As a skincare fanatic, it hit me a few weeks ago while shopping that I’d never tried a pore strip. So naturally I went straight to the beauty products and skin care section at Wal-Mart (my favorite aisles) and threw those babies in the cart. There are several brands, but I went with Biore. If you aren’t familiar, pore strips are essentially band-aids for your nose that pull out your blackheads and dirt from your skin. They also make them for your forehead, but I just stuck with the nose to start.
It may sound gross, because it kind of is, but it’s also interesting to see what comes out of your pores (at least I got a kick out of it). The process is as follows: wash your face, dry off but keep your nose wet (otherwise it won’t stick), let the strip dry for around 15 minutes, then rip it off and check out the results.
When the strip dries it’s very firm on your nose and the surrounding area. It kind of feels like paper mache. You can feel it sticking to your face and cleaning out buildup. That being said, it’s doesn’t tickle taking it off. Remember in The Princess Diaries, when Anne Hathaway ripped that thing off her nose while the guy she liked came over? It’s just like that. It hurts. It’s brought tears to my eyes. But the sooner you get it over with the sooner you can see a difference.
Personally, the pain didn’t stop me from doing it again. I’ve used the strips for around 4 weeks now (once a week). The ad claims the appearance of pores diminishes after several uses, and they seem to have gotten smaller, but not invisible. However, I have kept this strange process in my routine because my face truly feels cleaner after each application. This product makes the saying "Beauty Hurts" relevant.
The strips cost around 8 dollars and can be found at most drug stores.