DIY PORE STRIPS!
Sweetassgal here bringing you another SUPER affordable Do It Yourself that is completely natural and well...let's face it...just totally cool!
Confession time...I'm obsessed with my skin. Closer to the truth, I'm obsessed with the stuff that resides in the pores of my skin. Yes folks...I'm a pimple picker. I know many of you will be shrieking a collective "GROSS" when you read that but for those of you who share my obsession you will truly understand that the little blackhead taking up residence on the side of my nose is going to require an immediate eviction! I am endlessly fascinated by whatever may come out of my pores and there is nothing I can do to stop myself. I've been yelled at my entire life, first by my well meaning mother, then my friends and now by my husband. In fact, he knows exactly how long it takes me to use the ladies room and if I linger even 5 seconds longer in there he yells "QUIT picking!" through the door. Busted again.
My fascination for a highly charged game of Get That Blackhead was reinforced some years back when a brilliant little invention his the aisles of my local Rite Aid...the Biore Pore strip. Pure unadulterated genius! Not only can I remove all of those nasty little black buggers from my pores without bruising my skin, but I also get the added bonus of checking out the little spiny remnants that cling to this little piece of magic. Come on now...who hasn't tried one of these and stared with bewitched delight at the proof of their effectiveness? Seriously, it's half the fun!!
Problem is, these little suckers are spendy. A six pack of the Ultra Strips sells for $7.99 which works out to $1.33 a strip! Madness people. Sheer madness. But what's a girl to do because to my knowledge Biore has cornered the market and they've got us by the nose. Literally! Well people...put down that debit card because I've got a DIY pore strip recipe for you that is pennies (and I do mean those little copper things you don't even bother to bend over and pick up on the street anymore) just pennies a use!
1/2 Teaspoon Knox unflavored gelatin (should be available in the Jello aisle most likely sold on the top shelf above the flavored gelatins)
1 Teaspoon of milk
Stir together and microwave for 10 seconds to warm. Using a clean cosmetic brush (I use my foundation brush) apply the mixture somewhat heavily to your nose and chin avoiding your eyes. Wash out your brush right away so that it doesn't harden and ruin the bristles. Let it dry for approximately 20 minutes to completely harden. Once its completely dry simply peel off the strip and voila...clean pores at next to NO cost at all!
One box of Knox gelatin is just $2 with four packets inside. Each packet will make 5 batches with enough to cover your chin and nose (and maybe even a buddies too) which comes to a whopping total of 10 cents a treatment or 5 cents each nose and chin strip! I would recommend putting a warm washcloth on your face prior to applying the mix just to loosen the debris and aid in removal. And don't forget to follow up with a great mask like Organic Apoteke's Rejuvenating Face mask!!! Just one caveat...natural gelatin doesn't smell the greatest but the scent went away after a few minutes. Mix up a batch, leave your experience on Megs and let us know if a DIY pore strip is as effective as it is economical! GLAM ON!!!
Has anyone ever tried this?
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Reviews
I am going to try! keep you updated. From a fellow picker
Another great DIY recipe, sweetassgal. Maybe you should write a DIY skincare/cosmetic recipe book? :) I am slightly obsessed with the junk in my pores. I've used biore in the past and was blown away at the "stuff" it can extract from pores. Looking forward to giving this recipe a try sometime.
I'm another fellow picker, I'm obsessed with my skin too. I think this is my mothers fault because back when I started getting blackheads in my teenage years she use to pick at my skin, trying to get the blackheads out of there. Torture, I'm not kidding, I would get all teary eyes and would start sneezing. So now I pick all the TIME. My husband scream at me too for picking at my face, he tells me to leave it along. I've use the Biore strip in the past and yes it's really gross the stuff that comes out even after you've just washed your face. I going to grab a box of gelatin next time I'm at the grocery store and give this a try. Thanks so much for the another great recipe!
going to the grocery store now!
This is just awesome! I am so going to try this. You are brilliant for bringing this to our attention. How fun!
