Hi! I have been lucky enough to say that I have never dealt with problems with acne in my adolescence or in my twenties. However, my lucky streak ended when I woke up to a HUGE pus filled pimple right in the middle of my forehead. TMI I know but, guys, it was awful and I wore a beanie every day until it was gone to cover it up. Because I’ve never had a pimple like this before, I really didn’t know what to do about it.

Of course, everyone’s first instinct is to pop a pimple even though it’s frowned upon and, I have to admit, it was the first thing I tried, lol. However, with my acrylics, popping it was impossible. After a few days with little to no improvement on my zit, I finally concocted a skin care combination that not only made the pimple go away in three days flat but it also allowed it to heal evenly. Check it out:

When it comes to dealing with a tough pimple, I found that you can’t go wrong with charcoal and benzoyl peroxide. Charcoal is amazing for drawing all of the yuck out like a magnet and the benzoyl peroxide helps to kill any excess bacteria, oil, and dead skin. I figured that combining the two together would be my best shot at eliminating the problem and, I am pleased to say, that it worked like a charm. Fingers crossed I’ll never get a pimple again (Here’s hoping!) but, at least, now I know how to deal with it.

Once I was done completing my night time skin care routine, I put my theory into practice and added a mixture of The Body Shop’s Himalayan Charcoal face mask and Clean & Clear’s persa-gel 10 onto the problem area and slept with it on. When I woke up after the first application, I could already tell that it made a difference because the pimple was much less swollen than it was before so I knew I was on the right track.

By the morning of day two, my pimple opened up naturally and I was able to squeeze out an okay amount of the gunk inside. I was encouraged by this because it’s not like I actually popped it! Once day three rolled around, I was able to completely rid the zit of anything left inside and, albeit red, my skin looked even and I knew that it would heal well.

I was insanely self conscious of my zit (Or the “honker” as my boyfriend so lovingly put it!) and it honestly felt like I was going to be stuck with it for forever. However, after a few treatments with products that were under thirty dollars in total, I solved my problem. Remember, when dealing with acne you not only want to rid yourself of blemishes but you want to make sure your skin heals well in the process. My method worked on both of these fronts and here’s to The Body Shop and Clean & Clear for allowing me to retire my beanie… Until my next bad hair day, that is!

How do you solve pimple problems? What are the best skin care products for problem skin? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah