The biggest fad of the 21st century is how you physically look to others. It is to fill up this void that all the cosmetic industries, luxury brands, and high and low-end fashion houses put in so much effort to cater to this human need. The desire for remaining ever beautiful, flawless and getting to the source of ultimate skin is what has encouraged popular beauty brands and grooming products to spread their seeds all over. Ranging all the way from skincare treatments to beauty products, moisturisers to exfoliators, pimple extractors to toners for oily skin, women and men alike both have always tried to find the ultimate quest of becoming ageless and looking ever-beautiful. People have developed the strangest kind of love-hate relationship with their routines of ‘picking’ at or ‘popping’ their pimples. We know you won’t admit it, but we’re sure you’ve come across this yourself at least once! In order to get to the root of pimple-free and flat skin, I have seen people attempting to squiggle free a pimple by making it scab all over their face but in turn, heal faster. At other times, simply squeezing and popping acne spots only results in them in re-rooting and turning even bigger and brighter. Dermatologists say that at most times popping pimples truly helps them go away easier, but it’s only the case if you ‘pick at’ the proper types of pimples in their correctly assigned ways. Here are a few pointers: One must only attempt to pop pimples that appear with a big, white or yellow-ish head. Extracting blind pimples without a head will only make them grow bigger and spread in the surrounding area. The bigger the white/yellowish head on your zit is, the safer it is to pop it without any prolonged consequences. Acne is mainly categorised into two main groups: non-inflammatory acne (which includes comedones, blackheads, and whiteheads) and inflammatory acne (which includes papules, pustules, nodules, and cysts that result from the body’s fight to contain an infection). It must always be remembered though that only those pimples will be ripe for extraction once you see yellowish puss developing under the skin or a large blackhead appearing in its place. Once you have found just the right pimple to pick at, it may be very hard to resist popping it especially when it’s screaming out incessantly loud to be touched! Doing it the right way will only ensure that it’s done in a safe and correct manner: Buy a simple extractor for yourself at home. The best kind of comedone extractors are the types that have a needle fixed at one end. This end is used for picking open pimples. The metal loop on the other end is used for pressing down on the pricked pimples and squeezing out the leftover fluids. Before you put the extractor to use, you must disinfect it with a strong solution first. Wash your hands and face also. It is best to pop your pimples after you’ve washed or steamed your face. As already discussed, only focus your attention on the pimples with a big, white or yellowish head! Don’t pick at those gigantic under-the-skin loops that hurt. These are called cysts. Using the comedone extractor pick at the tip of a pimple, then place the loop end of the extractor over it and gently press it down. Once a pimple has been disemboweled, the fluids or gunk should easily be squeezed out. Make sure you extract the acne root along with a pimple at the same time too; this prevents it from coming back the next day. If the pimple is bigger than the loop of the extractor, use your index fingers wrapped up in tissue paper and gently squeeze or press the sides of the pimple to go for a clean extraction. You could even use q-tips to clean your skin later. Dab popped pimples with polysporin, antibiotic gel or aloe vera gel in order to heal it quicker and faster, and prevent it from scarring. Sometimes, a band-aid will do too. All of the above-mentioned tips combined with a good skincare routine and a thorough understanding of the types of acne your skin is susceptible to will definitely go a long way in helping you get to the root of pimple-free skin.