Sweetassgal – I’m so going to try this concoction and see what happens! This is fabulous information! I have blackheads in the nose department that constantly infiltrate the hard to reach and squeeze area of skin between my nose and face, the area which causes painful tears to stream out of my eyes when I try to squeeze them out…you know the area I mean. This is great information for someone who is classified as a blackhead/white-head/pimple freakazoid stalker!!!!!!!! If I see any of these categories on myself or anybody…all I can think about it squeezing that sucker and getting the snarly dastardly venom out of the person’s face! I AM the mom who monitored my kid’s as well as my ex-husbands face and back constantly for any sign of an outbreak! My kids told me in later years that they feared me because they just knew if they had an outcropping of anything on their skin either blackheads or whiteheads, I’d be on them like flies on hamburger! I’d come at them with my trusty two pointer fingers saying “HOLD STILL!!! I HAVE TO GET THIS!” I cannot stand to see blackheads or whiteheads! I am SO bad about this…if I’m talking to somebody…as happened just last week…my neighbor was over – he’s a fantastic guy – and he had a large whitehead on his forehead. The entire time he was talking I was thinking about how badly I wanted to say..”Please let me get that for you!” I even told my husband (I love saying husband) about it and how it was making me nuts! Then I saw my neighbor again 5 days later and…somebody call Ripley’s Believe it or Not because it was STILL there! I thought…has he not looked in the mirror in 5 days? How could he let that just sit? Maybe he doesn’t wash up or look in a mirror. I would have thought something would have broken that sucker open by now! Doesn't his wife care? Regardless…it is insane how I am even able to picture this in my mind again today, wondering if it’s still there! I also tried the Biore strips myself in the past and I agree with SweetAssGal…getting to SEE the skinny little trails of junk you just pulled out of your skin gives a great deal of delight and satisfaction! You can just pull that strip and look at it and then as you toss it in the trash with the words “Be Gone Satan!” you can walk away feeling confident and like you won that battle – the one between you (the good guy) and the whitehead or blackhead (bad guy) that that the audacity to infringe on your personal territory! Obtaining the same results without the cost of those little strips…I’m all over that! My husband of just over one week now is so great about letting me attack any outcroppings he has (which I monitor daily of course). If I subtly mention that it looks like he has a blackhead or whitehead, he calmly just says “Do you want to get it?” and with a HUGE GRIN on my face and a diabolical gleam in my eye I say “YES” every single time! He’s such a good man! This was a fantastic review SAgal and I’ll pass this information along to everybody I know who can benefit from Knox gelatin & milk!
Jeanasina!
sweet mother of chocolate you're a genius!!
Sweetassgal;This is a wonder. Why do we need manufacturers when we have our own kitchens? I love this idea. Question, am I the only one that gets a rush when the squeeze these little suckers? Just wondering.Picker from way back.........
Oh man, I cannot wait to try this! I too stare at the strip, grinning with pleasure at yet another battle gone well. To think those things were in my face! (ewwwww). Too bad I don't have the ingredients on hand right now, or I would already be in the bathroom!(A side note, this is a perfect use of those MAC travel brushes that aren't as good quality ^_^).
Another good blackhead remover: Elmer's white glue! Like the stuff you had in your schoolbox as a kid (don't worry, it's non-toxic). Put it on, let it harden, feel the exhilaration of peeling it off and seeing grossness attached and out of your pores! It doesn't get those big blackheads, but it is great at removing those little ones (before they get big!) and the dry skin/ residue that can build up near your nose-face area. *WARNING however: I wouldn't recommend doing it on any other skin on your face. When I tried, peeling it off was painful because the skin is loose and more sensitive. But for those nose blackheads, it works wonders!
Another good blackhead remover: Elmer's white glue! Like the stuff you had in your schoolbox as a kid (don't worry, it's non-toxic). Put it on, let it harden, feel the exhilaration of peeling it off and seeing grossness attached and out of your pores! It doesn't get those big blackheads, but it is great at removing those little ones (before they get big!) and the dry skin/ residue that can build up near your nose-face area. *WARNING however: I wouldn't recommend doing it on any other skin on your face. When I tried, peeling it off was painful because the skin is loose and more sensitive. But for those nose blackheads, it works wonders!
oops- somehow i posted twice. sorry!
