Beauty Review: Holika Holika Piggy Nose Pore Strips

I feel a little out of practice writing blog posts! If you’ve followed me on Instagram, you know we were out of power in the last week of February. The Willamette Valley got hit by a huge snowstorm—and by huge, I mean, I had about 16-18 inches of snow at my house, and in the town and city, it was 6-8 inches. That’s a lot for this area! We had thousands of people without power. Our Governor even declared a state of emergency!

Our power was thankfully restored on March 3, after 7 days without, but we had to have our internet repaired as well—and that didn’t happen until Friday! Talk about having a rough two weeks.

I wanted to write about these Holika Holika Piggy Nose Pore Strips. I’ve written before about the same brands, similarly named peeling gel. Which I love, of course; it leaves my skin so smooth.

I’m naturally suspicious of pore strips, because I know they don’t work. The dots we often see on our skin are actually sebaceous filaments, a natural part of our skin that we can’t get rid of; because of how common air brushing is, however, we think they are blackheads. But they’re not!

That being said… clearing that oil can help us reduce our pore size. It’s a double edged sword: it’s very cathartic to rip out those little oil plugs; but once you know that they’re always going to be there, you start feeling a bit… bad about it, for a lack of better term!

Let’s get on with the review.

I found these at TJ Maxx (of course) for $3. For 5 sheets, that actually is quite steep—it’s only 5 pore strips! However, they technically have 3 strips per sheet, that you do in a specific order, so… I’ll take it.

These are very similar to the Tony Moly 3-step pore strips as well.

Here’s the instructions as they read on the packet: “1. After cleansing, place step 1 on nose for 15-20 minutes. Remove slowly and wipe off any blackhead or impurities in pores. 2. Wet nose with water and place step 2 on nose. After 10-15 minutes, remove slowly from the edge. 3. After step 1 & 2, place step 3 on nose. Remove after 10-15 minutes and gently tap for better absorption.”

Even if you stay in the bare minimum time, these pore strips take 35 minutes total! That’s a lot!

The first step smells a lot like the Clean & Clear salicylic acid toner I used to use in high school. It also smelled slightly sweet, almost artificially, beneath the very sharp, chemical smell. I’m not sure what to make of that. It seemed to be designed to “bring up” the oil in your pores and open your pores a bit more. Without knowing based on the instructions, that’s my best guess. It didn’t burn my skin or feel any which way in particular.

Step 2 is the step where you actually “cleanse” the pores: aka, you rip that shit out. This step is so reminiscent of other pore strips; you wet your nose and apply the dry strip, adhering it to your skin; it dries; and then you peel it up, revealing a little teeny, tiny forest of oil plugs. This strip worked… I would say better than the Tony Moly strips and not as good as the tried-and-true Biore Pore Strips.

The third step seems to be a toner; I think it’s designed to further cleanse your pores, as the packet mentions “absorption”. This one smelled very similar to the first one, but was very dry. Step 1 is a very wet packet (almost like a face mask with a serum), Step 2 is dry, obviously, and Step 3 was, surprise, also dry.

So, did I like these pore strips? They’re a K-beauty brand, so I really like them as an alternative to Biore Pore Strips. I know I shouldn’t, but I really do love using pore strips every few weeks to help with my pore size (and congestion). Since they work about the same (if slightly less well) as Biore, I’m willing to make the switch to them.

My one concern really is with the amount. In a box, you only get 5 sets… which may last a while, but since they are $14 on Amazon for a box of 5, that is quite expensive, comparative to other brands. However, I did really like them and you really can’t beat cute packaging.

If you’re a pore strip user, this is a definitely a great, fun option to try. If not, I wouldn’t say, you need to go buy this; it’s definitely a novelty, purely for people who already love a good, guilty pore strip.

Beauty Review: AHA! Peel so Good Skin Renewal Gel

Back in August, I posted my review of the Holika Holika Pig-Nose gel, which basically acts as an exfoliating gel. My review was positively glowing: I use the Holika Holika gel at least every 7-10 to help with my textured skin and it has made a huge difference in the past few months. For a $2.99 tube I bought on impulse at TJ Maxx… it’s really, really good.

But the more I use it, the more I get nervous. I haven’t found it in TJ Maxx or Marshall’s since I bought it, which means I need something that works just as well for when this tube is over. (Note: when I originally wrote this post a few days ago, I hadn’t found another tube of it anywhere. However, just this past weekend, I found it at TJ Maxx! So keep your eyes peeled.)

