Beauty Review: Biore Charcoal Pore Strips

I don't think there is any beauty issue more frustrating than skin problems. At 15 years old I was blissfully unaware of the chronic acne that would plague me for the next seven years. Now, at 22, my acne has died down a bit, but I still have a lot of trouble with blackheads, especially the ones on my nose and my chin. I've used Biore Pore Strips for years, but since I'm a sucker for new things and convincing ads, I decided to try the new Biore Charcoal Pore Strips to see if they were as effective as the original.

The first thing I did before buying the the product was to check and see if there was actually charcoal in it. After all, they're called "charcoal" pore strips. And sure enough charcoal powder was the ninth ingredient listed on the back of the box. I bought a box of six strips for around $6.49 at Walmart, which is a little more expensive than a box of eight of the original strips. But hey, they're new.

There's not a lot of visible differences between the original and charcoal strips, except for the fact the original are white and the charcoal are black.  I followed the directions, which was the usual "wash your face, dry it, then wet your nose and stick the strip on your face" type of thing you usually do with pore strips. 

After removing the strip from my nose (15 minutes later) I noticed that there was a larger amount of residue left on the strip than I've experienced in the past. Did I have more blackheads and dead skin on my nose this time around? I don't think so. Did the charcoal powder make that much of a difference? I don't know that either. Perhaps everything was just easier to see on the black strip versus the normal white. 

So, all in all, I'm a little torn about the new Charcoal Pore Strips because I'm not sure if they really worked any better than the original. But I may be addicted to the satisfaction in what seemed like a really deep clean. 

Have you tried the new Biore Charcoal Pore Strips? What do you think of them? What are your go-to skin products right now? What product should I test next for a "Beauty Review"? Let me know with your comments below! :)

-Greer