Ohhhhh sounds great! My problem is those big red suckers that have started moving in on my poor face
I'm a picker, you're a picker, wouldn't you like to be a picker too? Ohhhh, Let me count the ways that I love and adore you Sweetass! Isn't it funny how some of us are pickers and some of us just aren't. Why do we do it? With the cutest little lisp y'all ever heard my 6 year old says, "Mom, picking is just so fun." Of course, she's totally right, BUT I still fight the urge as much as possible and totally encourage her to refrain from picking too. I have never purchased the Biore strips because I am afraid I would end up sticking the damn things all over my entire body. However, I can't wait to try your recipe Sweetass, you give us the best ideas! Valeriejean you are so not alone in your zest for squeezin'! Jeanasina, me too. I am just as tempted by other's skin issues as I am my own. I am an equal opportunity picker. I can't stop laughing about your neighbor's forehead! My husband lets me pick on him too, do we know how to "pick" our men or what? (Goofy pun intended.) My daughter Isabelle runs from my extended pointer fingers while her sister Lizzy and I chase her around the house to get at her cute little nose. I know it is soooo bad but we can't seem to help ourselves. We rarely catch her anymore. I must share this funny story:When Isabelle turned 8 she started getting tiny little whiteheads on her nose. She wanted to know where they came from so I explained to her in an age appropriate way, that as her hormones changed she would also see changes in her skin. Later that evening when Grandma came over she rushed over to her and exclaimed, "Grandma, guess what? Now I have little white hormones all over my nose!" How cute is that?
You've just given my new plans for my Friday night! Knox gelatin-check...milk-check...savings applied to a bottle of wine-check! Win Win Win!
this is wonderful!! I can't wait to share this with my daughter !
My sister Ruthie is a teacher and was asking a student why he was drawing graffitti on the desk one day (at least twenty years ago). She still remembers laughing so hard that she cried, as his answer was: "It's almost as much fun as playing with blackheads." Angie, what a great, creative idea! As a business teacher, I hate to tell you that you lost the right to patent that formula easily by airing it online but it can still be done. However, since the ladies here never fail to amaze me by their kindness, I'm actually serious when I suggest that we should ALL write hard-copy letters to Knox Gelatin and tell them that a friend of ours has a great recipe for an invention, not mentioning what it is but telling them how much they will earn (makes them happy and you reserve the right to your intellectual property). Jeanasina discovered the beginning of an invention and I'm going to work on it with her when I feel better, and I'm dealing with a firm now because there are three truly needed, cost-effective items which can be produced from what they make. They sent me a form and are finally willing to meet and talk! When I initially contacted them, they told me that they only accepted ideas from their R&D employees. I said, "So hire me and we'll talk." They still turned me down, until I asked if they ever saw "Shawshank Redemption," where Tim Robbins writes a letter a day requesting books to build a library. I was tenacious and spoke with their firm again and said, "You're going to become very tired of me. You will receive a letter a day until you relent." That's when the form arrived!I know you think I'm "whacked," but my parents were inventors on the side and someone's got to do it! Patents can be done online now rather than making a tedious trip to Washington, D.C. to see the review board. WHAT DO YOU ALL THINK? Strawberry Fields, glue would work, too. In my classes I tell my students how Hard Candy Cosmetics, FedEx, Burt's Bees, White-Out, Post-It notes, and so many other "must-have's" came to fruition (the men who made the glue for Post-It notes at Scotch 3M created a formula of adhesive which didn't stick and feared losing their jobs; it's their best-selling item!). That way, we could all roll in money and Biore strips while having enough money left over to make your recipe AND drink Knox (works for my nails). I realize I get a little carried away, but I love your ingenuity!
Gigi, you are so brilliant and sweet! If I needed an advocate for anything you would be the first person I would come to. Good luck with your endeavors. I admire your creative ingenuity.
What an amazing idea! Cheap too!
What an amazing idea! Cheap too!
