Pore strips are a very valuable tool in your battle against blackheads. Making sure you find the best pore strips is key! When all else has failed and even your daily routine doesn’t do it’s tricks anymore, then pore strips or bands against blackheads might be your very last resort.
Plus you’ll get a great sense of satisfaction from pulling the band-aid away from your face and seeing the blackheads come with it!
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Do they work?
There are a lot of steps you can take yourself to make sure pore strips work the way they should. You will not get the best effect out of the pore strips if for example you just sap them onto your nose without wetting your skin first. Most pore strips need at least some for of moisture to activate the glues inside the strip that make it adhere. Once the glue has been activated, it sticks to your open pore and to the gunk on those pore. A combination of under-pressure and adhesion make sure your pores are left behind as clean as possible.
Be aware though that pore strips (yes, even the best pore strips!) will NOT prevent blackheads from forming. That is just simply not how they work. In order to prevent blackheads from forming you’d be better off using a BHA cleanser combined with a toner.
Not all pore strips are created equal though. After testing several among our customers, we have come up with the best three. And as we are so nice, we have listed some of the best pore strips for you down below.
The 3 Best Pore Strips for Blackhead Extraction
1. Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips
When it comes to the best pore strips, Biore is currently market leader. After several years of experimenting they have perfected their version of the common pore strip with their Deep Cleansing Pore Strips. At roughly $13 for a pack of 24 there are hardly better deals you could do out there. Also on Amazon over 1000 people have reviewed this product and it has consistently scored a 4/5. So that many people can’t be wrong!
The Deep Cleansing Pore Strips are in our opinion better than the Ultra Deep Cleansing pore strips as these are less irritating to people who have a sensitive skin. These bands do not contain any alcohol or menthol making them more soothing than their ultra deep cleaning counterpart.
The big benefit of these Biore strips is that in one packet you not only get nose strips, as the bands are bigger than usual, meaning these are excellently suited for blackhead extraction from your forehead or cheek area as well!
Biore has also made a special version of the pore strips that is infusd with charcoal. These have as an extra benefit that they absorb some of the skin oil as they suck your blackheads out. Try the charcoal pore strips instead!
2. Earth Therapeutics Clari-T Pore Cleansing Nose Strips
If you are in to natural products then this might be the product for you. Another one of the best pore strips on the market are the Earth Therapeutic’s Clari-T Pore Strips contain organic tea tree oil which has an anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal and anti-bacterial effect on your pores while the strips get to work locking in the nasty blackheads to be purged clear out from your pores.
These nose strips are excellent for people whose skin reacts kindly to the tree oil present in these strips. However if your skin is a sensitive skin type then these might not be the best suited product for you as your skin might dry out.
3. The Face Shop Volcanic Clay Nose Strips (w/ Aloe)
The Face Shop’s Pore Strips use volcanic mud from New Zealand’s Rotorua area. It is considered one of the best pore strips that use volcanic mud. It’s a natural detoxifier that soaks up oil, dirt, and impurities from your pores. Not to mention it does a fantastic job of latching onto blackheads and pulling them clean out of your pores.
We love these packs as they’re natural, soothing (thanks, aloe) and detoxify naturally (thanks, mud) as well as do a great job extracting blackheads.
How to Get the Best Results with Blackhead Remover Strips…
- Use (In)frequently. If you haven’t used one of these before (or it’s been a long time), you’re going to blown away by all the awesome gunk that comes out, and be tempted to do it again the next day, and the next, and the next. Don’t do that! These best pore strips provide a deep extraction that’s best used around once a week.
- Steam first. Steam has a way of opening up your pores and open pores are easier targets for blackhead extraction. Use the pores after emerging from a hot, steamy shower for best results!
- Clean after. Sometimes, a little residue from the pore strips will stay on your skin. Not cool. Make sure you clean your face of any pore strip residue afterwards as well as care for those pores that have recently lost their nasty residents (blackheads) with a gentle blackhead clearing cleansing regimen.
Hopefully now you have a good idea of what might be the best pore strips for you.
Blackhead pore strips – The Overview
Pore strips are a good idea to add into your daily cleansing routine.
About once a week, after exfoliating, it is a good addition in your fight against blackheads. Especially for people with oily or combination skin types.
It’s not difficult to learn how to use pore strips. Pore strips are a really mechanical way of removing blackheads from your troubled, so-called “T-zone!”. Pore strips however really cling to your skin. So it’s important to remember to not use them if you currently have a breakout, burnt skin or spider veins. If you do you could do some damage to your skin in the process.
Don’t however go for the cheapest pore strips out there as most of them provide no result. It’s easy to tell after you pull the strip away and comes off clean. You don’t need to break bank though to get them. A good set will set you back around $20 a pack.
How to use pore strips:
First thing to do is during a warm shower, use a facial cleanser to cleanse your skin. Look for cleansers that have either salycilic acid or glycolic acid as an active ingredient. These tend to provide a deep pore cleanse, better than other cleansers.
After you get out of the shower, read the instructions on how to apply the pore strip at the back of he package. Pore strips come in various shapes and sizes and each has their own way of use.
Don’t bother drying yourself off too much as the pore strip will stick better to your skin if it is a little wet.
Once placed on your skin make sure there aren’t any creases or bubbles under the strip, to make sure the contact area of the strip with your skin is as big as possible.
Finally you have to remember you are not pulling off a band aid, there is no need to suffer. Beauty shouldn’t hurt!
Press down on your nose while removing the strip in order to reduce the pain.
Sometimes the skin can get irritated or even damaged after using a pore strip as the strip’s adhesive powers can be quite high. In order to reduce inflammation and irritation you can use an ice cube to gently massage your face.
After this apply toner and you’re done!
I think this one will be the best value for your money.