There are days I feel like life is testing me a lot, one of those instances when you stub your little toe on the table at the end of an exhausting day or when you’ve had really good skin complexion on ordinary days only to have pimples popping up a few days before a special event that you’ve been planning to go for months.

Recently, I experienced having this massive pimple on my face and being unusual for me at this age, I was expecting that it’ll go away in a day or two. To my dismay it worsened until it’s been on my face for more than a week, looking like this big, dark, raised mole. I am usually over that urge to pop pimples as they come, not unlike on my teenage years because popping pimples will only make things worse and might lead to deeper acne marks if not done properly.

Here are strategies to make your pimples go away in no time!

1. Use calming skincare products:

There are a lot of skincare products and ingredients that aim to soothe and lessen skin inflammation, thereby reducing the pimple size, redness and chance for having dark acne marks or spots. Some of the ingredients that help soothe the skin includes ceramide, niacinamide, green tea, centella asiatica (also known as cica), chamomile and green tea. You might want to look for these ingredients the next time you purchase your skincare products. When used consistently in your skincare routine, it can help lessen the chance of having breakouts by healing and strengthening your skin barrier. Some of the creams that I have tried are really good at targeting pimples.

2. Eat your fruits and green leafy vegetables!

When I have breakouts I tend to double up on the nutrients and vitamins that I get from my food, because we have to heal our skin from both the inside and outside. With our skin acting as a barometer for our overall health, it’s imperative that we not only use the proper products to address our concerns but we have to give our skin the nutrition that it needs in order to heal itself. In moments like this I love having fruit smoothies, salads, berries, green and leafy vegetables and in no time I can see the effect that it has on my skin. You know they are called glow foods for a reason!

3. Led light therapy:

I really don’t believe in quick fixes or any of that hocus pocus, and be frank with me led light therapy seems like one of those skin treatments that seem magical or without any scientific base, until I’ve really delved down to do some research about it. If you ask me, it can easily address all the skin concerns you have! Acne and pimples? It can lessen inflammation. Blue led light can even kill acne causing bacteria! Hair loss? It can grow your hair as much as other topical treatments if used consistently every other day for as early as 16 weeks or 4 months!

4. Putting Ice on Pimples

This is definitely something that I used as my last resort but it’s the one that definitely helped a lot for my huge ass zit! In a matter of hours, the bump or size of my zit actually lessened and it’s not as red or painful anymore though I was really desperate so I applied it every four hours for at least 5 minutes with breaks as tolerated. In just a day, the whole zit basically flattened and now I am just left with the scar that my sunscreen can also cover up. Icing works because like cryotherapy it helps lessen inflammation momentarily by constricting the vessels, but afterwards lets blood flow more than normal which helps in blood circulation and removing toxins.

5. Use the Handy Pimple Patches!

Pimple patches are hydrocolloid bandages that comes in all sorts of sizes depending on the brand you have. Their main job is to get the fluid from the pimple to deal with your breakouts. If I have events to go, I make sure that I am packed with pimple patches so I can use it for that emergency. It’s one of the things that I really don’t want to be using because when I reach for one I am having a major skin catastrophe.

Know that there is no one size fits all approach when it comes to your skincare journey so you really have to listen to your skin and see what are the strategies that work out for you. Hope that one of these helps you lessen that pimple. Remember, be smart and don’t pop!

Until you read from me again.