Tools like these are easy and inexpensive to buy, but it seems people are also using makeshift instruments to pop whiteheads or to extract milia , often to horrifying result. "I've looked around at pore extraction tools, but I often just use a safety pin," Ayse, 32, tells Refinery29. "I don't disinfect it. Who can be bothered? Afterwards, sometimes my skin looks fine and sometimes it looks pretty awful. Sometimes it bleeds and the skin is raised and puffy and really red. If the milia comes out easily, it doesn't look bad or bleed, but if it's deep down and I poke around for a while, it's another story. Once, I had a cluster of milia on my cheekbone and after attempting to get rid of them all, the right side of my face actually looked like something out of a horror film."