Dr. Pimple Popper has revealed everything you need to know about blackheads, whiteheads, pimples, pimples, cysts and nodules.
Dermatologist and TLC star Dr. Sandra Lee – who premieres the new season of her hit reality show on April 5 – spoke exclusively to DailyMail.com to provide the ultimate guide to skin blemishes.
The TV star, 52, discussed everything from how to avoid them, how to pop them and even the dire consequences you’ll face if you get it wrong.
But before delving into the nitty gritty, she talked about her journey to becoming the beloved household name she is today.
The expert – who has also founded her own range of SLMD Skincare – told DailyMail.com: ‘I do a lot more than popping pimples in dermatology, but I couldn’t come here if I didn’t have that knowledge and experience and that training.
“But it was a really crazy road to get here… I just started with a black hat, the simple, beautiful blackhead coming out of the skin and we posted it on social media and it took off and people just fell in love on the.’
Blackheads and whiteheads
Dr Lee started by revealing the differences between blackheads and whiteheads.
She said, “Blackheads and whiteheads are comedones — open and closed comedones. And they really are the building block of pimples, too.
“You get a pore that gets filled with sebum and oil and dead skin cells — and that’s a blackhead.”
“Those are the things that are very easy to extract, usually soften, maybe put a little salicylic acid cleanser on your face or some products that can help exfoliate you.”
“And then you could use a comedone extractor, which is what we use to express those.” So those are very simple, very basic.
“Most people will notice them on the more oily areas of the face, such as their nose, their forehead, and their medial or middle cheeks and chin.”
Dermatologist Dr. Sandra Lee, also known as Dr. Pimple Popper, spoke exclusively to DailyMail.com to provide the ultimate guide to skin blemishes
Blackheads (stock image) occur when pores become filled with sebum, oil and dead skin cells – these can be extracted very easily
She continued, “A black head becomes a dark spot there. That is really like in a pore. And the reason it’s dark is that it’s oxidized – meaning it’s only been exposed to oxygen and so it actually darkens.
“Just like you cut an apple and leave it alone, it turns brown.”
Dr. Lee then went on to reveal what whiteheads really are.
She began: ‘A whitehead is a blackhead, but with a thin layer of skin over it, which means it is not exposed to oxygen and therefore does not oxidize. It’s like an uncut apple.
“So it’s still white underneath because it just hasn’t been exposed.”
Dr. Lee turned her focus to treating both blackheads and whiteheads, saying, “You really want to clear out those pores, so you want products that help clear those pores that are going to exfoliate.”
“Chemical peeling acids, salicylic acid, glycolic acid, lactic acid, which are going to help keep those pores clean.
‘Retinol or tretinoin are also great products because they really increase the efficiency of your cell turnover [and] dead skin cells don’t stay on the surface of your skin longer than necessary, so they can’t clog your pores.’
Dr. Lee gave her expert opinion on the best equipment to use and said comedone extractors (stock image) are key
The expert continued, “Sometimes you might think something is a blackhead. You’re almost certain it is and nothing comes out – and those are the ones I want to warn you or anyone else about, because if you find yourself squeezing something and it won’t go away, you need to put that comedone extractor down.
“You even have to set a timer if you’re having a hard time with that and say, ‘Okay, after 30 seconds I’m not going to do this again, because obviously there’s nothing.'”
Dr. Lee gave her expert opinion on the best equipment to use and said comedone extractors are key.
“The nice thing is that the ones I use have a loop so you can apply even compression on all sides.
“Sometimes it doesn’t happen when you come from one side, but when you approach it from the other side, it does. And it allows you to choose which side you want to put pressure on,” revealed Dr. Lee.
Pimples and pimples
While discussing pimples and pimples, Dr. Lee said, “When you see a big pimple ready to pop in a cartoon, we can technically call them whiteheads, but it’s not actually a whitehead.”
“Those are pimples. It’s not angry. It does not hurt. It’s just more of those little spots that look like black heads but are just covered in a layer of skin.
“The next step is an inflammatory papule or a pimple or what we call a pimple, which is when it’s red and angry.
“That’s really when bacteria decide to get involved and they realize that this pore with all this dirt and debris and oil is a perfect environment to settle in.”
Dr. Lee also explained the difference between pimples and pimples and how to deal with them
“It’s just trying to live and grow and eat.” It’s like it’s nice and warm and cozy there and so it really sets the room on fire.
“So that’s why it actually gets red and irritated, your body really uses its immune system to fight it off.”
“It turns red and angry. It turns into a pimple. Pus [appears] while everyone tries to kick [the bacteria] outside of this area and that’s what you see like a pimple that looks like it’s really painful and it’s out there. It’s white.’
She continued, “If you have a pimple that’s there and you know it’s there and you obviously have a big event coming up, ideally you want to get it injected with a little low potency corticosteroid because that will essentially get rid of or calm it down in a day or less.
That’s not always easy, is it? Because you don’t always have a dermatologist on hand.
She said pustules are the type of spot you see in cartoons that are “ready to pop,” but they turn into inflammatory papules—aka pimples—when bacteria get involved (stock image)
“If you don’t, the next best thing is to stick a pimple patch on it that’s medicated, because it helps keep your hands off it, because you don’t want to squeeze it at that point.”
“Because squeezing it — and we’ve all been there — just makes it bigger, redder, and potentially worse in the long run.”
“There’s a point in this stage when you have an active pimple where you can sort of express it, and that’s when it’s most superficial in your skin and when it’s technically not a whitehead but a pimple.”
She explained, “That’s because that pus is essentially very close to the surface and a little light, maybe with a needle or a lancet, will help push out the contents. You can take all that out.’
Cysts and nodules
Dr. Lee revealed, “The next step and the most serious form of acne or pimples are the cysts or the nodules.
“Those are deeper acne bumps and they’re a more severe form of acne and the problem with them is they’re more painful, they’re more noticeable and they also have a much higher risk of scarring.”
“And that’s really where us dermatologists come in and say, ‘you know what, you really need to be more aggressive or try to explore, pursue treatment like this’ because you don’t want to have scars, because that could be forever.” And those are very hard to treat once you get them.
“Sometimes they’re down there and they come up, especially at certain times of the month, like hormonal shifts in our bodies.” And then they come down again and then they come up again.
The most severe form of acne or pimples are cysts (stock image, left) or nodules (stock image, right)
“Sometimes they even turn into cysts just to confuse you because it has the same name, the cysts you might see me talking about where I squeeze those epidermoid cysts out of the skin which are actually a different category – but we call they both have cysts.
“They’re really furious, aren’t they? Because you have these things under your skin, you can feel them and often they can make your skin look real… you’re embarrassed about this.
“There are a lot of lumps on your skin and it seems like it never really ends. They just keep dawdling.’
Revealing how to treat cysts and nodules, she said, “You really want to seek the help of a dermatologist at that point because there are great medications that we can use that are available by prescription that can help you clear up that acne.” .
“But that’s really what you need at the time. You really want to take something systemic, that is, something that can work from the inside out to inhibit your sebaceous glands, to specifically help inhibit those hormones that trigger your acne breakouts.”
Tune in to the new season of Dr. Pimple Popper on TLC April 5