In this post I’m going to share a secret with you.

Do you know that I used to struggle with blackheads for a really long time? The comedones were dark, there were plenty of them and were so stubborn that I couldn’t get rid of them no matter the treatments I used. I was embarrassed about how my complexion looked, and therefore I kept covering it up with a load of color cosmetics. And you know what? This only made the problem even more serious…

Now I know how to get rid of blackheads for good. I can say that I mastered this tough art of keeping skin clear. I’ve learnt how to cleanse my face skin deeply, and I’m more than happy to share my tricks for clean skin with you.

But before presenting you the ways that will free you from these nasty blackheads, it’s time to meet your enemy.

Blackheads? What are they and what causes them?

Blackheads, comedones and clogged pores – no matter how you call them, these skin imperfections always look exactly the same. Just dark dots scattered all over the face. Not-so-nice-looking and completely unnecessary. Sitting inside skin pores, blackheads don’t want to go away and leave you alone.

If you want to free the skin from blackheads, first you have to learn what brings them. Below you’re going to find the most common causes of blackheads:

• seborrhea
• insufficient or improper skin cleansing
• hormonal fluctuations that increase sebum production
• genetic predispositions, also known as “I got it from my mom”
• high environmental contamination
• air pollution
• bad skincare habits and use of wrong skincare products

How to get rid of blackheads?

Another beautician, another piece of advice. Trust me, being determined to solve this skin problem of mine, I kept visiting plenty of beauty parlours. Today I bear in mind one item of information that I kept receiving from the experts the most often.

It’s good advice saying that: to prevent/get rid of blackheads, you have to cleanse your skin deeply on a regular basis. Yes, I know, it sounds banal, but it really works!

Blackheads are, after all, impurities located in the pores of our skin and are annoyingly reluctant to leave the face. So you have to find a way to chuck them out. Luckily, there are a few effective tricks and treatments that will bring you closer to eliminate these skin imperfections. For example, you can use gel cleansers, vegetable oils, facial scrubs, peel-off masks. No matter the weapon you choose, keep using it on a regular basis because once unclogged, pores keep accumulating impurities, hence reappearing blackheads.

My zero-failure way to deal with blackheads

I have my own foolproof method which I’d like to share with you today. To eject the blackheads and enjoy clean skin I reach for… milk and rice! Without doubt, this is the best way to deal with blackheads that I wholeheartedly recommend you to check out! It has a few advantages: it’s cheap, easy to prepare at home and, most of all, it’s effective!

I regularly do home milk-and-rice facial peeling. When it comes to the ingredients, I won’t surprise you saying that I use:

• a half cup of white rice
• a cup of milk

I pour milk over rice and put the bowl aside (most often I leave it overnight, but if you don’t have time, a few hours will do). I don’t warm it up but just let the rice absorb milk and get softer. In case the rice is very “thirsty”, I add more milk. Finally, I blend it and apply this white paste to my face. Let me tell you that you don’t have to blend the rice finely, meaning that you don’t have to create an even paste. You can leave some pieces of rice grains so as to get a better exfoliating effect.

Tip: Before applying milk-and-rice facial peeling, I always do a steam facial to enlarge my skin pores – this helps the impurities leave skin pores faster while using my facial peeling. Finally, I remove everything with chilly water to shrink the pores to prevent further clogging.

How does milk-and-rice facial peeling work?

You may ask, why do I recommend you to use milk and rice to combat blackheads? Mostly because this is an effective and simple technique to get yourself clear skin. Besides, these two ingredients have more to offer.

1. MILK is a source of proteins that help skin repair faster. Additionally, this ingredient is perfectly able to soothe all kinds of skin irritations.
2. RICE is a staple food that nourishes and revives skin. Owing to their size, rice grains work like abrasive agents that are responsible for removing impurities from the skin’s surface.

If you’re still skeptical about the huge potential of milk and rice, just give it a try before you cross it out, okay?

So, what do we say to blackheads? Not today!