I Tried Nose Strips For The First Time Ever

The other day, my friend came over with handfuls of blackhead clearing nose strips and was dying to try them. I mean, I've wondered if nose strips really work on almost a daily basis. So we decided to make a girls night of it. I suggest doing this once in your life — or once a week, whatever.

Confession: I'm one of those girls who finds herself picking at blackheads and popping blackheads until I suddenly realize 10 minutes have passed. I know, I know, it's not healthy for my skin, I have better things to do with my time, yeah, yeah... It's a bad habit, OK? But after my friend offered to share these strips, I thought maybe my problem would be eradicated. If I didn't have any blackheads, I wouldn't spend 20 extra minutes before bed in front of the mirror, right?

Before trying the strips, I read up on them. Although they were free, I didn't want to waste my time on something that wouldn't actually work. And, after reading a few scary articles, I didn't want to try something that was going to possibly rip my skin off (OK, that was the DIY nose strip version, but still). Nonetheless, we decided to give it a whirl. And boy, was it an experience.

Step 1: Wash the Face

Not only did the directions advising washing your face, but also wet our nose over again, after washing. Then dry your hands. Then re-wet your nose apply the stick to your very wet nose. This was kind of a vicious cycle of asking each other "Is my nose wet enough?" "My hands are dry! I have to re-wet them and dry again! But then my nose is dry!" Eventually we just gave up and went for it.

Step 2: Apply the Strip. Carefully.

I have no idea why I look mad. My friend caught this after I had to get the air bubbles out of the strip. I'll warn you, that will not be a struggle for you, I'm sure. I'm just accident prone.

The strip did fit comfortable on my nose, thank goodness. The directions warned us to apply "VERY CAREFULLY." The all caps were intimidating. The directions stated to leave it on for 10-15 minutes, but it stiffened rather quickly. I hadn't thought about it before, but I started to get fearful for the removal process. My friend and I spent the next 10 minutes trying to scrunch our noses, in vain. We literally couldn't even pull a Bewitched.

Step 3: Remove After 10 Minutes

This was painful. It hurt a lot. The packaging warns you to wait until the strip feels like papier-mâché. Apparently, it comes off your face like papier-mâché, too. It felt like I was pulling a off a layer of skin. I read a few articles that suggest the Band-Aid method. Still hurt.

Step 4: NOTHING HAPPENED.

Literally nothing happened. Once I saw that the strip was black, I was disappointed to begin with. This is gross, but I thought half the fun of blackhead removing strips was actually seeing the blackheads on the strips. Not only could I not see them on my black strip, I could see see the black heads on my nose. And some extra black remnants on my nose, like I grew blackheads. Then I had to scrub hard to get the black spots off my face. My friend and I were both really sad this didn't work. The thought of cleaning pores out sounds refreshing and great for the skin. Better luck next time, perhaps?

Images: Hayli Goode (5)