blackheads and whiteheads

[Buckyball]

Hello everyone, I have lots of blackheads and whiteheads on my face, they used to concentrate around the nose area but now they are everywhere, forehead, chin and cheeks as well. Majority of them are blackheads. It looks like all the pores on my face are blocked when I look really closely in the mirror.

I squeezed the pores clean, once or twice a week with my fingertips, these oily little balls would come out, very gross, but if I don't then some of them will just keep growing larger and larger until they finally pop out and leave a bigger than average pore.

I don't smoke or use makeup. I used to eat a lot of nuts and seeds but I haven't for the past 3 years.

Any helpful advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Blossom]

Hello everyone, I have lots of blackheads and whiteheads on my face, they used to concentrate around the nose area but now they are everywhere, forehead, chin and cheeks as well. Majority of them are blackheads. It looks like all the pores on my face are blocked when I look really closely in the mirror.

I squeezed the pores clean, once or twice a week with my fingertips, these oily little balls would come out, very gross, but if I don't then some of them will just keep growing larger and larger until they finally pop out and leave a bigger than average pore.

I don't smoke or use makeup. I used to eat a lot of nuts and seeds but I haven't for the past 3 years.

Any helpful advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Mine have steadily improved over time following a Peat inspired approach. I do personally feel most of my skin issues really were related to metabolism and nutrition was key in correcting the situation. An esthetician once advised me to use a cotton tipped applicator(like q-tips) to extract the blackheads/whiteheads. I used to steam my face first to help open the pores for easier extraction. I haven't had to do this for several months. It seems like it took a couple months of dietary/lifestyle changes to reflect in improved skin appearance for me personally.

 

[mt_dreams]

I squeezed the pores clean, once or twice a week with my fingertips, these oily little balls would come out, very gross, but if I don't then some of them will just keep growing larger and larger until they finally pop out and leave a bigger than average pore.

Squeezing pores like this actually over time make things worse. Some of the bacterial gets pushed back in, where it has time to recreate (like what happens to pimples when you squeeze them)

I wash my face with a small dab of honey (manuka is my preference). Whenever I ever notice my complextion is changing, I do a gentle wash with Dr,Ohhira's probiotic soap, though this is far in-between. I make my own masks out of water & gelatin powder, which naturally pull any blackheads/bacteria that I've formed over the course of a week or two. Steaming, which blossom mentioned above would be great right before applying the mask. I like my face to breath, as it's the one part of the body that has constant air flow, so i'm not a fan of sealing up pores after i've washed my face.

 

[Buckyball]

Thanks Blossom and mt_dreams.
I have been following Dr Peats recommendations, most of the time, for about a year. I am warmer and sleep well at night and have more energy. My skin clears up for a week or two from time to time. For the most part it's been bad. Occasionally I would have a pimple but then it goes away by itself in a couple of days.It seems that I can't get rid of these blackheads. I even notice some on my neck and back.
Mt Dreams, would you care to share how you make the mask? Do you only use gelatin and water? I have never used a mask that was able to pull the nasty oily balls out of the pores.
Thanks a lot.

 

[mt_dreams]

For the mask the ratio is usually 1:2 or 1:1.5 gelatin to liquid. Water & milk both work well. You will need to dissolve the gelatin in liquid, so either use boiling water, or use a microwave to dissolve. 1 tbl/packet of gelatin is all you should need to make the mask. I leave on my face for 15-20 min. The liquid by itself will smell gelatinny, so you may want to put a drop of essential oil if you can handle essential oils on the face. in the past I have used lavender, chamomile, rose, tea tree to scent the mask. I've also used a dab of manuka in place of an drop of oil. If you feel like getting adventurous, the essential oils of (Coriander, thymus vulgaris, peppermint, lemongrass) have been known to combat blackheads, so you may want to give them a try if you are just spot applying the mask. If you intend to go close to your eyebrows with the mix, be sure to lube up your brows with coconut oil or vasoline, or you'll be in for a tricky experience.

somewhere online someone posted making a mask with gelatin, while also adding activated charcoal. This may get messy, though from the picks on the site, no black residue ends up on the face once you peel the mask off so you just have to be careful when applying. I don't have the site, if you search gelatin/charcoal/face mask, i'm sure it would show up.

I've noticed that if I do get a pimple/s (or other complexion issues), it's usually the week right before a new moon. Since doing the mask one week or so before each new moon, i haven't gotten any pimples (i had already tried upping my sugar intake during the week just before a new moon.) I've noticed many other things that seem to relate to moon schedule, with energy being the biggest difference, but people usually laugh when I bring up moon cycles. I'm sure menstruation cycles also have an effect with things like complexion, energy, etc-.

On a side note, when I don't do activities which involve sweating, my underarm sweat is way more potent, and I also tend to get blackheads on my nose. I would imagine both of those are a result of the body trying to rid itself of toxins that would normally be removed via sweating.