A dermatologist once told me that this myth comes from the days when toothpaste contained zinc. These days you’re much better off using a blemish-specific treatment, as they’re so good at what they’re formulated to do. If your pimples tend to be the smaller, congested variety, use a spot lotion that has salicylic acid in the mix, as this will have an exfoliation action to helps clear things up quickly. Clinique Anti-Blemish Solutions Clear Blemish Gel ($32 from department stores) is very good. But if you get such breakouts regularly, you should also be using an exfoliating treatment regularly on spot-prone areas – for instance, Dermalogica MediBac Overnight Clearing Gel ($61.50, see Dermalogica for stockist details). If your spots tend to be of the nasty inflamed variety, bacteria is a contributing factor, so you need a treatment product that also works on this level. One that I love is Neutrogena Rapid Clear Spot Eliminating Gel ($13.99 from pharmacies).
Pictured: MiEssence Toothpaste, $8.50 from health stores
Hmm, I still don’t mind the old toothpaste-on-pimple thing! I think it’s because it generally contains mint and menthol (which are both purifiers) and also because the paste will dehydrate the spot. The overnight clearing gels are great though. BUT - my eternal fallback when I have a pimple is just to put a dab of a clay masque on it overnight. It never fails to take the “juice” out of the spot (so to speak) and I wake up with a small mark rather than a big zit.
Comment by Katherine — August 29, 2008 @ 12:52 pm