War on Blackheads!! With Daiso Pore Care Pack

Hello! I'm always on the lookout on how to get rid of blackheads, and what more - it'll be awesome if there were cheaper alternatives out there. When I was at Daiso, I found out that they have pore strips! At RM5 for a pack of 4 strips, it is actually not that much cheaper than Biore pore strips. Then again, I've always been buying the more expensive "limited edition" scents from Biore which could be double the price of a Daiso pore pack.

 

I was initally encouraged by the natural charcoal because charcoal has been known to help absorb toxins on the skin. Plus, check out the image on the packaging.... from some black spotty thing to something totally clean and poreless!!

Here's a close-up of my nose before putting on the pore pack. You might think that this is super clean looking, but I only use pore strips once a week, sometimes less than that because I forget. >_<

 

 Pictures not photoshopped, but in case you feel that it's the flash, check out the picture below. 

 Looks a bit oily, but generally not many blackheads (disappointingly). Still, you never know what you may be able to yank out!

The pore strip was quite tough to tear off from the plastic sheet, so that was a pain in the bum. Truly, my benchmark will always be Biore... there's like no effort required to peel off the pore strip! And when sticking it onto my face... gosh. Really bad fit! It's also very thick and unwieldy, so it's doesn't follow the contours of your face easily. Hence, see the disaster that it looks like below:

I think the fit plays an important role - if the pore strip can't adhere properly to my skin, there could be some area that can't make contact with the pore strip! And in that case... what if it SO happens that spot is the one with one giant blackhead just waiting to be yanked out? *paranoid* Another peeved off moment - the smell!! This pore strip smells terrible. Super herbal in a bad way. Think of some horrible chinese herbal medicine drink.... this is what it smells like. And it has to be SOOOOOO near the nose, like a purposeful torture. -__-

After the pore strip had dried off, it was easy to pull off (maybe cos it's not sticking so closely to my skin anyway), and you can see the results below. SOME small whiteheads got yanked out, but no fat, juicy pieces. So thin and mini. Sigh....  Oh well, at least with a black color pore strip, the whiteheads look more apparent in pictures. =P That's the one and only pro about this, I guess.

The aftermath.... not a big difference compared to earlier pictures, but at least this was gentle enough that it didn't leave my nose horribly red.

What I'm really looking forward to is a product / pore strip / whatever that can really help reduce the redness around the edges of my nose. Like below. I've found something recently that I'm trying out. I find that this area is more problematic than the center of my nose, that is generally smooth and shiny already. :)

In conclusion? Definitely not a repurchase for me. I cannot even imagine how I'm going to use the remaining 3 pieces of pore strips... that's how much I abhor the scent!