It’s 2017 and our greatest preoccupation is how to remove blackheads.
Well, not quite. But it does seem that way when a new way of removing the dreaded comedones emerges almost every week.
The latest method to gain popularity is using incredibly sharp tweezers to pick out the blackheads.
They’re not the same tool used to shape your brows, however, but tweezers with ends that curve upwards to make plucking the bastards easier – as demonstrated in the video below.
(Warning: This video may make you feel queasy.)
So it looks gross, but is this an effective way to remove blackheads?
According to dermatologist Dr. Neal Schultz, it’s much better than using your fingers as you’re less likely to do damage – but the process is a little more complicated than it looks in the video.
“With the tines open, the curved parts gently press down on the sides of the blackhead,” Dr Schultz told Racked.
“Then the curved tips are squeezed together, putting the pressure that pinches the skin together below the level of the opening of the blackhead so the contents of the blackhead can easily be squeezed out.”
Esthetician Renee Rouleau told the website that the type of comedones featured in the video are a little different to your typical blackhead, which would be harder to remove.
Meanwhile, the queen of pimple popping, Dr Pimple Popper herself, agreed that the video was misleading and cautioned that the “most important thing is not to overdo it.”
“Because the more you traumatise the skin, the harder you pick and pinch, the deeper that you poke or break the skin with anything, the higher the potential you get a scar that could be permanent,” Dr Sandra Lee said.
Dr Lee also told Racked it was crucial to clean your skin and hands before giving the tweezers a go and suggested steaming your face before hand.
All in all, the tool can be effective, if used properly – and that’s the key.
Have you used blackhead tweezers? Did they work for you?
