they are really bad)

Here it is:

Pure Tea Tree Oil & Clearasil Daily Acne Control Vanishing (it's 10% Benzoyl Peroxide)

I put this on during the day (if I'm hanging around the house) or put it on at night (most effective). The Tea Tree Oil is smelly so don't overdue it, a little goes a long way.

Good luck!

what are the proportions? Do you mix them?

I always had breakouts until I started using Merle Norman products about 15 years ago. I wash with the foaming cleanser and use the moisturizer. I went from bad skin to skin that actually gets me compliments...something I never would have thought possible.

http://www.merlenorman.com/

Originally Posted by Bahtya

Okay, I'm confused. Heat or cold? Which works? Can they both work? I too get the horrid under the surface zits that never surface-they only hurt and look HORRIBLE!

I am intrigued by the oil and benzoyl peroxide mix too.

I think it depends, they can both work depending on the stage the zit is in. If they're deep and developing, use cold to minimize swelling and redness.

I think you're supposed to use heat if you want to get it surface of if it's white and ready to pop.

http://www.ehow.com/how_116297_zap-acne-breakout.html

Originally Posted by Doozer

Two days ago seven of the suckers appeared and without any hormonal influence, I might add. They're sore and feel pretty deep, concentrated on the lower part of my face.

What are your favorite products to avoid breakouts? What do you use to heal them quickly?

My skin is sensitive and oily in the T-zone, some yucky pores and breakouts do happen though not usually like this!

Wow lots of excellent ideas here already! :) i normally use dab a finger of rubbing alcohol on the zit and let air-dry. Dries up in a few days.

Okay, this may be a stupid question, but where do you find Paula's Choice products? I've never heard of them?

http://www.cosmeticscop.com/

She has a really nice website that features weekly critiques of beauty products. I've not tried her products yet (though I SHOULD, she offers trial sizes).

I was working with rosehips the day before my skin broke out. Maybe those little hairs in them were irritating and caused the pimples?

Originally Posted by Bahtya

what are the proportions? Do you mix them?

NO! You don't use much at all. I just put a dab of Tea Tree Oil on with a Q tip and another dab of Clearasil on with the other side of the Q tip. A little of both of these goes a LONG way.