1. Clean your skin meticulously. Use an antiseptic soap, lathered up in the palm of your hand. Gently massage it into your skin for at least two minutes, then rinse off.
The aim is to ‘de-fat’ the skin. Wash this way at least three times a day.
2. Don’t use acne cleansers as they scrape the skin, break down the pustules and spread germs all over the skin, thereby encouraging acne lesions elsewhere.
3. Treat blackheads by steaming your face. Hold your face about 30cm above a bowl of hot water and then cover your head with a towel.
The steam will cause the pores to open and you can then gently nudge out the blackhead with a clean fingertip and a tissue.
4. Never squeeze anything other than a blackhead. Touching and rubbing pimples will simply make them worse.
5. Moderate exposure to sunlight is helpful as it dries out the skin.