How To Get Rid of a Big Pimple Naturally: Simple DIY Pimple Remedy
We've all had them—those big zits from hell. They pop up seemingly overnight (always, always at the worst time).
Honestly, I can tell you that I'm a reformed pimple popper. Popping pimples is not good for your skin. Especially those big, inflamed ones. Squeeze those babies and you're likely to do some serious damage to your skin.
But who wants to walk around for three days with a humongous whitehead on their face? Nobody.
Instead of popping, this simple mixture works wonders. It helps bring those ouchy big pimples to a head and helps them drain naturally, quickly, and very gently. The best thing is, you've got everything you need to make it in your kitchen right now.
To be clear, this mixture doesn't stop breakouts from forming, so won't clear up a case of acne. It's used to help quickly heal an occasional breakout or an individual big blemish.
(If you do need help getting acne under control, take a look at this article I wrote for Verywell.com that's dedicated to acne and its treatment. You'll get lots of acne treatment info and tips there to stop blemish from forming and help clear up your skin for good.)
Here's Why This DIY Pimple Remedy Works
For this DIY pimple remedy, you'll need just three simple ingredients: warm water, salt, and green tea. Here's why these basic pantry essentials work wonders on blemishes.Warm water helps soften the plug of oil, dead cells, and pus that is trapped in the pore causing a pimple. It's key to soften this plug so that it can drain from the pore easily. You want the water noticeably warm but not hot enough to burn you.
Salt is drawing and antiseptic. It helps pull the debris from deep within the pore to the surface to drain. Salt also has antiseptic and healing properties to reduce pus and help speed healing. My preference is sea salt, but you can use any type of salt you have on hand.
The green tea is drawing and anti-inflammatory. Because of its astringent qualities, green tea also helps pull debris from the pore to drain. It also helps reduce inflammation, so the pimple looks smaller and less red.
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RECIPE: DIY Pimple Remedy
This solution should be used immediately upon making. Because of the risk of transferring bacteria from the skin to the solution, and back again, toss any leftover solution after each use and make up a fresh batch each time. It's simple to make.
What you'll need:
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 green teabag
STEP 1: Place the teabag into 1/4 cup hot water and steep for 5 minutes. Remove from solution. (Save the teabag! You can use it again to make another batch of solution later in the day if one soaking session doesn't take care of the pimple.)
STEP 2: Add the salt and stir until dissolved.
TO USE: Use the solution immediately. If the solution has cooled too much, rewarm it now. You want it very warm, but not hot enough to burn.
Soak a cotton ball in the warm solution and hold it over the pimple. When the cotton ball gets too cool, rewarm it by dipping it in the warm solution again. You'll be dumping the solution after this use anyway, so it's OK to re-dip the cotton ball.
Continue this for 5 to 10 minutes at a time, or until the whitehead drains.
Don't pop or squeeze the pimple; the solution will cause the blemish to come to a head and drain naturally.
If your pimple is still there after 10 minutes, that's OK. You can continue to poultice the blemish for 20 minutes total.
Deep pimples, pimples that don't yet have a white head, or exceptionally big blemishes usually take more than one poultice session to drain.
Wait a few hours, make up a fresh solution, and soak again. The longest I've ever had a pimple last was 3 sessions, about 8 hours apart.
You can also use this solution to help remove splinters! In this case, though, forget the cotton ball. Stick the entire splinter-affected area in the solution and soak it for 30 minutes (you might have to double or triple the recipe to do this). The splinter will have drawn up, and the area will be softened so you can get that little bugger out more easily and less painfully.
Try this and let me know how it works for you, in the comments section below this post or on my Facebook page.
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