amy975•2mo ago

Talked to a 20 year esthetician about how she handles breakouts during extraction and it blew my mind

I was working on a client yesterday who gets really stubborn closed comedones along her jawline. Nothing I tried was getting them to budge without a ton of trauma to the skin. My mentor was in the next room and I asked her for a quick tip. She said to apply a warm compress with a little bit of tea tree oil diluted in jojoba for like 5 minutes before extracting. I figured it was some old school thing, but it actually softened the sebum way more than I expected. Has anyone else tried something like this or do you have another trick for deep clogged pores?

3 comments

3 Comments

seanjohnson2mo ago

Honestly, reading about that warm compress with tea tree and jojoba makes me think of something my buddy tried once. He had this gnarly cyst on his back and instead of doing the whole routine he took a hot shower then slapped a slice of raw potato on it for like 20 minutes. I thought he was messing with me but the next day that thing was way less angry and some of the gunk actually started draining out on its own. I have no idea if the science holds up but I guess the warmth and moisture can sometimes trick the skin into letting go. Anyway sorry for the weird potato story but sometimes the weirdest stuff works.

mark_cooper2mo ago

Funny you mention tea tree oil, my wife tried something similar on a zit she had last month but she mixed it with coconut oil instead. I walked in the bathroom and the whole place smelled like a forest exploded. She left it on for maybe 10 minutes and when she wiped it off the thing was practically popping itself. I mean seriously, it was like the dirt just gave up and surrendered. So yeah I can believe your mentor's trick works, sometimes the old ways are the best ways.

the_jessica20d ago

Drop a little dab of that coconut oil and tea tree mix on a fresh popped zit right after you get the gunk out, it calms the redness down way faster than anything from a tube. I've done this exact thing a bunch of times and the trick is keeping it on for like 5 minutes max otherwise your skin gets all dry and flaky. Another thing that helps is if you put an ice cube wrapped in a paper towel on the spot for a minute before you put the oil on, it makes the pores shrink up more. The smell is definitely strong but honestly it beats having a sore bump on your face for a week. Just make sure you're not using too much coconut oil if you have oily skin already, that can clog things up worse than before.