We have talked about acne, we went over acne scars and now, it is time for us to face another very much feared subject, BLACKHEADS. Those pesky friends that always know how to find their way back home in our pores. Blackheads are tough to deal with so you should always start with understanding the root of this very commonly disliked skin concern to be free of them.
WHAT ARE BLACKHEADS?
“Blackheads” are essentially an accumulation of waste that has become visibly black or dark-colored due to the external part of the sebum becoming oxidized. “Blackheads” occur when the pores become clogged with excessive sebum, bacteria or dead skin cells.
ARE BLACKHEADS PIMPLES?
If you have ever had blackheads, you would have asked yourself or at least looked up, ‘are blackheads a form of acne?’. And the answer is, YES. Blackheads are indeed a type of acne.
The official term to call blackheads will be ‘comedo and to be more specific, blackheads are open comedones. To look at the positive side of the story, they are the ones that didn’t end up becoming inflamed or spread all over the place. But, even when blackheads aren’t as highly visible or painful as inflamed acne, nobody wants to go around with a nose full of blackheads.
WHERE DO BLACKHEADS COME FROM?
Blackheads can be triggered by many things. And the way they look, form, or how often they show up, depends a lot on many specific characteristics. Ranging from basic things like:
• Skin type
• Age
• Skin type
• Age
• Gender
• Hormonal values
To even external habits have that have a profound influence on the process of blackhead formation.
“You can not really control things like your skin structure, age, or gender, but fortunately, there are some external common triggers that you can use to keep blackheads under control. “ So, if you are struggling with too many blackheads, here are some common causes of blackheads
WHY DO BLACKHEADS APPEAR?
As we have already explained blackheads are an accumulation of waste into the pore. But this accumulation does not necessarily only have to come from excessively oily skin.
Many times, it is in fact, more about the blockage of the pilosebaceous unit itself. Which means that you can most definitely also get blackheads even with dry skin.
Besides hormonal causes and genetic predisposition, this factor, the blockage of the pore, is the main reason for blackheads to appear, and here are some of the day to day things that can be taking part in the “lovely” process of your pores getting blocked.
SKINCARE, MAKEUP AND OCCLUSIVE PRODUCTS
If your skin is unable to breathe and your natural oil buildup is incapable to come through to the surface of the skin, it is very likely that you will develop blackheads. But we all know that this is not just restricted to blackheads but also possibly whiteheads, pimples and other types of skin troubles may occur.
Solution
Whenever you have worn heavy makeup on, make sure you wash your face to remove it at the end of the day. Gentle exfoliation will also help whenever the skin is having a hard time breathing due to excessive dead skin cell accumulation.
Tip
Search for the word non-comedogenic. Although this doesn´t 100% guarantee that you will not get blackheads. These types of product formulations will diminish the risk of you developing blackheads since they are targeted to avoid pore-clogging.
SWEAT, HUMIDITY, AND OTHER EXTERNAL FACTORS
If the day is dusty, you went to the gym to a tough-love gym session or you find yourself in the middle of the summer on a very humid climate, be aware of the possibility of these factors affecting your skin. These and similar causes have a big potential to clog your pores, due to the fact that things like sweat or dust when mixing with your own sebum and keratin will be most likely blocking the pore.
Solution
Always rinse your face after coming in contact with things like sweat, or foreign elements like dust or seawater.
Tip
It also helps A LOT to avoid wearing makeup when coming in contact with these types of situations. That means if you go to the gym, the pool, or similar, try to skip the makeup to allow your skin to transpirate freely.
EXTERNAL FACTORS AFFECTING THE SEBUM PRODUCTION
Things like diet, smoking, your hormones getting out of control, or even stress can affect the sebum production of your skin. If the sebum production increases or your skin condition worsens, this will most likely also have an effect on blackheads. As in these cases, your skin has less control over basic skin functions like cell turnover, but much more sebum to redistribute.
Solution
Try to keep good habits, eat a good diet, try to relieve as much stress as possible, do not overexpose yourself to the sun, excessively strong lights or smoke, and try to keep your hormones as balanced as possible.
Tip
We are what we eat so diet always ends up having a lot to do with all types of skin concerns. Try to eat healthily and consume enough nutrients to keep all of the above factors as much under control as possible. For that, you can always try juicing or a healthy smoothie, or anything you can consider a good “skin food”.
Funny enough one of the most frequently googled words about this subject is white blackheads. Which already says a lot about the general confusion among these two types of blemishes, or should we say, two different types of acne.
If you also tend to confuse these two terms, do not worry, it is normal since they are two highly correlated skin concerns. It can be difficult to differentiate them BUT, from today you will never have to struggle again because today we will be going through the most important things that you need to know about both.
ARE WHITEHEADS AND BLACKHEADS THE SAME?
The answer to this question is no. Although whiteheads and blackheads are similar they do not refer to the same exact skin condition. And therefore the way to treat and eliminate blackheads and whiteheads can be very different.
BLACKHEADS
If we go through the definition of blackheads that I gave you on the first article:
“Blackheads are essentially an accumulation of waste in which the most external part has become black due to oxidation.“
Oxidation, as the name suggests, only occurs when something comes into contact with oxygen itself. And therefore in blackheads, the hair follicle has to be open to the air in order to oxidize.
WHAT MAKES BLACKHEADS BLACK?
The answer is Oxidation. The oxidation process gives blackheads that black color, that might be also the main reason why you might think that you have so many blackheads compared to whiteheads which tend to be less visible. This oxidation process is actually one of the main differences between whiteheads and blackheads.
In blackheads, the Sebum and waste clogging the pore are actually out in the open and exposed to air. Whereas whiteheads even when they are essentially also an excess of sebum, bacteria, and dead skin cells clogging the pore, are covered by a thin layer of skin that prevents the oxidation process that we were talking about.
If there is no opening for air to get in, the sebum will not turn black which is the reason why whiteheads keep that yellowish-whitish type of color.
WHAT ARE WHITEHEADS?
Whiteheads, just alike blackheads can be considered a version of non-inflammatory acne. In all those conditions there is a common denominator, the blockage of the pilosebaceous units present also in acne or blackheads.
Yes they all come from blocked pores, but each has some specific characteristics when compared to each other:
• Whiteheads are a less inflammatory type of blemish when compared to acne.
• Whiteheads differ from blackheads through the thin layer of skin that prevents the oxidation process that changes their color.
When it comes to whiteheads color is not the only difference when comparing whiteheads to blackheads. Since the oxidation process also tends to harden the waste contained in the pore.
HOW TO TAKE CARE OF WHITEHEADS?
Why is the consistency of the blemish important you might ask? Well, more than just to help you differentiate among whiteheads and blackheads, or to give you a hint on how old and therefore oxidized the blackhead is (the “older” the blackhead the harder and darker it tends to be) The consistency of the blemish also plays an important role in how it should be taken care of or removed.
Since whiteheads are still covered with skin and have a different consistency the ideal treatment routine for them will be slightly different from the one for blackheads.
If you want to learn more about how to treat whiteheads, I suggest you have a look at this video that not only goes in-depth through all this process but also includes some product recommendations and all you need to know on how to take care of whiteheads.
These articles were all originally written for and posted on Wishtrend. If you want to check the full articles with product recommendations from the brand click on each article title.
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