Clean it up

So in addition to dry mouth, I’m always combating large pores with blackheads.  Isn’t that the bane of all women? I’d like to think so.  I’ve been getting facials from my friend that is going to school to be an esthetician. Since December, I’ve had about one facial a month.  My skin is changing in amazing ways.  My pores are shrinking and clearing up.  Yay, yay, yay.  Again, I’m also getting better at sticking to a morning and evening ritual of cleansing, toning, and moisturizing my face (I’ve been using Dermalogica) .  I try to do a mask and pore strips once per week.  So  I had watched some YouTube videos and been sold on trying the Korean black charcoal peeling mask 3 step kit.  I’ve done the mask about three times now and been extremely disappointed each time.  I seem to come away with the black mask in my pores and not the black stuff in my pores being removed.  This last time, after pulling the mask off my face and not seeing a single blackhead on the mask, I decided to apply pore strips.  The pore strips came off my face covered in blackheads! 

I don’t think it’s necessarily the product that is the problem.  I’ve used the charcoal pore strips from Biore and found the same thing:  blackened pores with nothing being present on the strip upon being removed.  I think I’ll use the sebum softening serum and the pore after care serum from the kit in combination with regular Biore strips.  My friend, who does my facials, said she also has the same problem with charcoal products.  I don’t know if it is just our skin that doesn’t work well with charcoal or if everyone has this problem.  I just like seeing less and less pores on my nose, cheeks, and chin! Even more exciting, I have another facial this Friday! Hug your esthetician.