A lot of us might be having a good deal of extra time on our hands. For some, a bit of this extra time is spent scrutinizing every pore in the mirror. For others, it has us missing our hard-working aestheticians something fierce. (If you’re reading this, hi beloved skincare workers! We miss you and will be back in your arms, er, uh, hands, ASAP!) Maybe it’s a combo of the two, which can mean trouble.
Maybe you’ve already cut your own bangs. Honestly, we hope it turned out great. Really rooting for you. Maybe you’ve experimented with some intricate nail art. Color us impressed! But those can simply grow back with little to no real collateral damage. However, the skin barrier is a much different ball game. We took it upon ourselves to go directly to celebrity skin expert Christie Kidd to save our skin from abuse during these dark times.
Kidd first pointed out that our skin can scar for months, meaning we could emerge from quarantine with some self-inflicted battle wounds—not the big reveal we were hoping for. She urges us to be gentle with our at-home facials to avoid damaging our skin. Don’t worry! Your fave aesthetician and/or derm can take care of the heavy lifting when this is all over. Promise. According to Kidd, some common threats to your pretty little face are as follows:
In her words, if it’s a “big juicy whitehead,” go at it carefully, and don’t overdo it. It’ll be obvious when it’s time to give something a little attention, but more often than not, we aren’t blessed with those satisfying, gentle pops. Don’t do a home-style job. “People tend to pick too hard and too deep, resulting in a nightmare zit with a scab. So take it easy, please.” Don’t get super aggressive. You’ll end up making the issue at hand much more inflamed, angry, red, and noticeable!
Instead, take a top from Kidd’s Instagram. If you’ve got a deep and tender undergrounder, try the hot and cold compress trick. Kidd explains that the heat from the hot washcloth draws blood to the problem area to help mend the issue fast. The subsequent cold compress reduces inflammation. It’s not a cure-all, but it will definitely calm the issue and perhaps make you less tempted to pick.
Kidd urges us to please be very cautious about considering doing this at home.”‘It seems so easy, what could go wrong doing it myself?’ you may think.” Well, she tells us, some very bad things.
“In the office, we use a brand new sterile scalpel/blade. Sterile and sharp are key, as well as skill set! Doing this yourself can result in deep cuts and skin infections. I have seen this nightmare over and over in my office and truly, it’s not worth it.”
“Be very careful,” Kidd advises. “While most ‘at home’ acids are safe and OK to use, the wrong acid in the wrong hands can cause serious scarring.” If you’ve upgraded your normal exfoliator to an industrial-grade or professional product, proceed with extreme caution. It’s better to always err on the side of less effective than too effective. You can literally give yourself a chemical burn. Think that episode of SATC when Samantha looks like she’s molting. That should definitely not happen.
Kidd reminds us to just please remember to be careful with our skin during this time. It might be tempting to take matters into our own hands, but stick to gentle treatments, and don’t think we can do everything our go-to aesthi does.
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