By: Sheetal Rawal
Most people believe that a blackhead is dirt that gets embedded into your pore and creates a black plug. Actually, excess sebum created by the sebaceous glands mixed with dead cells get stuck into the pores near their openings. The air oxidizes this and turns it black. The technical term for blackheads is “open comedo”. “Open” because the pore is open to the air, and “comedo” refers to the plug of dead skin cells and sebum.
So what’s a whitehead? The story begins the same way. Excess sebum and dead cells clog the pores. A whitehead is actually a “closed comedo”. Unlike a blackhead, where the pore is open to the air, a whitehead is covered with skin giving it a pearly white appearance.
Whatever you do, please don’t pick or pop your blackheads and whiteheads. Using your fingers to try removing them can add bacteria to your pores. Also, the squeezing action can actually drive the clogging material deeper inside. All this can lead to infection. An infected blackhead or whitehead is called a pimple or acne. None of us want acne on our skin, but sadly many of us are at risk of developing it.
Using products with harsh (dehydrating) chemicals, stress, hormones, and diet are some of the leading causes of blackheads, whiteheads, and acne. If you have sensitive
skin, using harsh exfoliants or obsessively scrubbing your face can just irritate and dry out your skin. This generally makes it worse. In addition, when a blackhead is irritated (due to scrubbing over it too much), it can turn into acne.
What about removal tools you ask? Avoid removing your blackheads & whiteheads with removal tools because they can scar your skin and push the pore-clogging debris deeper still. The risk of infection and disfigurement is very high when improperly using these tools. Leave it to a professional. But can I tell you an even better way? Have yourself a complete daily and weekly skin care routine made with high-quality natural ingredients that will nourish your skin and clean your pores from deep within. Who on earth would want their blackheads extracted by a professional over not having them in the first place?
Watch this video to learn how to build yourself a daily and weekly skin care routine.
Ingredients like jojoba, turmeric, neem, clove, sulfur, and geranium are masters at balancing out your skin. Nourished and balanced skin does not produce too much oil and the result is that blackheads don’t even have a chance at forming let alone turning into acne at a later time.
Mercedes uses Apsara Natural Acne Care Routine and says, “It is the first product line that has worked for me. I don’t have any skin makeup on for the first time and I am 34 so that is very freeing!"
Here is a list of 5 natural ingredients & remedies you could use at home to remove blackheads and whiteheads. Do not try all these together. Use 1-2 times a week, and always follow a home remedy with your serum and lotion meant for your skin type. Read this page to find out your skin type.
1. Lemon Juice
Lemon juice contains alpha hydroxy acids (AHA), which work as a natural exfoliant to remove dead skin. Lemon juice is also rich in Vitamin C, which stimulates collagen
production and reduces scarring from acne.
Also used to help acne, lemon juice can help remove blackheads as well. Why? Because it increases the rate at which your skin cells shed and thus cleans out that clogged pore pretty quickly.
Usage Tip
Apply some fresh lemon juice to the blackhead and whitehead prone areas of your skin 1-2 times a week. Wash in 15 minutes and follow with serum and lotion.
2. Green Tea and Baking Soda Mask
Antioxidants from green tea calm down redness and reduce free radical damage to the skin. Baking soda combines with the excess hardened oils in a blackhead and whitehead and turns it into soap (called saponification in scientific language). So it is pretty evident how this awesome and simple mask can work.
CAUTION: do not overdo it. 1-2 times a week only. Any more and your skin can dry out, and that only makes matters worse. Then follow with serum and lotion. Seriously! If you do not want to deal with the dryness caused by the baking soda, you must follow with serum and lotion right away.
Ingredients
2 tsp. of cool green tea
1/4 tsp. of baking soda
Instructions
Mix well and dab on the blackhead and whitehead prone areas of your skin.
Wash in 12 minutes and apply serum and lotion.
Use 1 to 2 times a week only.
3. Aloe Vera Gel
Aloe vera gel is a potent natural ingredient that can help numerous skin conditions. It has skin healing and rejuvenating properties. Used alone, it can cause dryness in some, but when
used as part of a daily lotion, it can be simply miraculous.
Plant hormones (auxins and gibberellins) in aloe vera are thought to speed up the exfoliation of dead cells of the skin. This can cause the clogging material in the blackhead and whitehead to come to surface quickly and shed.
Usage Tip
With the help of a cotton ball, apply some aloe vera gel to your face and let it dry. Do this 2-3 times a week. Wipe off in 30 minutes and use your serum and lotion.
4. Turmeric
This popular cooking spice offers powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Turmeric also helps to reduce skin infection. It has been revered in Ayurveda for thousands of years for its skin healing and beautifying properties.
Ingredients
1/4 tsp. of turmeric
3 tsp. of aloe vera juice
Instructions
Mix well. Apply this paste over your skin and leave it on for ten minutes.
Wash with lukewarm water and follow with serum and lotion.
Use 2 times a week.
Check out Apsara’s Jojoba Facial Serum and Neem and Clove Lotion. Both products are made with high-quality natural ingredients that have been used in Ayurveda for turning acne-prone skin into flawless skin in little time.
Monica uses Apsara products for her acne and loves the results. Her skin is gorgeous and acne is no longer an unwelcome presence. She recorded this video to let everyone know about how Apsara products helped her skin.
5. Geranium Leaf Juice & Clay Mask
This flower is no stranger to most of us. It grows abundantly and has flowers of many beautiful colors. Geranium is well known in the natural world to balance out your skin and
help it produce the right amount of oil rather than too little or too much. This property makes it awesome to discourage the formation of blackheads and whiteheads.
Ingredients
6 geranium leaves
Fuller's earth or any other clay of your choice to make a thick paste
Instructions
Boil 6 geranium leaves in 1/2 cup of water. When the water comes to a boil, simmer to very low heat for 30 - 45 minutes. Allow it to cool down.
Mix 2 tsp. of the geranium leaf juice with clay.
Apply on your skin and let sit for 10-12 minutes.
Wash with lukewarm water and follow with your serum and lotion. Use 2 times a week.
Sahur uses Apsara’s Jojoba Serum for her acne and says she saw results in 3 days! That is amazing indeed. Sahur shares her experience with our Jojoba Facial Serum in this video below.
Want flawless skin naturally? Need help? Want to know which Apsara products you should use to get flawless skin and healthy hair? Fill out this form with your questions and help is on the way!
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Go natural. It is good karma!
