Skin Care Facts: Blackheads - What are they really?

Let's Talk Blackheads!

So what are they?

Blackheads may make skin look dirty, but they are unrelated to dirt. They are actually created before the oils in your skin even react the other layer!

Where do they come from?

Blackheads are formed when:

**hormones cause too much oil to be produced**

**dead skin cells get in the way of oil trying to exit the pore**

**the pore is impaired or misshapen**

These 3 things add up to having the exit where oil exits, to be blocked... and viola! A clog is created! As this clog nears the surface of the skin, the mixture of oil and debris oxidizes and turns, you guessed it: black.

So What Can We Do to Get Rid of Them?

You cannot scrub away blackheads, at least not completely. Using a topical scrub removes the top portion of the blackhead, but does nothing to address the underlying cause, so they're back again before too long. The best way to deal with blackheads is to combined several strategies to address all the reasons that they crop up!

Here are Batty's best tips and tricks to work into your skin

care routine to avoid & clear up blackheads:

1. Be diligent in exfoliating your face with a good facial scrub daily!
2. Keep dry skin at bay but making sure your skin's natural moisture barrier is taken care of -- moisturize after washing your face & use a facial soap that wont strip your skin's natural moisture barrier -- because the combo dry skin & dead skin cells will just create more blackheads!
3. Let your makeup do some work: wear a primer with natural detoxifying clays.
4. Introduce your skin to a detoxing dry clay mask (here's a how to video!) and follow up with a good facial scrub. This process will pull up some of those clogs to the surface of your skin where they can be scrubbed off.
5. Switch to mineral makeup - it's less likely enter & clog pores (and if it ever does enter the pore, it's easily pushed out)
6. Check out this blog post to see if a vitamin deficiency might be causing your skin to produce extra oil
7. Change your pillow case frequently - oils from your hair & face, plus dead skin cells and other debris hangs out on your pillow case and that's just asking for problems! Keep your pillow case clean so your face can stay clear!

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