You’ve spent months prepping your skin with glow-giving facials, you’ve nailed your fake tan and your year-long haircare regime has left your ends glossier than Kate Middleton’s and then bam, you go and get a giant, angry spot the night before your wedding.
Firstly, stop panicking! Secondly, read our expert guide from skincare expert Debbie Thomas to treating that little zit overnight so you can sleep easy and wake up with the glowing, clear skin you deserve.
Firstly, Debbie says there are many types of spots, so analysing and identifying which one you have will allow you to curate the perfect spot-popping regime.
If you have more than 24 hours
If you’re lucky enough to catch the spot in the knick of time, Debbie recommends a celebrity-approved acne treatment.
“Ahead of big events, celebrities go to a dermatologist for a small steroid injection into the spot which very quickly brings down both redness and swelling,” reveals Debbie.
You can google your nearest dermatologist and see if they can squeeze you in for an emergency steroid injection.
If you have less than 24 hours
For smaller spots closer to the surface with a visible a whitehead, some gentle extraction and overnight treatment can work a treat, according to Debbie. While she says you’re always safer in the hands of an expert, you can actually perform an extraction yourself. Here’s how…
- Carry out a careful extraction after a warm bath or shower so the skin is soft
- Wrap tissue firmly around the finger tips to avoid digging into the skin and damaging surrounding skin
- Gently push down and under the spot, softly wiggling your fingers to work the infection out, don’t press too hard; simply move your fingers around so you work it from several angles
- Once purged, a little antiseptic lotion is key followed by a little moisturiser
- You could also apply an overnight spot lotion containing ingredients like salicyilc acid, tea tree, sulphur or azeliac acid. Mario Badescu’s hero drying lotion with salicyilc acid also has some calamine and camphor for calming (and Kylie Jenner swears by it!)
One tip Debbie emphasises is to absolutely, under no circumstances, touch your skin.
“If it’s super deep, large, hard and red then attacking it will probably end up in worse condition and most often a scab, which is very hard to cover with concealer,” warns Debbie. The A-list facialist says you absolutely shouldn’t play with it and under no circumstances squeeze it. You’ve been warned.
“You could put an overnight spot product on it but it should be one you have tried before as some can over dry the skin again making it to hard to cover,” she advises.
Debbie also suggests taking an ice cube and rubbing it over the spot for a minute or so and then repeating this in the morning right before getting your wedding makeup done to reduce swelling. If the spot rears its head during your big day, pop to the bar and request an ice cube and dab it on the spot on the sly.
Here are GLAMOUR’s go-to products for treating acne.
