There are many things I love about owning a cosmetic company. I love that I can provide the real information consumers need to make intelligent, rational decisions about their skin care. Presenting the facts doesn’t always make me money; obviously, it would be easier to promise women miracle ingredients that replace cosmetic surgery rather than tell the truth about exactly what my products can and can’t do. Mostly I love formulating new products—that’s the best! Taking research about new ingredients and new understanding of how skin works and then putting that knowledge together in a new formula is thrilling. It is challenging, stimulating, endlessly creative and always rewarding, especially when my customers love the results.

What is often difficult is helping customers understand how to put a skin-care routine together or how one formula differs from another. For example, often one formula is different from another only because the base formula’s chemistry affects the rate of efficacy or a different base is needed to support the product’s claims. How do you explain such technicalities to thousands of people?

Here is where I need your help: The two toners I created for my CLEAR anti-acne line are confusing customers. One is Regular Strength and the other Extra Strength, BUT they both contain 2% salicylic acid. Therein lies the problem! The difference between the two is the base ingredients which don’t seem significant—but they are. Both formulas are liquids but one allows the salicylic acid to penetrate better (that’s the Extra Strength), and the other allows the 2% salicylic acid to be effective but less penetrating so it is essentially a more gentle formula. See what I mean? It’s not so easy to explain when the amount of active ingredient is the same for both products. Based on customer feedback, the names and descriptions we have aren’t helping.

So we are considering renaming both CLEAR toners. Here’s what my team and I have come up with:

The Regular Strength could be named: Soothing Acne Relief Toner with Salicylic Acid
The Extra Strength could be named: Extra Strength Deep Targeted Acne Relief Toner with Salicylic Acid

On the back of the container the percentage of salicylic acid would still be there with the appropriate description.

The Soothing Acne Relief Toner would state:

This toner contains 2% salicylic acid in a gentle formula that allows for effective exfoliation on skin’s surface and inside the pore lining. It is best for sensitive skin or for those with mild acne.

The Extra Strength Deep Targeted Acne Relief Toner would state:

This toner contains 2% salicylic in a penetrating formula that allows for maximum exfoliation on the surface of skin and in the pore, making it more effective for those with moderate or stubborn acne.

So tell me what you think. If this was your cosmetic line, with anti-acne products you knew were some of the most effective available, but there were formula nuances the consumer needed to understand to determine which one to use, what would you change on the label (keeping in mind there isn’t much room)? I would sincerely appreciate your input!

I’m sick and tired of reading quotes from doctors and estheticians in fashion magazines or on beauty or medical websites saying you should absolutely never squeeze a pimple or blackhead. They adamantly state, in no uncertain terms, that you must leave any ugly red swollen, white, raised bump on your face alone. Like any woman is going to leave that sitting on her face to stare at all day!

Even more absurd is the recurrent idiotic advice that the only way to deal with these unsightly protrusions is to go see your doctor or esthetician so they can remove them for you. What complete and utter nonsense and about as practical as going to your auto mechanic every morning to get your car started. If I had to go see my doctor or esthetician every time I had a pimple or blackhead, I would have to move in and set up housekeeping in their workplace because they would need to do that for me on almost a daily basis!

Going to the doctor each time you see a pimple or blackhead on your face or body is as stupid and unrealistic a recommendation as I can imagine (well, there are lot of stupid recommendations in the world of cosmetics and beauty but this one is beyond the pale for me personally). Think about it: doctors let their patients administer their own insulin shots for diabetes, take antibiotics when they’re sick, re-bandage wounds, irrigate stuffed sinuses, give ourselves serious laxatives for colonoscopy procedures, use vaginal suppositories for yeast infections, but we can’t be trusted to deflate a pimple. Geesh!

What should you do? Go ahead and pop that pimple, just be really, really careful how you do it. Follow the steps below for best results!

Here’s How To Do It:

PREPARATION

1. Buy a comedone extractor (comedone is a term for a clogged pore).
2. Be gentle; the goal is to remove the whitehead without creating a scab or damaging the surrounding skin (scabs are not better to look at than a pimple).
3. Cleanse your face first but do not use cold or hot water (that makes the blemish redder and hurts the skin’s ability to heal). Hot water does not help get rid of a blemish and cold water does not close pores! Get over this myth; it is hurting your skin.
4. Use a soft washcloth with a gentle water-soluble cleanser. Lightly massage skin with the damp washcloth and cleanser to ensure dead skin cells are removed. This makes extracting the pimple easier.
5. Do not use the comedone extractor or squeeze when your skin is wet. When skin is wet it is more vulnerable to tearing and creating a scab which can cause scarring.
6. Dry your skin gently.

This is a typical comedone extractor:

HOW TO USE THE EXTRACTOR

1. Take the comedone extractor and center the opening over the pimple. Then gently (and I mean really gently) and with very little pressure (and I mean very little pressure) push the comedone extractor down on the whitehead and move it across the pimple. That should release the contents.

2. You may have to repeat this one or two more times, but that’s it.

3. If you overdo it you will create a scab and risk scarring (a reminder of your acne you don’t want with you for the rest of your life).

YOU STILL MAY HAVE TO SQUEEZE A BIT

If the blemish is raised or swollen there may still be some white content lurking below that the extractor can’t get to. In that case follow these steps:

1. Using the flat of your fingertips (not your nails) place your fingers just on the edge of the red swelling.

2. Gently (and I mean really gently) push down and in slightly on the swelling. If that does not release the contents the first time, change the positions of your fingers and try again. If the second time doesn’t do it, you’re done. Any more, and you risk creating a scab which can eventually turn into a scar.

WHAT YOU ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NEVER DO!

Never ever scratch, pick, abrade, over-scrub, burn, prick with needles or pins, or attack your blemishes. This is a surefire way to make an unpleasant, unattractive situation even uglier which almost always leads to long-term damage. If you think you’ll be prone to this type of behavior, think twice before following the directions outlined above.

THERE ARE THOSE BLEMISHES YOU SHOULD ABSOLUTELY NOT SQUEEZE

1. Deep red swollen bumps that have no white head showing can be very problematic to squeeze and the comedone extractor will most likely not be effective either. You can try a bit, but these sore, large blemishes are most likely too deep to remove. They also tend to turn into scabs and scars when you overzealously try to remove them. Be careful: you don’t want to make matters worse.

2. If you have particularly deep, cystic acne, those bumps should NOT be squeezed. In those situations you would want to consult a dermatologist for a treatment regimen. If you get one of these and have a special occasion, a dermatologist can inject the swelling with a cortisone shot for immediate relief (there are risks to this so you want to be sure to discuss the pros and cons with your physician if you want to go this route).

THE FINAL STEPS

You must follow up with a 2.5% or 5% benzoyl peroxide product (Paula’s Choice has excellent options but you can also check Beautypedia.com for other recommendations) and/or a 1% or 2% salicylic acid product (again, Paula’s Choice has several beautifully formulated options, but Beautypedia.com can help you with other options). This will not only help reduce inflammation it will also help prevent further breakouts.

There you have it! These steps work, you just have to be careful and realistic. I suspect most of us are doing some version of this anyway when we see a pimple, but now you know exactly how to do it without making matters worse and more unattractive. In fact, when you follow these steps you’re doing exactly what any doctor or esthetician would do, just without the inconvenience of making an appointment every time a pimple rears its ugly head!