Those blackheads on your skin are most likely something else...

Unless you’ve got skin that resembles the smoothness of a babies bottom, you’ll be aware of that great (or gross) feeling you experience when squeezing a blackhead on your nose.

But blackhead squeezing enthusiasts, we’ve unfortunately got some bad news for you.

Turns out those bad boys actually could be pore or sebaceous filament, or at least what Michelle Cashen of Privet Body in Notting Hill believes anyway. 

Speaking to the Metro she said: “[I see] ‘clients coming in for a facial and proclaiming 'I have so many blackheads on my nose'.”

“I turn on my magi lamp and perform a consultation, peel at their skin and low and behold – they do not have blackheads; they have pore or sebaceous filaments.”

“That’s where I come in to educate them, knowing the difference is vital for a bespoke effective facial.”

“Now, you've probably heard of pores but you might not realise what they do for you or what their purpose is.”

To put it in simpler terms, they’re openings on your skin which contain all the oil which is vital to your hydration.

The sebaceous filaments (minute hairs) transport the oil from the surface of your skin and into your flesh.

To avoid this occurring, you should cleanse or else they will build up with dirt and gunk.

Michelle also explains that as much as you want to, you shouldn’t squeeze them!

“If a tan/creamy substance is excreted when a pore is squeezed, it is not a blackhead; it is, in fact, a sebaceous filament. For the reasons outlined above, these hydration-helpers should be left alone to perform their function.”

Now that you’ve learnt all this, you’re probably thinking, “well then what the heck are blackheads??”

They can be identified quite easily and are normally found in the oily parts of your body like your nose, back or chin and are literally a firm, black surface.

They commonly form due to a lack of cleansing and exfoliating in those areas so to prevent them, just make sure you get a good skincare routine going!