How To Make Your Emergency Zit Vanish In Seconds (Without Makeup!)
Feel like a spot’s about to sprout on your skin? Try this incredibly easy two-step pre-emptive strike against acne that hasn’t even surfaced yet!
By EUGENE QUEK,
Look, I’m uncannily accurate when it comes to predicting the next big breakout on my face – in some instances, mere minutes before said blemish comes burbling to the surface.
And yet, there’s really no need to get frantic over freshly formed acne. For days when you just know something “spotty” this way comes, whip out your blemish-busting balms and try the following preemptive punch to zap your zits – before things take a turn for the ugly.
Shot through the heart
The area that’s about to bust out in a blemish will be pulsing painfully (and look the part, too!) That means the first order of business is to squelch the swelling that makes pimples so unpleasantly prominent.
Take it from my go-to skin doc: “An anti-inflammatory cortisone shot is the quickest way of treating new pimples,” advises dermatological doyenne Dr Karen Soh, medical director of Prive Clinic.
If injectables aren’t your thing, consider off-the-counter cortisone creams or targeted treatments like the blemish buster from IDS instead – any respectable pharmacy or cosmetics counter ought to stock what you’re looking for. Simply slap on a generous glob onto the affected area and gently pat it in, wiping off any excess.
Ice, ice baby
Next, reduce any residual ruddiness by cooling the “hotspot” as if you were icing an injured knee. Create a quick-and-dirty cold compress by bundling a couple of ice cubes in a wash towel.
Hold it against the blemish for about 30 seconds, then pat dry. The dip in temperature shrinks the skin’s blood vessels (say “vasoconstriction” if you want to impress your dermatologist), dialling back the blotchiness of the blemish. Bonus: This cool trick also takes care of puffiness, pores and such – essentially any and every cosmetic concern.
All that’s left to do is to follow up with a mattifying moisturiser to comfort your complexion and squelch shine through the day. And you’re done! All ready to “face” the world in less than a minute, thereabouts. Sending all of you good skin vibes!
This story first appeared on www.herworldplus.com
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