For my money, peel-off strips are the best beauty remedy for our obsession with pore size. I mean, few “highs” are as gratifyingly gross as slapping one on your nose and whipping it off to inspect the gunk left behind.
Even better, this oddly perverse pleasure can be made more effective with a neat trick involving little more than baking soda and water – some say up to twice as many blackheads can be lopped off with this beauty hack.
Intrigued? Here’s how to create your very own pre-pore strip priming lotion. First, you need to understand how these little babies work. Peel-off strips yank out the dirt clogging your pores via brute force; that is, a special adhesive sticks to the sludge and pulls it free when you remove the strip.
To boost your strip’s well, stripping power, you’ll need a toner-type lotion to loosen up the icky stuff encrusting your skin. Here’s how:
STEP 1. The recipe for this custom concoction is embarrassingly easy: Just of one teaspoon of baking soda mixed into a cup of water. That’s it!
STEP 2. Saturate clean cotton pads with this “soda water” to create a DIY mask, then press these pads into the curves of your nose; the pads should stay put.
STEP 3. Go about your business for five minutes or so, then toss the pads. Re-wet your nose area with a tiny splash of the same baking soda solution, then apply your pore strip of choice.
Biore’s Pore Pack Black is a crowd favourite, and for good reason, too: The formulation boasts a soothing witch hazel extract, and the matte black surface displays the dislodged debris in delightful detail.
Or try Boscia’s Pore Purifying Black Strips, which throws in charcoal powder for added pore-tightening prowess.
After the allocated time as dictated by the package directions is up, gently lift off the strip. Pick at the edges until the entire shebang works itself free. With any luck, you should find the strip peppered with a scattering of unwanted flotsam and jetsam.
Credit where it’s due: Doff of my hat to beauty vlogger Michelle Renee for providing the inspiration for this seriously satisfying beauty hack.
Try this genius tip out the next time your nose is feeling congested, and let me know how it goes. Your pores can thank me later!
Biore Pore Pack Black, $4.95, is available at all leading pharmacies and supermarkets. For more information, visit www.kao.com/sg/biore and follow Biore Singapore on Facebook.
Boscia Pore Purifying Black Strips, $22, is available at all Sephora stores. For more information, visit www.sephora.com and follow Sephora Singapore on Facebook and Twitter.