Blackheads

[ShadowTears]

What is the best way to get rid of blackheads? Specifically around and on the nose area. I have tried some pore strips I got from Vegan Essentials but they were useless. What is a good, vegan way of ridding myself of these pesky things?

[Flora]

Maybe this will help?
http://www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/

[Tigerlily]

I've tried that method years ago but I think I did it wrong.

I have one pesky blackhead near my eye. I'm too afraid to do something because it's so close to my eye.

[emmapresley]

boil the kettle..pour it in a bowl..add some lavender or tea tree..not more than a drop or two. towel over yr head..steam your face to open up your pores..count to 20 each time and take a breath or air and then dive back in..when youve got to 100, towel off your head..get some loo roll..wrap on your fingers, use the pad of your fingers and not your nails to ease in towards the pesky beast. dont press too hard, sort of slightly change the angle and youll 'tease' it out. if you need to get back under the towel, go nuts. when youve had enough, attack more facial beasts until youve had enough/theyre all gone..splash your face with cold water to close up your pores afterwards, slap on some moisturiser. all done. great fun.

[Tigerlily]

My cousin bought a metallic tool device to remove blackheads. Waste of money she said.

But I like emma's advice!

[pat sommer]

SkinClean.com will solve the problem with their daily cleanser (scrub). $17 jar of salty-powder lasts 6mo or more. Found it by recommendation on an acne/rosacea forum.
Plant-based micro cleansing good stuff.

Shame about their rotten customer service: my order was only 3 weeks late and I have since gone to Maui. Maybe by the time I get an order sent here, I shall be back in CA?

[harpy]

Despite my great age (ahem) I have a tendency to get these but it has been better since I've been using this http://www.lush.co.uk/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=116&option=com_virtuemart&category_id=493 - it scours a bit but does it really gently so you don't end up with a bright red face. You could just use it on the "problem areas" if you prefer. It might be similar to what Pat has recommended.

Another thing to bear in mind is that they can apparently be caused by dry skin as opposed to oily skin, so perhaps moisturising and eating stuff that makes your skin less dry (such as flax oil) could help as well.

[ShadowTears]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I have a ton of the pesky things on my nose but haven't found anything to get rid of them yet.
>harpy I have oily skin, especially on the nose area.

[pat sommer]

I have used calamine and kaolin before, Harpy, and they are useful natural products but SkinCean's daily cleanser is a miracle. Won't hear me giving out recommendations for anything else I've tried. Stuff will put estheticians out of business.

[Sarah_]

Used nature's Cure for a long time, their 2-step acne treatment thing. it's a pill and a cream. Didn't even use the cream but the pills worked wonders. Unfortunately it contains milk-derived lactose. Anybody know of any other daily vitamin complex thingies like that?