Blackheads or sebaceous filaments?

Wow. The number one complaint I get when doing custom skincare rituals is blackheads on the nose.

But guess what? 99.9% of you don’t have blackheads. You have what are know as “sebaceous filaments.”

How do you know the difference?

Blackheads

• open comedones
• slightly raised from the skin
• dark/black head in colour due to oxidation
• when extracted they are a hard/solid wax like plug which contains sebum, bacteria and skin debris
• plug is yellow in colour which a distinctive dark pin like head
• not necessarily plentiful or grouped together
• pore CLOGGED with oxidized sebum
• can be healed

Sebaceous Filaments (SFs)

• pin like dots over the nose, upper cheeks, chin and/or forehead
• grey/tan/flesh coloured
• tend to be grouped together
• if pressure is applied they pop out like whitish spikes
• tend to plentiful and quite literally never ending
• made up of  a skeleton of 10-30 horny cell layers which enclose a mixture of bacteria, sebaceous lipid, corneocyte fragments
• NATURALLY OCCURRING sebum which is always present in pores / hair follicles
• DIFFICULT to heal, focus on minimizing

Sebaceous Filament Treatment Options

In the literature you’ll read that there is no getting rid of SFs – even when extracted they refill within 30 days – usually sooner. There is no treatment even a skincare professional can offer to banish sebaceous filaments for good.

I agree that your best bet is to relax and accept them as normal. They are way less obvious than you think. Models don’t have them because they’re airbrushed. But, here are some topical solutions that do help and in some cases, people claim that their SFs diminish drastically and disappear almost entirely. So good luck! I hope that’s you! 🙂

Exfoliation

You can try reducing them with exfoliation and/or pore cleansing masks.

For exfoliation, you can try products that contain naturally occurring salicylic acid (willow bark extract). You can also use fruit enzyme masks to exfoliate – this is an option favored by holistic estheticians. I discourage exfoliation via scrubbing or other mechanical means – this tends to not get deep into the pores, exfoliates irregularly and irritates skin.

moss products to try: 

Harvest Illuminé Enzyme Masque

Miel Noir Cleanser

High Linoleic Oils

You can also try using facial oils with very specific fatty acid profiles to see if you can alter the consistency and composition of your sebum – a good place to start is a high linoleic acid facial oil, massaged well into the SFs daily. Make sure you massage at least 1-5 minutes and remove the excess oil by blotting with a (clean – duh!) toilet seat cover (whoa! sneak DIY tip right there!) or with a warm, wet washcloth. You can also use regular blotting papers or a method of your choosing.

You can also try using a high linoleic facial oil with an exfoliating absorbing essence as a daily nourishment ritual.

moss products to try: 

Clear Resolution High Linoleic Facial Oil

Nutrient Synergist Absorbing Essence

Oil Cleansing

Speaking of oils, some people find that oil cleansing REALLY helps with SFs. A quick google search returned results of people claiming that oil cleansing with high linoleic oils (exactly what Vert Pur is!) all but banished their SFs for good.

This make sense, based on the principle of “like dissolves like.” I truly believe there is truly nothing like oil cleansing for clearing our pores and it is one of my personal skincare game-changers.

moss products to try: 

Vert Pur Deep Purifying Oil Cleanser

Drawing Masks

Lastly, you can use masks containing bentonite clay and/or active charcoal to help draw out the sebum.

moss products to try: 

Sacred Ground Mineral Clearing Masque

***To get a moss recipe for a mask that has willow bark, activated charcoal and fruit enzymes and works well on sebaceous plugs, stay tuned for an upcoming post.***

But remember – sebum is crucial to skin health, so don’t go overboard. Also remember, sebaceous filaments are not blackheads, and are not related to acne or any sort of skin condition. They are normal, genetic and impossible to fix. So you might as well accept them. 🙂

xx