Blemish Busting

Blemish Busting

Female First look at how to cope with last minute blemishes.

Spots, cold sores and other nasties often pop up at times of stress and with Christmas being the most hectic time of the year for most of us they are almost inevitable. Don't panic, just follow our top blemish busting tips.

The treatment for a spot depends on how far in advance of a big night out the little bugger decides to make an appearance so we've devised a battle plan for each possible scenario.

Five to Seven days to go

The lowest state of emergency- there's plenty you can do in a week to get rid of those unwanted face decorations.

The most important thing to remember as you feel your blemish emerge is- DO NOT TOUCH! Your fingers will only pass on more bacteria and irritate the skin further making the spot bigger and more angry. So no matter how tempting it is to squeeze and pick at the blemish just try your hardest to resist.

Also try to wear minimal or no make up for the week. This will stop your pores getting clogged and allow air to get to to your blemish, drying it out and healing it quicker.

If left alone spots and cold sores will usually heal over the course of a week. Touching them will spread them to other areas which will prolong the outbreak.

Two to Four days to go

It's getting a bit more scary now- but there's still time to reduce a monster zit to manageable baby pimple.

It's unlikely you will be able to make a spot disappear completely at this late stage so the aim of the game is to reduce the size and redness as much as possible.

A top tip is to hold ice or frozen peas on the area. This will numb the blemish, reduce swelling and stop the spot from being so red and angry.

The best way to reduce a spot is to try it out. Many people swear that applying toothpaste to a spot overnight works like a dream- but you risk burning the skin around the spot and making things a whole lot worse.

Alcohol based antiseptics such as TCP are best for drying blemishes. Just add a few drops to some cotton wool and dab it on the blemish a few times a day.

The day before

Code red!- now it really is just a matter of hiding that last minute spot.

Make up expert Jemma Kidd gives us her advice for flawless make up look that hides any unsightly blemishes- and keeps them hidden.

“Spots are a nightmare. You need to work with the spot,” says Jemma.

“You can sometimes get spots that have a scabby bit on them and you need to get a really waxy concealer because that will literally cover it.”

“ You don't want anything too light. So many people put really light concealer on spots and that actually makes them worse. You want to go with your skin tone or maybe one shade darker to go on top of the spot itself and then you want to make sure it's not to sheer too because that won't cover the spot. “

“You also need to blend the concealer around the spot so many put it on the spot then they blend over it and take it off. You might also need a tiny bit of powder on top just to help it stay.”