Q-tips were originally invented in 1923 by Leo Gerstenzang, whose wife was wrapping cotton around a toothpick to clean the baby’s ears. I hear on the news that some people still use them for that.

This is Explainer, a column that answers questions we all have (or should have). As someone who regularly “cleans” my ear canals with cotton swabs, a question hangs over me basically every day: How ...

Some people squeeze out blackheads with their fingers. Some people — like Dr. Pimple Popper — use a nifty tool called a comedone extractor. Enilsa Brown, an aesthetician in Texas, uses something ...