Review: At War with Blackheads (Products by 2 Japanese Brands)

As you may or may not know, I’m at war with blackheads and whiteheads. And so far, I’ve been loosing miserably. Not a single pore strip has been able to get me rid of these nasty enemies, so I decided to try another kind of weapon - pastes you apply on the areas affected. They’re supposed to adhere to your skin and all the impurities while drying, and then you should be able to peel them off together with any ugly stuff you have on your skin or inside your clogged pores. Well, these haven’t really worked that well for me either, but I thought I’d at least tell you something about the two brands I tried, in case you want to see for yourself. I think that this sort of thing is really individual, because it probably depends a lot on how big and open your pores are and also on what kind of skin you have.

I decided to make a little comparison chart:

 Naris Up's Pore Clear Pack:

What it looks like (it looks like you put your head in a mud pond):

IsQueen's Olive Sebum Care Mask:

In general, I found the IsQueen one to be working a teeny tiny bit better and even though it’s thicker and therefore you apply a bit more, it’s better value (50 g of Naris Up’s would cost 16 USD). I’m too lazy to try to translate the ingredients and compare them, but I’d guess they’re actually almost the same - you can’t get such a similar effect and texture without doing pretty much the same things and if I recall correctly, that’s what the companies do anyway - I think there was an issue between Kai and Bioré about pore strip patents. So, if there are differences in the composition, I think they will be minor. The main asset of these masks when compared to pore strips is that they adhere more precisely and can be applied to any spot that troubles you. However, they’re not necessarily cheaper per application - one pore strip by Kai costs around 0.40 USD and I guess that’s pretty much the same as one application of the masks (in any case, I can’t imagine the mask going under 0.25 USD and even that’s close to impossible). Therefore I think that if pore strips don’t work for you, these masks may be an alternative, in case you’re willing to take the risk of them not doing proper job.

Yours truly

Vita

P.S. Eager to hear any anti-blackhead tips that work!