Should you put ice on your spots to get rid of them faster?

We all have our own tricks when it comes to dealing with spots; some swear by pimple patches , others attack them with a dose of drying zinc oxide from a pot of Sudocrem .

Now Love Island's Molly-Mae Hague, 21, has shared her own trick for dealing with an angry breakout - and given that she has 5.2 million Instagram followers, we felt it only proper to ask an expert if this was indeed a good move. The influencer and tanning brand owner showed an image of herself "icing my new spots" on Instagram Stories, applying ice cubes wrapped in tissues to her breakouts on her chin and cheek. "I'm sharing this because a problem shared is a problem halved right?" she says.

But is she right? Does icing your pimples actually work? We turned to skincare expert Sam Bunting: "You can use ice on breakouts," she confirmed. "I'd recommend it for a new, red and tender blemish," she says.

How do you ice your spots? Dr. Sam has this advice: "Wrap some ice in a thin washcloth and place it on cleansed skin against the blemish. Hold it there for a couple of minutes. It works to reduce swelling, just like you'd ice a swollen ankle."

We are fans of cryotherapy beauty tools  for depuffing the face and reducing eye bags. If you have one of these in your freezer, it can do double duty as a spot calmer. Wrap a clean cloth around it and apply.

While spot icing may be a useful early intervention and may provide relief especially from those painful cystic acne volcanos that seem to lurk below the surface for weeks, it won't be enough by itself. Dr Sam says that an anti-blemish cream  is always your best option.

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"My recommendations are to look for anti-inflammatory ingredients such as benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid . If skin, is sensitive then azelaic acid , niacinamide  and bakuchiol  are all well-tolerated and effective."

MORE GLOSS: Sulphur - the natural ingredient to get rid of your spots 

Molly-Mae isn't the only one getting real with her spot treatments at the moment; Dua Lipa, 25, shared a snap of herself on Instagram Stories with spot cream on her chin declaring it the "accessory of the moment."

Singer Dua Lipa rocks a spot cream on Instagram

What is the best thing to get rid of spots? It's of skincare expert Caroline Hirons' most-asked questions is how to get rid of spots.  Her advice is to avoid anything drying on the spot as the skin will scar more easily. She doesn't use ice, but prefers oil and massage. "The reason I use oil on spots, rather than drying products, is because in my experience, drying them out doesn’t always work and causes more damage, " she tells us. "Using oil does one of two things: it either swells up the spot and forces the ‘head’ of the spot to show up the next morning, or it settles it down and almost disperses the remnants.

And if you want to know all about popping spots and how to do it safely,  read Caroline Hirons' guide here.

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