- Hi everyone.
Welcome back to the Adore Beauty YouTube channel.
My name is Amy Clark,
I'm the senior editor here at Adore Beauty,
and today
we are talking pimples.
Different types of pimples.
What do you do
when you have a pimple?
And some of my favourite
pimple products recommendations.
I wanna start with a note on the way
that we talk about pimples
and blemishes and acne.
So I decided not to wear any makeup for this video
because we're talking about skin.
And I think it's only fair
that you see what my skin looks like.
I'm quite happy with
my skin appearance at the moment,
but we all get pimples,
we all get blemishes.
Our skin is a living,
breathing organ essentially.
And there's gonna be changes
depending on a whole bunch of factors.
Hormonal factors,
environmental,
any kinds of changes in our lifestyle.
For example, here's my skin today,
but then I'm gonna put a little picture up here.
Here's my skin the other day
when I was having a bit of a
pimple blemish
flare up
around the chin.
Let's just all accept that
pimples are normal.
Skin is neither good nor bad,
it's just skin
and we're all striving for healthy skin
that feels and looks its best.
But here's what you can do,
if you do find yourself with the pimple
that you'd rather just not be there.
First up,
did you know there are actually six,
ooh,
six types of pimples?
So if you wanna know
all about all six
and what they are,
definitely I recommend listening to episode nine
of our Skincare School Podcast.
Where we talked about acne,
blemishes, black heads,
the whole shebang.
The two main types we're gonna talk about today
are often the most common.
One is what you'd commonly call a white head.
And that is a pimple
that has a little white hat on.
They're sitting above the skin.
And you can visibly see the gunk
and all the juicy
delicious sebumy stuff
coming to the surface.
The second type is a cyst
also known as a blind pimple.
So these other pimples that are quite red,
angry and inflamed,
they sit under the skin surface.
So they're a little bit deeper.
You can actually pop a cyst
or a blind pimple.
And if you do,
you'll probably just end up
with a bit more of a mess
than that then you started with.
So those are the two types
of pimples we're talking about today.
First thing we're gonna talk about
in your pimple toolkit of sorts
is cleansers.
One tip I found really helpful
if you're wearing a mask,
is to cleanse your skin.
Just really gently with the micellar water.
As soon as you get home,
or as soon as you have the opportunity
to take the mask off.
If you're wearing face masks
for prolonged periods of time.
It's quite common to have
blemishes and skin irritation
around the chin
jaw, nose and cheeks.
Just grab a cotton pad
soak it in this
and just swipe over those areas
that were covered by the mask
and then pop on your moisturiser,
a serum if you want to.
Just to this area here,
because that just helps to keep that
skin nice and clean and bacteria free.
Your next option is an active cleanser
that contains alpha hydroxy acids
or beta hydroxy acids.
Now these are chemically exfoliating ingredients.
Basically what's happening
within your pores
is they're getting blocked by
a mixture of dead skin cells.
Some of the sebum that we naturally produce,
dirt and grime.
And just random bits of gunk
from being out and about.
So one, is the La Roche Posay
the effaclar micro pealing cleanser.
And that is a salicylic acid cleanser.
And so salicylic acid
is a BHA
that is oil soluble
which means it can
go deeper within the pore
to kind of
shovel out the gunk that might be causing pimples.
And then if you have dry skin,
or a more on the sensitive side.
I am obsessed
with the aesthetics
RX AHA cream cleanser.
This one contains a blend
of alpha hydroxy acid.
So that's your glycolic acid,
lactic acid.
And they work more
on the surface layer of the skin.
So if you're more congested,
typically acne prone
oily combination skin,
go for this one.
If you're dry
or more at the sensitive side,
go for this one.
Next, we're talking about maybe
my favourite thing ever at the moment.
And these are pimple patches.
There are a couple of types of pimple patches,
but the ones that I'm gonna be talking about today
a hydrocolloid-
colloid-
hydrocolloid.
Hydrocolloid.
So basically hydrocolloid is
a type of wound dressing
that is actually used to help speed up
the recovery in hospitals.
When patients have wounds.
It creates a bacteria free,
really sterile environment
that protects
the area underneath it.
And as you can see,
I've almost finished the sheet.
They come in some different sizes.
These ones are from Cozaar X.
You can just peel it off
and stick it over the top of your pimple.
It helps to keep the area nice and clean.
It helps to speed up recovery
and also it helps to keep bacteria out
and to stop you picking,
because picking pimples is
one of the worst things you can do.
I've been loving putting them on
any active blemishes that I have
under my face mask.
So if I'm wearing a mask
and I know that it's gonna get a bit
gunky and gross under there.
Pop those on.
They are just so damn easy.
One thing I will say
is that there is a trend on TiktoK about using
hydrocolloid band-aids
as an alternative to pimple patches.
Just use the pimple patches.
They are smaller.
They're designed to be used on your face.
They're still pretty cheap.
Don't put band-aids on your face.
I think just cause they-
also they're quite big,
but when you rip them off,
think of your poor little peach fuzz
hair and the skin around
that's gonna get kind of traumatised
by ripping that pimple off.
So grab some patches.
Love them!
They're especially great too
for helping to bring those cysts.
So the pimples that you can't pop,
pop one of these-
pop one...
