The savvy beauty hack for treating an impromptu pimple on holidays
The solution is sitting in your mini bar
The solution is sitting in your mini bar
Pimples rear their ugly heads at the worst of times - especially on holidays when you’re feeling relaxed so you let your skin care routine relax a little, too, but inadvertently find yourself with breakouts as a result. Talk about putting a damper on your vacation selfies.
And guess what, you forgot to pack a spot treatment.
When you find yourself in this situation, chances are ducking down to the local shops (of which there are probably none on your deserted tropical island anyway) is not an option. And even if it was, you’d be taking a huge leap of faith trying to decipher another language and whole new set of beauty brands you’ve never heard of before.
Alas, you are stranded with a blemish and no way to treat it. Instead of drowning your sorrows with a swig of vodka from the mini bar, dab it onto your pimple. Yes, vodka makes for a savvy spot treatment when you’re in a pinch.
Our eyes were opened to this revelation when celebrity aesthetician and skin care expert in the US, Renee Rouleau shared the beauty hack during an #AskAllure Instagram story. She was asked, ‘What are some emergency care options if you have a breakout?’
To which she replied, “Once the whitehead is released, the goal is to try and dry up the remaining infection in the pore. So if you don’t have a spot treatment with you, you can apply a little vodka and that might do the trick.”
We were a little dubious, but when you think about how alcohol can be used as a disinfectant, it all started to make sense. Vodka has natural astringent powers so it can help dry out a pimple, while the antiseptic properties of the alcohol works to destroy bacteria. Sounds like a winning resume for an ingredient you want fighting your pimples.
Note we did say that vodka will ‘dry out’ your pimple, so you will need to be careful to only apply it to the affected area. And if you’ve never tried this beauty hack before and have sensitive skin, try mixing the vodka with water first for a not-so-harsh, diluted version.
Why vodka over any other alcohol? Our guess is because it is clear and odourless, so it works incognito, which is what you want when you’ve got places to go and a new country to see.
In other alcohol-related news, turns out alcohol in your skin care formulas isn’t such a bad thing - we’ve debunked one of the biggest beauty myths.
Have you ever found yourself with an unexpected breakout while on holidays? How did you treat it? Do you have any more in-a-pinch spot treatment alternatives?
Main image credit: @kourtneykardash
Chelsea is BEAUTYcrew’s Contributing Editor. She has a sweet spot for anything that claims to make skin glow and won’t leave the house without a slick of mascara. Chelsea has 10 years of experience as a beauty editor and her words can be found on BEAUTYcrew, Women’s Health, Daily Addict, The Joye and Primped.