Manolo for the Beauty » Things I Don’t Do: Peel-Off Strips




Things I Don’t Do: Peel-Off Strips

By Glinda

I remember when the Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips first came out. It had the commercial with the model ripping one of the strips off of her nose and then wrinkling it in disgust and saying “Ewwwwww!”  as she saw the gunk that was formerly in her nose appear on the strip.

A neat idea, actually.

I admit to being someone who really hates blackheads.  I seem to be very prone to them, even though I do my darndest to keep them at bay.

I have in the past used the Biore strips and indeed copied almost the exact expression of the actress in the commercial. 

But for some reason, I stopped using them.  Not because they didn’t work, they worked quite well.

However, I think it just got really depressing that no matter how often I used the strips, probably once or twice a week, nothing was getting better.  It became a Sisyphean task that was quite draining on my wallet, as those suckers are not all that cheap. 

I am also prone to broken capillaries on my nose (Glinda was not first in line when they were handing out the good skin) and it seemed this product caused more problems than it solved.  Because really, they don’t solve anything.

Instead, I use a cleansing product with glycolic acid and lotions that help to minimize the look of my pores.

Am I the only one who is obsessed with this?

My large pores and I will just slink away now.









3 Responses to “Things I Don’t Do: Peel-Off Strips”




  1. aurumgirl Says:

    I think the pore strips were so popular because they’re like magnets to girls who like the geeky “look at all this goo I pulled out!” effect of seeing it all there, right in front of you. They are pricey (and you can easily make your own with some muslin and gelatin powder) but they do rough up skin very effectively on everyone who uses them.

    As for their purpose, pores fill up with sebum because that’s how your skin is supposed to work. If you just pull that stuff out, your skin will make sure it’s replaced: to be strictly technical about it, sebum really has nothing to do with how many breakouts or blackheads you have and it’s got very little to do with the size of your pores. There are far gentler, safer ways to clean “pore deep” though, if you’re all about that, and you certainly don’t have to spend much money on them.




  2. vp Says:

    @aurumgirl – what ways would you recommend?




  3. aurumgirl Says:

    Well, for one, the “oil cleansing method” works well, has 2 ingredients you select yourself, and does the job of clearing the excess sebum and surface dirt from the pores, sloughing off dead skin cells, and moisturizing beautifully. It’s also really safe to use if you’re got acne (including cystic acne, which is really difficult to clean because it’s so easy to damage and scar this skin). All you do is source some really pure, organic, cold pressed castor oil from a good health food store, and another pure cold pressed oil (you can use organic extra virgin olive oil, jojoba, avocado, almond, sesame–take your pick of your favourite from what ever is available). You combine the two oils, steam your skin (resting a hot wet facecloth on your skin for a minute opens the pores well and it’s easy to use in the shower) and then apply the oil mixture. Let it sit on the skin for a minute, then gently massage your skin with the face cloth, using little circular motions as you go along (take a look at http://www.oilcleansingmethod.com for more precise details–I don’t know what they’re selling as a product, but they have a good method for mixing and applying you can use. Then you can source your materials any way you like). It’s really easy, you control exactly what you put on your skin so you use the purest ingredients possible, and it’s not expensive. Castor oil naturally extracts the excess sebum for you, so you don’t have to abrade the skin in any way, and the oils clean beautifully without drying your skin at all. If you like to do the “manual extraction” part of the facial experience, you really don’t have to work very hard and you don’t have to rough up the skin like they do in a spa. But you can still get that geeky girl experience you’d get with the pore strips, where you can examine all the gunk you’ve removed.

    If you like face masks, there are great, easy-to-mix-yourself grey, green, and white clay powders available at any health food store. This is the same stuff you can pay a lot more money for if you buy it packaged in any pricey line–but you just mix it up with water and, if you like, a few drops of one or more essential oils (some are great for skin care, like tea tree, or lavender, or what have you–do a little research on them and find which are best for your particular skin issue). Then put it on just as you would as though you’d paid tons of money for it. Let it harden, and wash it off. Again, you decide what goes in and what stays out.












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