A Brief Guide to Pimple Popping
If you have to do it, here’s how to do it right
There are plenty of very good reasons to be wearing a mask. As we slowly emerge from pandemic lockdowns, face masks, even simple fabric ones, can drastically reduce the spread of Covid-19.
But wearing a tight-fitting covering over your nose, mouth, and chin has its drawbacks, especially as temperatures and humidity rise and we all start sweating behind our masks. Even when washed regularly, a mask can act a bit like a petri dish against the skin. Enter “maskne,” the newest pandemic side effect.
Skin care companies have begun peddling maskne-specific offerings, dermatologists report that calls about breakouts are skyrocketing, and Google searches for the term have spiked.
But the American fixation on skin care — and its occasional associated gore — isn’t new. Cyst removal, blackhead extraction, and pimple-popping videos have been all the rage for years. There are dozens of popular Instagram accounts dedicated to the practice, and since 2015 Dr. Sandra Lee, a dermatologist otherwise known as “Dr. Pimple Popper” has been entertaining her more than 6 million YouTube subscribers with graphic, but somehow deeply satisfying content.
“Social media is a big part of what’s propelling this phenomenon into the spotlight…
