It's time to confess: facial cleansing will not save you from clogged and enlarged pores

On Lifehacker you can always get useful tips on a variety of topics. But not all of our recommendations stand the test of time. Therefore, in new series articles, we analyze everything that finally disappointed us.

If you have seen advertisements for blackheads, then most likely you also believe that all the dirt can be washed out of the pores. And you are not at all alone. Therefore, cleanings are so popular in salons and clinics, and Lifehacker even wrote how to save money and cope with with the procedure at home.

It seems that if the skin is cleaned with hands, tools or apparatus, then these treacherous holes on the face will disappear and, most importantly, they will no longer clog with dirt - well, or they will not do it soon. But it's not.

Why cleaning dreams don't come true

Because on healthy skin always There is tiny holes are pores and sweat and sebum are constantly released through them. Without it, our face would dry out and crack.

If the fat becomes a little more, then we see a substance from white to light brown in the holes. These flagella are called sebaceous filaments. Every person has them, just on dry skin they are almost invisible, and on oily skin they are more noticeable.

Getting rid of them is completely unrealistic. The only thing is that you can regulate the secretion of fat and its outflow, as well as slightly reduce the size of the pores with the help of gentle exfoliation of the skin. And the procedures should be regular and fairly frequent (for someone it is once every 2 weeks, for someone - 2 times a week).

And what we consider black dots in medicine called comedones. These are elements on the skin that are a mild form of acne. They form when the sebaceous gland becomes clogged with excess sebum and cells. In the air, the cork oxidizes and becomes black - these are open comedones.

If all the same happens under the skin, then closed comedones appear - white dots under the skin. They look like pimples, but without the inflammatory red rim and white head.

Closed and open comedones indicate that you either have too much sebum, or the surface layers of the skin are not exfoliating well. Even if all of them are removed during cleaning, without changes in care and medications taken, they will appear again and again.

During cleaning, at best, you can put away large irritating comedones and slightly even out the skin.

But this success can be fixed only by further actions. And if nothing changes, then there will be no result.

In this case, the procedure is often traumatic, so it can slightly worsen the condition of the skin.

Why You Don't Need Cleansing

Globally, cleansing can be divided into traumatic (mechanical with the help of tools and manual, or manual) and atraumatic (hardware cleansing). But some cosmetologists combine them, so we will talk about the problems in general.

You may not get the expected result

Atraumatic, or hardware, cleanings are procedures during which ultrasound, vacuum, and the like are used. The devices themselves exfoliate the surface layers of the skin, that is, they essentially work as physical peels, and the effectiveness of the method will depend on what steps will be in the procedure: acids, serums, masks and other.

If you just scratch your face with an ultrasound spatula, then you are unlikely to notice the result. And all other manipulations are no longer about cleaning, but about care in general.

If you like the effect even without a spatula (most likely, you will), then it doesn’t matter how the specialist calls it in the price list. But if the cosmetologist does not have an arsenal of working tools, he will try to achieve the result the old fashioned way and they will use: a vaporizer (steaming machine), Una spoon, tweezers, needles and even fingers. And this is already fraught with consequences.

Your whole face can be torn apart

This is the most obvious. No matter how gentle the beautician is, any attempts to squeeze out the sebaceous threads run out bad, because they do not need to pick. And if it is possible to remove a comedone with a tight lid without meat and blood, then everything else will not go away without a fight. You yourself know this if you have ever pressed something on your face at home.

Of course, sometimes you need to go through this: a bunch of closed and open comedones is easier to pull out and then arrange for care than trying to remove them with cosmetics. But just cleansing the pores is not exactly recommended.

You can damage blood vessels

Most of all it concerns lovers steam out skin before the procedure (although there are gels for atraumatic cleaning on sale). The mechanism is nowhere simpler: you steam the skin, the superficial vessels are filled with blood, they are injured with an acne squeezer, you walk around with a purple face. By the way, due to increased blood flow, sebum is secreted more strongly.

You may get an infection

It's not even about violations of sanitary standards. Just if you delete sebaceous filaments, then open the way for bacteria to the sebaceous glands. And if you squeeze a pimple, then it breaks through not only from the outside, but also under the skin. As a result, bacteria spread throughout the face from the inside. Hence the exacerbation of acne after cleansing.

You may have scars

This is the most annoying thing. Excessive zeal when extruding elements may well lead to scars that will last a lifetime. Well, or until you complete a course of peels or polishing to even out the skin. And they definitely look worse than sebaceous threads.

When is a Facial Cleansing Needed?

As we wrote above, cleaning is a quick solution problems of open and closed comedones. But after that, some additional therapy is definitely needed.

If you just don't like points on your nose, it's better to choose something less traumatic.

How to replace cleaning

Atraumatic, for example hydrofeshl, can not be changed for anything. It instantly transforms the skin, makes the face fresher and healthier looking. So if you like it then why not.

But traumatic methods should be changed to something more modern.

Suitable Care

If you want to decrease visibility of pores, then add acids, enzymes and retinoids to the care. They will gently exfoliate surface cells and lighten sebum, so your face will look noticeably smoother and your skin tone will be more even. In addition, they will protect you from the occurrence of comedones.

Facial Treatments

Instead of acids in home remedies, you can pass superficial peeling courses at the cosmetologist - he will name the exact number of procedures and their frequency. The skin will be brighter and more even immediately after the procedure. You can also add some products to solve other problems, such as moisturizing masks.

acne therapy

If there are more than just comedones on the skin and care does not help, you may need to treat acne. To do this, make an appointment with a dermatologist who will prescribe local remedies and, if necessary, medications. They are needed to reduce sebum production, reduce inflammation and fight infection.