'I'm a beauty editor and I cleared a cystic pimple in four days. Here's what I did.'

Honestly, I'm impressed. Surprised. Maybe even a little smug.

Excited to hear how I did it? Intrigued?? 

Well come with me. Because there are four things you need to do to get rid of an angry, cystic pimple.

Yep! Only four. 

Let me explain. It all started in the lead up to my hen's party. Because if there's one thing you and I both know, it's that you will always be blessed with an absolute MONSTER of a pimple right before a big event. I don't make the rules.

On Tuesday morning (party was on the Saturday) a giant red and hurty shiner cropped up right beside my nose. Which is, generally speaking, the sorest of all areas when it comes to spots.

Now, just for a bit of a background - I had a delicious facial treatment the weekend before, so this - along with the combination of wedding planning stress - just delivered the perfect recipe for one very sore, cystic baddie.

And look, breakouts happen. While they're usually not ideal, this one literally had a heartbeat of its own. It was PULSATING. Asked to be my plus one on Saturday. Said she couldn't wait to meet my mother-in-law.

Watch: Just Mamamia's senior beauty writer Erin Docherty showing off some breakouts and skin irritation. Post continues below.

So, in order to try to restrain myself from literally wanting to rip my own face off, I went straight to my dear friend, Leigh Campbell. 

She's the Executive Editor here at Mamamia, and the co-host of our You Beauty podcast. She's also been in the industry for yonks - so knows a thing or two about getting rid of pimples.

She told me exactly what I needed to do in order to have it cleared up by the weekend.

Listen: Hear exactly what Leigh Campbell told me to do on the You Beauty podcast. Post continues below.

Did it work? Yes. 

Do I want to send Leigh a fruit basket? Yes.

Here's everything you need to get rid of a cystic breakout quickly.

1. Use a BHA treatment.

Because my spot was rudely waiting under my skin and hadn't yet come to a head, Leigh's first bit of advice was to get it to the surface.

She told me: "I would use a BHA and try to slough off that top layer of dead skin and see if she comes out."

My BHA treatment of choice? I went with an old favourite - Mario Badescu Drying Lotion, $28. 

It contains salicylic acid to help exfoliate inside the pore and get rid of bacteria and such. The pink-coloured component of it is calamine - which helps soothe and calm redness and inflammation.

On Tuesday night, after cleansing my face with a gentle wash, I used a cotton bud and swept up some of that pink-coloured stuff at the bottom of the Mario Badescu bottle (no mixing! You mustn't mix) and applied it straight to the *actual* mountain on my face. 

I left it on overnight and prayed to the beauty gods to save my face.

2. Apply a pimple patch.

Come Wednesday morning, I could see old mate was starting to come to the surface. Testing the waters. 

During the day, I left it alone. Didn't even cover it in makeup. 

In the afternoon, I applied the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion for a couple of hours, before slapping on the tbh Skincare Patch It Up - Glow in the Dark Patches ($20) before I went to sleep.

And honestly, this was my favourite part - because there's nothing more satisfying than peeling off a patch and seeing a heap of pus and gunk stuck to it. 

Bliss.

Also, these pimple patches are heart-shaped and glow in the dark (!!), soooo - an obvious choice.

3. Gently squeeze 'er.

On Thursday morning, the queen had arrived. It was time.

I gently gave it a squeeze. Gently, you guys. No digging of the nails into the skin. No blood (okay, there might have been a teeny bit of blood). (Sorry, Leigh).

And it was... a lot. Like, it felt like half of my brain came out. 

BUT, the pressure and pain surrounding my nose immediately went down, and I could finally move my face again without feeling like I had a twin with its own nervous system.

4. Hit it with LED light.

On Thursday night I went ham on the LED treatments. Just as Leigh told me to.

I used my Omnilux Clear LED Mask - which is specifically for breakouts and a full face mask. This treatment goes for 10 minutes. 

I also used this handy little Neutrogena Light Therapy Acne Spot Treatment pen - you basically hold it over the top of your spot for two minutes. 

Both of these use a combo of blue and red light to target breakouts and make them heal quicker, tackling bacteria and reducing inflammation. 

I actually used the pen so much that the battery died. So, she went hard.

Hello

Terrifying, no?

Before going to bed, I popped on another overnight pimple patch.

By Friday morning everything was completely flat, non-flaky and non-bumpy - although, still a little red.

I kept going with the LED light treatments (specifically the pen, followed by the Omnilux mask at night), then went HARD with them again on Saturday morning.

And... voila! 

I don't want to brag - but I ('Leigh') nailed it. By the time I went to get my makeup done for my hen's party on Saturday afternoon, the pimple had packed up and left. 

No pimpy in sight.

Listen to me when I say that these four steps are absolute WIZARDRY.

So much better than tearing my face apart trying to get that jerk outta there. Because when you do that, it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to cover up.

So, yeah. I think I've found my new go-to method for cystic spots from here on out. 

Thanks, Leigh!

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Want to hear more from Erin's cystic pimple? We mean Erin! Sorry. Follow her on Instagram.

What are your tips for getting rid of cystic pimples? Share then with us in the comment section below.

Feature image: Supplied/Erin Docherty.