Maybe some pure tea tree oil applied directly to the thing?

I know all too well about these, as I was plagued with them all through my 20's and 30's - I would have still had them in my 40's if I didn't figure out what was causing them in the first place - especially when all of the external treatments don't work. Almost ALL skin disorders I learned in herbal school begin with the Liver. It cannot hurt for you to clean out your liver and discover for yourself if this is indeed the issue.

They have liver de-tox kits in the stores, and many are good - try to go with the all-herb ones if possible. Good herbs are Turmeric, Oregon Grape Root, Barberry Bark, Burdock Root, Yellow Dock Root, Dandelion Root, and the favorite, Milk Thistle Seed! Goldenseal is OK as long as it is short-term, as it is a good infection fighter. In any event, because of my training and the fact that I spent way less money this way, I ended up buying my own herbs and mixing them in raw honey as a super-thick electuary, and taking them that way, but if you get the powders and want to capsule them instead, two OO size capsules two times a day ought to do it. I took these herbs for 4 months (and the best time is Spring, but you can do it anytime really). I did 6 days a week, and rested on the 7th day (whatever day it is, just be consistent). I drank about 2 quarts of pure distilled water a day (and still do), and at first, many things surfaced, since it was the easiest way to get out of my system (yes, my problem temporarily worsened, for 3-5 days or so) But then, it started getting BETTER - much better! I deleted milk and coffee foods from my diet as much as possible, and ate more whole foods. I learned why my liver wasn't working well in the first place - truthfully, it was overloaded due to chemical hormones in meat and milk products, amongst other things! The only medicine I was on at any time was the birth control pill (big issue for liver), and I learned the hard way that it doesn't really stop you from breaking out - it actually buries those things deeper in your body, causing many more problems (see Sister Zeus' site for natural/herbal birth control, and continue to study it - you won't regret it!). Now - I clean out my liver once a year, in the Spring since that is the best time (according to Chinese medicine) :-)

I realize we are totally in a different place than where this started hehehe! I have had good luck with FOOD masks, like yogurt, powdered oats (I put oatmeal in a coffee grinder) and raw honey with good essential oils like juniper, cypress, lavender, rosemary, eucalyptus, tea tree, geranium, and/or lemon or grapefruit - sometimes I only used one of these. I didn't just do the zit, I did my whole face, and drank water profusely for the prior day to wash as much toxin out of my body as it could go. I did Reiki on them when I was attuned to that, and that seemed to help too. But I hope I inspire you to not ever have an outbreak again hehehe! I hope your Craft Fair went well!

Eep! I hate those. I use clay to shrink them - dead sea mud seems to work best. The total process takes about 3 days. I put a bit of the mud on the zit before I go to bed, and it helps it come to a head more quickly - usually one night of leaving the clay on and I can see a head. During the day I use a combination of jojoba and almond oil to help the skin recover from the all night clay treatment. As soon as the head is pretty prominent I wait until night time when I'm not going anywhere and insert a sterilized needle to pop it and immediately apply more mud. The mud will absorb the contents of the zit like a sponge. You'll notice the first night that as the clay dries it becomes lighter in color. The second night it won't become lighter since it's filled with zit contents! If it feels dry but is still dark colored, wash it off and apply more mud. By the third night it's usually still there but diminished in size. If I see a whitehead, I do the needle-pop thing again, or if there is a scab, I pick it off carefully - the clay needs an in to suck the contents of the zit out. Usually after a third night of dead sea clay treatment the zit is completely flat, and the redness is greatly diminished as well.

The container of dead sea clay I am currently using came in mud form and I paid an exorbitant amount for it from a vendor at the mall. Shortly after purchasing I discovered I could purchase the same thing online for pennies on the dollar. It comes as a clay and you mix it with water to make a thick pasty mud. Here's the link:
www.fromnaturewithlove.com/soap...t.asp

I've also experimented with using French Green clay in the same way, and though it doesn't work nearly as well to bring the zit to a head, it does have about the same amount of absorption power as the dead sea clay. Warning, though - I also tried regular cosmetic kaolin clay and it didn't work at all! Finally, I have done this treatment and it caused the skin over the zit to become overly dry and peel on several occasions. Moisturizing with oil during the day helps, and me personally, I prefer peeling skin to Texas-sized zit, but I figured I'd warn you. You can also put a bit of oil on the zit right before you apply the clay and it will not diminish the effectiveness of the clay.

Hope this helps! I've done it so many times - if you have the kind of skin where you squeeze out a blackhead and it instantly turns into a zit put clay on it and it will keep you from getting the zit. I've gone to the store to get something before too and forgot I had greenish gray lumps of mud on my face... :-P

I have one of those @ssholes on my eyebrow at the moment. The liver not running smoothly thing is very true, recently I've been very busy and stressed and just stopped taking my *skin* herbs (nettle tea, dandelion & burdock, fennel etc.) As a result, my skin has got quite bad again ...normally once a month my hormones plague me with spots and then its fine again, but this time the spots have not faded as quick as they did with herbs.

I normally wait till theres some surface pus to squeeze - not the deep lumpy bit don't touch that you'll burst it under the skin and spread infection - and ooze it all out which makes it fade quicker (sorry to be so graphic!). Topically, I apply TTO and lavender alternately and sometimes if its really bad use kaolin mixed with water, apply before bed and then wash off in the morning and follow with lavender essential oil. I know this has already been mentioned but it does help it heal better *!*

Hope your craft fair went okay :)

well, these things are definitely hormonal. i have 3 now. the first one is pretty much gone, just some dry skin left of it, the second one is tiny now, with "oh my god what is wrong with your face" dry skin, and the thirst one is 1/4th the size it was yesterday..
the problem with these is that they never come to a head. there seems to be no "reason" (what my family calls the plug of icky stuff) so it'll just eventually go away.. but i soooo want to POP these things.
in any case, i went to my esthetician and she helped me out.. did a steam clean with some EOs and a peel and such, i looked great, sept for the giant zits from hell.
but, they looked better. she got rid of the giant nasty flakes of skin and the ugly scab and applied some oils to moisturize.
the only downside was that the next day i was in the sun allll day. the organizer for the graft fair neglected to mention it was an outdoor craft fair.
thank goodness my mineral makeup has like 15 spf.. and then my friend showed up to provide moral support (and snacks, and sunscreen!) and i made a makeshift canopy out of an umbrella and a tripod lamp.
my face is still sort of red and angry, so as soon as i get home i'll be washing off all my makeup and moisturizing like crazy. that seems to work OK.

Hi There,

A really good recipe to clear up a zit in a day or two is :

50g of cream base
3 drops of Lavender
2 drops of Tea Tree
1ml Witch Hazel
0.5g Zinc Oxide

Just place the cream base in a clean bowl
Add Witch Hazel and mix well
Add Zinc Oxide and mix well (removing any lumps)
Add Essential Oils and mix well

Just apply directly to the zit and it will clear in 1-2 days without scarring.

It really works