My face was feeling a little blah a couple of days ago and normally I would head on over to Wink Studio for a refreshing laser facial. Unfortunately, I’m in tipid mode so my only option is to have a pseudo facial at home.

My biggest beauty peeve (aside from dry skin), would be the blackheads and the large pores on my nose and cheeks.

I’ve tried a lot of products  to address these problems and I’ve discovered a number of beauty products that worked really well together  in reducing the blackheads and minimizing the pores on my face.

And without further ado, let me share them with you!

Here’s my usual face at the end of the day. Most of my makeup have faded by this time, like my lipstick is so gone, but my eyebrows and eyeliner are still intact! 😉 Oh yes, and I like wearing cute headbands to keep my hair off my face during my kikay moments, hehe!

Step #1 – Clean your face with your choice of makeup remover and facial wash.

The Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil used to be my choice of makeup remover but I was not a big fan of the film it left on my face.

I decided to try out water-based makeup removers instead and ended up trying the Bifesta Age Care Cleansing Lotion.

I like it a lot. It does well in removing my makeup and takes less steps than using the Shu Uemura Cleansing Oil. All I have to do is squirt around 3 pumps on a cotton pad and wipe it gently all over my face.

However, I still double wash my face with a proper facial wash after.

At this moment, I’m still on the lookout for an HG facial wash for dry skin that lathers so if you have any recommendation, please comment after this post 🙂

Eeeeeh, my makeup-less face! Haha! 😉

Step #2 – Exfoliate with your choice of exfoliant.

My choice of exfoliant would be the CURE Natural Aqua Gel.

I’m sure you’re not surprised as this product is known to be one of the best exfoliants in Japan, and has steadily been gaining raving reviews here in the Philippines ever since it came into the country.

Just google “cure aqua gel philippines” and you’ll have a number of positive reviews on this.

Since I have dry skin, I only use this whenever my face starts to feel dull and rough. That’s around 1-2 times a month.

I usually only use the CURE Natural Aqua Gel on my nose and cheek area, but since my face was feeling extra blah, I decided to do the whole she-bang! 😉

Step #3 – To remove the blackheads on my nose, I use nose pore strips often.

You can use any brand of nose pore strip. I like buying them from Watson’s since they always seem to be on buy-2-take-1 promo 😉

Some people might argue that nose pore strips don’t work. By itself, nose pore strips might not be as effective, but I’ve discovered that if used hand in hand with other skin care products, nose pore strips actually work!

One of the products that greatly helps is an exfoliator (CURE Natural Aqua Gel, in my case). The exfoliator helps in removing the dead skin cells and opens up our pores. This makes the nose pore strip more effective in pulling out the blackheads from the pores.

I have a confession to make… seeing those blackheads stuck on the nose strip when you pull it off is a guilty pleasure for me. Gross, I know, haha!

Step #4 – Use a deep pore cleansing mask.

This product – Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleaning Masque from Kiehl’s – is probably the key to keeping those pesky blackheads and large pores at bay.

I only use this small amount on my nose and cheek area. The 142 gram jar of Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleaning Masque is around P1,400+, if I remember correctly, so it’s actually quite cheap since it’ll last for a long, long time. A really good purchase, IMO.

I’m sure you know that blackheads are the result of excess oil and dirt clogging up our pores. Sometimes, washing our face with a facial cleanser is not enough to remove  the deep-seated oil and dirt, especially if you use makeup every day.

This is where the exfoliator and the masque come into play. The exfoliator, as I’ve mentioned, removes the dead skin cell. The masque, on the other hand, helps in removing the excess oil and tightens the pores after everything else.

I let the mask stay on my face for around 10-15 minutes, then I rub it off gently with a damp face towel and rinse off with water. I try not to let it stay too long as it can end up drying my face.

Step #5 – Finally, apply your choice of serum and moisturizer.

My choice of moisturizer and serum, Physiogel Cream (the ONLY moisturizer that works for my super dry skin) and Shu Uemura TSUYA Skin.

I was once a skeptic whether face serums really worked. I used to think they were a waste of money. But ever since I started using Shu Uemura TSUYA Skin serum regularly, I saw huge improvements on my face.

My face became brighter, my skin felt more plump and my usual facial redness decreased, if not entirely disappeared. I found myself wearing less and less foundation. I could actually go out to the mall on just concealer and powder (and eyebrows, as it goes without saying.)

I’ve used different serums for comparison (one from Shiseido and another one from Nivea) but I found myself going back to the Shu Uemura TSUYA Skin serum always.

I guess the takeaway here is that you need to find the serum that works for you.

Unfortunately, the Shu Uemura TSUYA Skin serum is quite expensive at around P3,000+ for a tiny 30mL bottle.

I try not to use it everyday and only use it when my face feels really blah, but there really is a huge difference when used regularly.

And here’s my face! Bare, freshly washed and moisturized! Ah, those eye-wrinkles and laugh lines! I’m getting old. I sure hope I’m aging gracefully, haha!

I try to do this full beauty regimen at least once a month and it has greatly reduced the blackheads on my nose and has significantly minimized my pores.

So what do you guys think? Do you think you’ll try any of the products I’ve mentioned? 🙂

Share with me your own version of this beauty regimen and let’s see if we use the same products!

XOXO,

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