Popaholics are having a moment, thanks in large part to Sandra Lee, a.k.a.
Dr. Pimple Popper.
The Southern California-based dermatologist and cosmetic surgeon struck gold - or should
we say blackheads?
- with her viral pimple popping videos, making this guilty pleasure a little less guilty.
With 3.6 million YouTube subscribers and 2.7 million Instagram followers, Lee's just started
to scratch the surface, starring in her own TLC special, Dr. Pimple Popper: This is Zit,
in 2018, with a 12-episode reality show for the network in the works.
Wanna squeeze out a little more?
Here's the untold truth of Dr. Pimple Popper.
To pop or not
For $20, you can buy Dr. Pimple Popper's comedone extractor to squeeze your own blackheads and
whiteheads.
But should you?
Nylon reported that some skin care pros advise against home extractions.
Some believe amateur poppers are less likely to cleanse and disinfect properly.
And others think extractions can lead to scars.
Needless to say, Lee doesn't agree with those who think comedone extractors can damage the
skin, telling Mental Floss, simply,
"That is B.S."
She's not a popaholic?
The popaholic community has embraced Lee as one of its own, but the truth is, Dr. Pimple
Popper doesn't share the same compulsion for popping as her popaholic fans.
"Have you ever seen the Instagram Dr. Pimple Popper?
Every single post is about like squeezing something."
She told Racked,
"I don't watch any of the other videos.
They all kind of gross me out!
When they're amateur, I don't want to hear screaming, I don't like that stuff."
She accepts that she may not be "a true popper," explaining:
"Everyone says, 'She's one of us!
She's one of us!' but I'm not really.
I mean, I like it, but I don't need it."
The worst kind of famous
Lee isn't exactly camera shy.
Besides her TLC special, she has appeared on a wide range of shows, from the Today show
to the Rachel Ray Show and Tosh.0.
So that's why it's surprising to hear that Lee isn't entirely comfortable with her fame.
She told Broadly she gets recognized so often in public that she wears a hat to the grocery
store, saying,
"I joked this is worst kind of fame you can have - it's a lot of fame, but not much fortune.
I think it's better to have it the other way around, a lot of fortune and no fame, right?"
Getting grossed out
Don't let Lee's relaxed on-camera demeanor fool you.
She can get grossed out by procedures just like the rest of us.
Especially inflamed and infected cysts.
She told Cosmo,
"They smell because there is an infection there and if there is bacteria involved, that
creates an odor."
But Lee hides her true feelings to make her patients feel as comfortable as possible.
She told Lad Bible,
"I want to make sure my patients feel safe and respected.
[...] You don't want to feel bad about yourself after a doctor's visit."
Going viral
People go to great lengths to hide embarrassing flaws.
So then why would anyone let Dr. Pimple Popper film their blemishes for millions to see online?
Money.
Lee told Forbes she'll do the procedure for free if patients let her film and post it
on YouTube.
She says,
"Of course, I make them anonymous and remove anything identifying.
Literally, they all say yes."
"We get a lot of videos that kind of go viral.
That drum up a lot of excitement and they really grow like a snowball."
Total control freak
The days of Lee filming, editing and uploading every video herself using her iPhone and iMovie
are no more.
She now has a team helping her, but that took some getting used to.
She told Mental Floss,
"I have a little bit of a problem letting go because I feel like it's my responsibility.
They're my patients, and I try to keep them private and anonymous.
If [the team leaves] something in accidentally, then I'll feel really bad."
Mad at the 'Tube
There's a reason Lee keeps it relatively clean in her videos: She wants to avoid the wrath
of YouTube, according to The Cut.
Famously sensitive about graphic content, the platform used to take down Dr. Pimple
Popper videos that it deemed inappropriate.
Lee told Forbes,
"They were considered 'gory, disgusting and for shock value.'
I fought back.
I was like, 'That's not what this is.
I'm a dermatologist.
This is what I do.'
I'm not doing this for shock value.
Honestly, it was insulting that they leave videos on of people getting shot or even pron."
But despite their differences, when Lee reached 1 million subscribers in 2016, YouTube sent
her the gold play button to commemorate the milestone.
The popping family tree
Lee's father was also a dermatologist and exposed her to the profession at a young age.
She told The One,
"We would have textbooks sitting around the house, with the most crazy pictures in it.
[...] My dad would be reading a journal with somebody with some growth coming out of their
head and I would be eating breakfast next to him."
Lee revealed on YouTube that she and her dermatologist husband, Jeff Rebish, took over the family
business from her now-retired dad.
"Dermatology is a very visual field so I really thought that other people would appreciate
it or understand why I think it's such an amazing field to be in."
Goodnight moon, goodnight zits
Who needs Ambien when you have Dr. Pimple Popper!
Lee revealed that her videos have been known to help some viewers get some shut-eye.
And she thinks it might have to do with her natural speaking voice.
She told Lad Bible,
"People say that my voice has calming qualities, what people call ASMR.
Believe it or not, my videos are bedtime lullabies to many."
Lee even says that some patients feel less of an urge to pick at their skin, after watching
her vids.
She told Broadly,
"There's a sense of completion, of cleansing.
It calms people with some obsessive compulsive tendencies."
And that's how the pimple pops!
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