Chuck a pimple patch on top,
and it will help to
kind of just speed the healing process.
And sometimes part of the healing process for cysts
is to encourage that gunk
up to the surface,
so you can then
pop the pimple safely.
Now, the age old question.
To pop, or not to pop?
I'm gonna take a realist approach here because
who is gonna wanna walk around
with a big old white gunky pimple on their chin?
It's worth noting
I'm not a dermatologist
or a skin therapist.
A dermal clinician.
I'm just a gal
that sometimes gets pimples.
But, there is a way to
kind of pop your pimples
in a hygienic,
safe way.
If you are gonna pop them
at least to it right.
Because popping pimples in the wrong way
can actually cause more trauma.
So maybe you started with,
you know,
a little white, gunky thing
with a hat on.
Then you tried to pop it,
and now it's a gaping wound.
That's kind of like,
I'm thinking Lord of the Rings.
They're like on the edge
and the rings go-
and it's like
fire and lava.
And also it can cause infections.
So, you know, not popping your pimples
in a sterile, hygienic way,
can cause an infection.
It can also cause acne scarring.
Once the pimple's gone,
you might be left
with a red or discoloured spot
where the pimple was.
That's called post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.
We have a whole video here on that.
How to avoid it.
Now, how to pop a pimple correctly.
Step one, is to gently cleanse the area.
So make sure the skin is clean.
If I'm going to,
I'd personally like to do my pimple popping
after the shower.
The skin is kind of nice and supple
and you would have had a bit of steam going
which just helps to
kind of make everything a bit more comfortable.
And make sure that your hands are clean.
So don't go popping a pimple
just randomly at your desk.
Or in the middle of the day,
when you go to the bathroom at the office.
And you're like,
Ooh, there's a pimple.
I'm just gonna-
don't do that.
Nice clean hands.
You could wear gloves,
use a clean tissue
or a clean cotton pad
and put it around
your fingers,
your two squeezing fingers.
We're lowering the risk
of any kind of bacteria
getting into that
kind of open wound
as such once you've popped.
Step three,
is to kind of come
at the pimple from either side.
Don't go too close.
So you wanna kind of push
very gently.
So say I've got the pimple here.
I would be wanting to push
from a little further away.
And you kind of,
you wanna be very gently
and just kind of
message it out.
Slow and steady.
And you will know
if your pimple is not ready.
So if you start
this process and it's just not happening.
Stop.
Come back when it's ready.
And so stop.
Pop a pimple patch on.
Do a spot treatment
which we'll talk about in a second.
Come back when it's ready.
But a pimple that's ready to pop,
will generally pop
quite easily with minimal pressure.
Once you start to see
clear liquid,
any blood,
anything like that,
stop pushing.
That means you've done enough.
Apply a spot treatment.
Essentially the aim of the game
once the gunk has come out
is we wanna
get rid of any bacteria that's
in that area
to help speed up the healing process.
My current favourite spot treatment
at the moment is the Dermalogica age bright spot fader.
This is a spot treatment.
So it has those chemical exfoliants that we
were talking about before,
to help dissolve any remaining oil
or gunk that might be around the area.
But it also helps to
fade the appearance of that
scar that might show up afterwards.
Another great option is the aspect spot treatment.
Which is again salicylic acid,
or the sun by me
AHA, BHA,
PHA spot fader,
which is another great one that's quite affordable.
After that, continue your skincare
pop your moisturiser on.
A common myth is
that using a moisturiser will actually block the pores
or cause pimples.
It won't.
In fact, if your skin barrier is dehydrated
the skin actually there
isn't gonna be able to heal well.
You can whack on a pimple patch if you like,
and that should generally
be a great way
to tackle your pimples.
If you have a cyst
you can use your spot treatments,
use your pimple patches.
Use your exfoliating,
gentle exfoliating cleansers.
But there's no real
quick way to get rid of a blind pimple.
It's really just
doing all the things that you should.
Either waiting for it
to come up to the surface.
Or sometimes,
they just go back into their shell.
Which is quite nice.
One other kind of
nice to have boochy step
in your pimple
toolbox is LED.
So a LED light therapy
and specifically blue light
is great for
helping to control that
acne bacteria,
bacteria around the breakouts.
Because blue LED light is
anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial.
So if you have one of the Foreo-
the little sticks,
you can kind of
hold that up to your pimple.
Otherwise the LightStim LED for acne,
which is a blue light.
It's definitely not a necessity.
It's a nice to have.
If you already own them
or you have the cash.
So guys, that is pimples for you.
It's all about
just having these things on hand
and you know dealing with it
when they come, you know?
Crossing the bridge when we come to it,
because pimples, acne, blemishes
they're a fact life.
Also a very important point.
There's a big difference between
getting occasional pimples
you know, blemishes,
you know on a monthly cycle.
Hormonal pimples and acne.
So acne is a medical skin condition
and you should always, always, always
go and see a dermatologist
or a dermal clinician,
a skin therapist
to have your skin professionally assessed,
and have personalised, professional advice.
But be kind to yourself.
Be kind to your skin.
Treat your pimples with kindness
is how I like to approach it.
If you have any questions
or any great
tried and tested pimple tips,
please leave them below.
But otherwise
I will see you next time.