I purchased the AHA! Peel So Good Skin Renewal Gel (from the Korean brand, Faith in Face) about three months ago with the intention of comparing it to the Holika Holika. Even though it is also a Korean brand, I decided to test it first because: I see a tube of it nearly every time I visit Marshall’s or TJ Maxx; it comes in a much larger amount than the Holika Holika tube; and at $4.99, it’s still an absolute bargain.

Here’s what the AHA! Peel So Good gel promises:

“A soft cellulose scrub containing AHA complex. Feel good by renewing your skin into clear and radiant skin.”

The gel is almost the exact same texture and appearance as the Holika Holika gel and it has the same, somewhat strong smell. (It is somewhat chemical-y, as I noted in my previous review, but it doesn’t bother me that much!)

The good news is that this exfoliating gel works almost exactly the same as Holika Holika: after 5 minutes of a thin layer on my face, I scrub off all the dead skin and residue from the previous week. My skin is so soft afterwards and my texture definitely looks better.

Even better news? This gel has made huge headway on my acne scars, especially on my chin. My scarring from cystic acne is one of my biggest insecurities and I hadn’t noticed a huge improvement with using Holika Holika. But once I started testing this product out every other week, I noticed a huge improvement. So you’re struggling with scarring on your face or new, I cannot recommend this product enough.

In the showdown between AHA! Peel So Good and Holika Holika, who wins? I think it depends on what you’re looking for! Holika Holika is a size of tube that suggests it is just for your nose (even though I use it all over my face), so if you struggle with clogged pores on your nose, that would definitely be a winner. But if you’re like me and struggle with textured skin and scarring, I highly recommend the Peel So Good gel! I like both pretty equally, but I know which one will last longer and that’s a better deal to me!

Beauty Review: Holika Holika Pig Nose Clear Black Head Peeling Massage Gel

A few weeks ago, I impulse bought a tube of this, Pig-Nose Clear Black Head Peeling Massage Gel, from Marshall's for $3. At first, I thought it was a pore strip kind of thing--like those black latex peel off masks. It was, in fact, not that at all. No, no, this mask... this mask is different and special. 

As I mentioned in my blog post on skin congestion, I added this mask weekly to help deal with my rough, dehydrated skin (followed up by super hydrating, of course). 

But the question, of course, is: what does this mask do? Does it work? 

Oh, does it work. 

Here's what it promises: 

“Pig Nose Clear Blackhead Peeling Massage Gel is a mineral oil free mild pore cleanser that exfoliates and dead skin cells and loosens trapped impurities, making it easy to extract and remove blackheads and whiteheads without damaging skin in the process.”

When I bought this, I thought it removed blackheads or sebaceous filaments (they're not the same thing, although they're occasionally confused); it actually doesn't. It does, however, help exfoliate my skin better than any other product I've ever used. 

Here's how I use it: 

1. After I wash my face, I apply a thin layer over my forehead, nose, cheeks, chin, and jaw. It feels close to what I would call gelatin, which is why I thought it would peel off at first. However, it doesn't dry down. 
    
2. Wait 5 minutes. In that time, my face usually starts to tingle a bit. It isn't painful, but it definitely feels like something is happening. 
    
3. After 5 minutes, if I look in the mirror, I will see patches of dead skin lifted off from my face. Yep, you read that right: patches of dead, dry skin. I start massaging my nose, cheeks, forehead, and chin, and bits of dry skin pick up on my fingers. 
    
4. After a few minutes of massaging, I take one of my charcoal face sponges and use it to exfoliate the rest of the dead skin off and leftovers of the mask. 
    
5. Afterwards, my face feels softer than it has in years. 

Yes, you read all that right. This mask removes all the dead skin from the top layer of your face; it exfoliates so magnificently that I've dropped all other methods of exfoliating from my routine. This is all I need! I have to be careful not to overdo it, because the results are so fun, it's easy to want to use it all the time. 

I love this mask so much that I've already become paranoid about what will happen when I run out of it. It's a Korean beauty product and finding it legitimately online has been a challenge; Amazon seems hit-or-miss in terms of being the real deal. I did find a dupe at Marshall's that I will be reviewing soon. However, if you need a good exfoliant, this is your holy grail. I promise. It's that good.