How To Stop Picking At Your Face :/

Dec 17, 2013

Gabriella P.

I'm such a bad skin picker! 😞😞😞 il pick at the tiniest things on my face and end up with big red patches of skin where I've picked my skin off 😩 it then turns into a scab and leaves a mark and I regret it so bad afterwards :/ I've been doing this so much recently and I've really made my skin ALOT worse! does anyone have any good suggestions on how to stop picking!?

Dec 17, 2013

alaa M.

Get a stress ball its very useful I tried it before.

Dec 17, 2013

Diana J.

I,ve just finished picking 5 minutes ago, so I really wanna know some tips how to stop!:-)

Dec 17, 2013

Stephanie S.

I only pick at black heads lol. but I have a different problem. I'm a nail biter ahhhhhhhggggg.

Dec 17, 2013

Diana J.

And the worse is that few tiny blackheads are my only problem, but the life becomes much more interesting when I get scars after picking and have to think how to get rid of them.
Stephanie ask someone to be rude to you anytimed yoy bite nail/ get gel nails/ or sometimes it,s caused about low self esteem:-)

Dec 17, 2013

Tania S.

I got the same problem but only on black head lol.

Dec 18, 2013

Stephanie S.

My mom flicks the back of my hand usually

Dec 18, 2013

Tania S.

lol stephanie^

Dec 18, 2013

Ashley S.

You're not the only one Gabriella :/ It's a nasty habit of mine.. And I really wanna stop too. But no matter what, I always have the urge to pick at my face. Either a nervous habit or from stress, I have no clue.. It's frustrating!! -.-

Dec 18, 2013

Kenzie L.

I'm a bad picker as well so I don't really have advice for stopping but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve for reducing damage...
if you find that you're squeezing too hard and breaking the skin, or if you have long nails, use q-tips. if they start to bend and break while you're using them to extract something thats an indicator that you're squeezing too hard and you're going to bruise/break the skin. make sure you squeeze all of the infection out and that none of it got pushed deeper into the skin from squeezing which will cause the spot to return or spread. every time you're finished extracting something make sure you apply an antibacterial spot treatment to the affected area to kill and prevent any germs from getting inside the open pore

Dec 18, 2013

Diana J.

My mom told me to cover all picked dots with brilliant green to get an "emotional shock")))))))))

Dec 18, 2013

Jenna E.

Stephanie, lol just put hand sanitizer on your hands so when you want to bite your nails it tastes nasty!

Dec 18, 2013

Ellen M.

If you are at home and you feel the need to pick try using a face scrub or mask instead. That way you can smooth and soften your skin and get rid blackheads. If you still have a few blemishes you feel you need to deal with then do it right after when your pores are still open, but show some self restraint and stop if nothing's coming out (it's just not ready). Splash your gave with cool water after to close your pores and reduce redness before applying SPF/serum and moisturizer.

Dec 18, 2013

StefAnia B.

For me I try not to touch my face but I have the urge to "try" and fix it but instead I make in worse and get some infection and then I have a huge bump on my nose and I try popping that but when I do it comes out and all but I leave a scar! Now I have loads of black heads and scars on my nose!

Dec 18, 2013

StefAnia B.

How
Do I stop!

Dec 18, 2013

Gabriella P.

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with this problem, I'm going to try my best to stop and get out of the habit becos I hate how my skin looks after picking :/ thankyou so much to everyone for your help & replies! xxx

Dec 18, 2013

Kindasuperficial ..

I think I'm similar to some of you in that I feel like when I pick I'm DOING something about it. So I try to stick to a different form of doing something about it. If I start staring into the mirror and I get that urge, I start to do a verrrryyyy extensive version of my skincare routine. I do a long cleansing massage, clarisonic, then I do a deep cleansing mask, after I rinse thoroughly I apply a liquid exfoliant with a bit of facial oil and a retinal cream. After all this my skin looks so delicious and amazing that I can't bear to pick it and all I want to do is caress it cause its so soft.

Dec 18, 2013

Kenzie L.

That's actually really good advice Kindasuperficial :) I can't bare to touch my face after I do an extensive skincare session.

Dec 18, 2013

Lizzy W.

If you find yourself doing it throughout the day, keep your hands busy with something else. You can use stress ball, braid your hair, doodle something, play a game on your phone - anything to keep you distracted until the urge passes. Some people have said to keep a rubber band around your wrist and snap yourself with, but I found it annoying as hell and it never really helped me. It's hard to break a habit but not impossible, as long as it's something you really want.
If you're doing it more because you look in the mirror and think, 'ew, my skin looks gross!' I agree with turning to skincare instead. You don't want to use scrubs or masks too often, so when you get the urge to pick your skin in between uses, steam your face and use a blackhead/pimple extractor.

Jan 4, 2014

Stella Rose S.

Hi there! we have an article in the works about this currently but I want to give you some advice now because I know you're very desperate.

You should get fake nails.

I know this sounds like it will make it worse but it won't. Get round or oval nails with tips extensions and ask the technician to layer on acrylic or gel thick. You want the tips to be thicker than your regular nails and very dull and rounded.

It's nearly impossible to inflict major damage with round fake nails. When you squeeze your skin with real nails, the thinness of your nails will make small cuts in your skin which is why we often break out after unclogging pores with our bare hands. Also the round shape makes getting a grip on scabs or bumps when picking extremely difficult.

Basic acrylic or gel nails at a salon can cost as low as $15 every 3 weeks. If you think of it as a medical necessity, it's pretty affordable. To younger girls- fake nails can look just like real ones. If your parents are against the idea they might allow you to try it if they understand that you are trying to stop picking. To boys: You can get clear gel or acrylic coating without tip extensions. It will look no different from natural nails but the coating may dull the tips a bit to prevent damage from scratching.

It's really a much more practical way to dull picking than say, putting bandaids on your fingers or wearing gloves inside. Also, your nails will always look great! <3