It doesn’t matter how stringent your skin-care routine might be; sooner or later, you’re going to get a zit. It happened to me last week when my skin reacted poorly to a new sunscreen and a field of pimples emerged on my forehead. Instead of panicking, I covered my face in Sunday Riley’s “Saturn.” The mask smells like rotten eggs, but the mix of sulfur and zinc always clears my skin within a day.
As I treated my face, I thought about the skin-care knowledge I’ve picked up as a beauty editor, and the go-to pimple remedies used by others in my field. So I asked around. Below, six beauty experts on how they squashed their last zit.
The Drugstore Hero
I used an over-the-counter retinol to spot-treat my last zit. —Anonymous beauty expert at CAP Beauty, L.A.
The Fancy French Product
I’m a big fan of masks because they take care of inflammation, they aren’t irritating, and they prevent you from touching your skin. Never touch your skin! It’s been a while since my last pimple, but when I had one, I used Biologique Recherche’s Masque Vivant. —Danina Yerkes, lead esthetician spa at Rescue Spa NYC
The DIY Method
I mix Bamboo Rice Face Cake Mask with Tea Tree Toner until it became the consistency of cake batter. I leave that on my pimple for ten minutes before rinsing with water. —Melanie Thomas, Green Beauty Guru at Savor Spa
The Moisturizing Pimple Zapper
I’m 25 and I’ve been lucky my whole life where I’ve only gotten the occasional breakout. In the past year my skin took a turn for the worse, but then I tried Marie Veronique’s B3 Serum. It’s actually hydrating, and the niacinamide in the serum is anti-inflammatory and gets red of redness. It transformed my skin. —Elyse Frieri, Green Beauty Expert at Credo Beauty
If You’re Scared of Shots
I had a breakout on my cheek that was caused by hormones. I knew that if I went to a dermatologist they would inject it with cortisone, and I don’t like injections. Instead, I put hot water on the tip of a washcloth to make the pimple come to the surface. I squeezed it, applied Emerge Labs’ drying lotion on top and then their zinc and sulfur mask over that. —Cleo Londone, Esthetician at Metamorphosis Face Spa
The Budget-Friendly Option
I used the rollerball from a company called the Better Skin Co. It’s called Zit No More and it’s a tea tree oil rollerball and it’s amazing. —Katie Jane Hughes, celebrity makeup artist