Are Pore Strips Good or Bad for your Skin?

Are Pore Strips Good or Bad for your Skin

Are pore strips good or bad for your skin and should you use them or avoid them.

Pores and blackheads can irritate you quite a lot. Every woman secretly wishes for that one magical remedy that helps them to rid of their pores forever. You might have seen numerous ads for pore strips that claim to make your face blemish-free within one application.

However, are thee strips really as effective as they claim to be? Is the pore strip the magical remedy that you were waiting for?

The straightforward answer to this question is “no.” No, pore strips don’t make your face free from pores and blackheads permanently. However, they aren’t too bad for your skin, either.

In this article, we will give you a brief insight into pore strips and some challenges that they pose to your skin, so that you get a good idea about them. This will make you think twice before entrusting your skin with pore strips.

What do Pore Strips Actually do?

Pore strips help to remove the grime, oil, dirt and other substances that are stuck on the external part of the skin where they are applied.

When you pull off these strips after about 10 minutes, you will see the dust and grime sticking on these strips. However, the reality is that these strips remove the dirt superficially. They don’t act on the internal layers of the skin.

The dust, oil and grime accumulated in the internal areas of your skin are the ones that cause blackheads and pores. By not penetrating this part, the pore strips are only ignoring the root cause of the problem.

Therefore, don’t be surprised when you notice pores and blackheads re-appearing on your skin in spite of using pore strips regularly to remove them.

Risks Associated with Pore Strips

According to dermatologists, you should refrain from using pore strips because these strips can affect your skin in many ways. Here are some risks that you are exposing your skin to, when you use pore strips:

Skin Irritation and Inflammation

The pore strips contain chemical adhesives to remain on your skin for about 10 to 15 minutes. When you pull off the strips after 10 minutes of application, the adhesives can cause your skin to burn. Redness, irritation, inflammation and pain are some of the problems that you may experience with pore strips.

Also, when you pull off a strip quite harshly, you could damage the blood vessels around the affected areas, causing your skin to scar.

Damages Sensitive Skin

If you have very sensitive skin or acne-prone skin, it is highly recommended that you stay away from these pore strips. These strips contain ingredients such as menthol which can further damage your already dry skin, leading to severe inflammation. The damage from the pore strips can lead to long term to eczema, psoriasis and the like.

Damages Good Skin Cells

When you pull off the pore strips harshly, the dust and grime accumulated in the pores do come off, but along with that, some of the healthy skin cells on the outer part of the skin also get damaged. This can cause discoloration in your skin or cause it to burn a lot.

Makes your Skin Dry and Unhealthy

When you keep applying and pulling off the pore strips regularly, your skin will be deprived of its natural hydrating oils. When the oil content in your skin starts to reduce, you will notice that your skin’s elasticity drops phenomenally. The moisture content comes down and that can make your skin look dehydrated.

Opened Pores are Dangerous

The pore strips do help in removing dust, debris and grime from your skin, but what it also does is that it opens up the pores, making them more susceptible to infection than before. Therefore, even if you want to use pore strips, you should use them sparingly and only if you don’t have sensitive skin.

Pore Strips – Final thoughts

Well, now that you know a few important details about pore strips, you would have understood that these are only temporary quick-fixes to get rid of your blackheads. You should opt for them only after discussing with your dermatologist and only after confirming your skin’s compatibility with these strips.

What else can you Use in Place of Pore Strips?

Pore strips can damage your skin and can infect your pores quite severely. However, that doesn’t mean that you should leave your blackheads without treating them. There are simpler and more effective natural treatments than pore strips to get rid of blackheads without damaging your skin.

These are effective natural alternatives that you can try:

Raw Honey

If you want to get rid of the grime and gunk from your blackheads, you can try rubbing raw/pure honey over the affected areas, instead of using the chemical pore strips. Rub honey for 10 to 15 minutes over your pores and then clean the skin with lukewarm water. Do this regularly to see visible results.

Clay and ACV

One of the most effective natural treatments to get rid of your blackheads is a face mask that contains equal amounts of healing clay and apple cider vinegar. Apply this face mask and leave it on your face for about 20 minutes before washing off thoroughly. This will help you clear your pores and make your face blemish-free.

Natural Pore Strips Made at Home

Why opt for chemical pore strips when you can make natural and simple pore strips right in your homes? The three ingredients that you would need for this are milk, honey and cotton. Heat milk and pure honey in the microwave and make a thick paste by blending both the ingredients well.

Apply this paste on a thin strip of cotton and leave it on your face until the paste gets dry. Then, gently remove this strip to get rid of your blackheads forever.

As you can see, though pore strips seem to give you instant results, you cannot rely on them because they will only treat the superficial issues.

They can also damage your skin and cause inflammation, especially if you have sensitive skin. Therefore, we suggest you to stop using store-bought pore strips right away and resort to natural remedies to get rid of your blackheads permanently.