Why Didn’t Anyone Tell Me Popping Zits Gets Harder as You Get Older?

Experience Best of Beauty like never before. [View this email in your browser]( | [Manage newsletter subscriptions](newsletter=all2) [Allure logo image]( October 18, 2023 [Pink and orange graphic of a ballon with a hand attempting to pop it. ]( Why Mature Skin Reacts Differently to Pimple Popping I used to deeply resent the phrase “do as I say, not as I do.” It’s usually said by someone with a bit more authority than the listener, and, if you asked me, with a hell of a lot of audacity. If hypocrisy and condescension had an official slogan, that would be it. And why should I take advice that’s not good enough for the advisor? Then I became a beauty editor. And stayed one. For nearly two decades now. A not-insignificant portion of my job is disseminating [skin-care]( and hair-care advice by means of what I hope are coherent and captivating sentences. And yet! Even I have utterly failed to follow some of the most common-sense expert advice that I’ve reported—a mind-boggling case of “do as I say they say, not as I do.” Remember when I said I’ve been a beauty editor for 20-plus years? A spring chicken I am not. At 44, my skin is much different than when I entered the industry. But some things never change: I still get zits every now and then. And with those zits comes the same temptation to do (and the same lack of willpower not to do) the one thing that everyone, beauty expert or not, knows not to do: pop them. But in the last couple of years, something has changed when I go to squeeze both blackheads and whiteheads: My skin seems to rebel. It's a shift I didn't expect, but it led me to investigate what, exactly, causes mature skin to react like this. Want to read Marci Robin's full piece examining the pesky impact of aging on our zit-picking abilities? Check it out on [Allure right now](. [READ MORE]( [Sign up for Allure's Beauty Box]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Pinterest]( This e-mail was sent to you by [allure.com](. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, allure@newsletters.allure.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe]( or [Manage your newsletter subscriptions](newsletter=all2) Copyright © Condé Nast 2023. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.