This is brilliant! I can't wait to try it out. The blackheads on my nose are a neverending source of annoyance...anyone know if a different brand of gelatin would work??
valerejean...I get the rush too! Especially when its a particularly good one. Again...GROSS I know but I just can't help it! Remember ladies...VERY important to use a warm wash cloth to loosen up the debris first to aid removal. I'm also going to play around with the formula by adding a drop of essential oil for scent and maybe something to help draw out impurities. TO THE KITCHEN I GO!!!
Love, hugs and shoes...Angie
Ohmygosh I am SO glad I'm not the only one who gets thrills when I squeeze a blackhead out of my face. It all sounds so gross now! I'm DEFINITELY trying this!
Nothing in the world is better than getting those suckers out!!!!!!!! I thought I was a freak of nature when I get a chill up my spine from looking at the strip filled with those pokey blackheads no longer in my nose! But they are so damn expensive and this is the PERFECT remedy! I seriously cannot wait to try. I am on a constant search for ways to get rid of blackheads, they plague my nose and I despise them.
Whaaaat? What's this? The sound of sweetassgal saving me twenty dollars a month? Sounds good to me!I haven't gotten a chance to test this out yet, but I am an obsessive pore-stripper (that sounds so bad) and I looooove seeing all the gunk that comes out of my pores. It's like a tiny forest on the strip! I seriously don't think I could live without pore strips, since I get really little (but noticeable) blackheads on my nose that won't come out by any other means. Steam? Nope. Scrubbing? Nuh-uh. Deep cleansing? Fuggehdaboudit. Pore strips seem to be the only solution, but they're so very, very expensive.I will be testing this out with the boy in the next few weeks, so I'll check back in with my experiences!
Wow. Sounds great. I have tried some of the pore strips. They work great, but I coudn't ever justify spending that much money on something you use for a short time and throw away. This is a wonderful recipe. It sounds like it will work great. I'm so excited. I always have black heads on my nose, no matter how clean my skin is. I hate blackheads. I'm going to try this asap!
I am really excited to try this. I'm kind of addicted to pore strips but they are a little spendy, esp b/c they don't get everything and I want to use another one a week later... But this recipe is so cheap and easy I'm going to have to try it soon!
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Ok..who has done this? I know that we were all going to try it. I haven't yet. Who here has taken the plunge? Inquiring minds want to know....
I use school glue for blackheads. The cheaper the quality the better it works! Its true!
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oh my goodness thanks for the recipe!! I haven't tried this but will as soon as I find some unflavored gelatin..I know that I have some somewhere! I have been a pimple picker/squeezer/harasser all my life. I have even been known to try and pick out blackheads/whiteheads with safety pins or other sharp objects (eek!). I love pore strips but you are right, they are expensive!Question: does it matter what kind of milk you use? (nonfat, 1%, 2%) I'm only asking because I wonder if the presence of fat in the milk has any negative or positive impacts on the effectiveness. Thanks!
I don't think it matters much. I used 1% and it worked fine. I do recommend a light steam before doing this to open up your pores, loosen goo and make it easier to remove. This kind of stuff is just TOO FUN!
Love, hugs and shoes...Angie
i am obsessed with my pores as well but I think Biore strips are too much for my budget. i will def try the gelatin/milk combo
I like the tip, I will definitely have to try this one. I love cheap and easy do-it-yourself beauty fixes and this one surely fits the bill. Thanks for the tip.
Try using just eggwhites all over your face for 10 minutes! It seriously tightens your skin and reduces pore size. It even lighten skin a little. I loove this method!!
So glad I went through the archives! This is one trick I'm definitely going to try! Thanks from a fellow picker!
i need to try these recipe... i just wish i would of known of it before i wasted my money on pore strips that don't always work
This idea is brilliant! I am definitely going to try this out. I always thought I was the only one who thought those strips were a bit on the pricey side.
WOW. I've never heard of this DIY. Thanks for the info. I'll add gelatin to my grocery list! d:
I want to clarify something I do not believe this is for your ENTIRE face A high school girl who lives in my neighboorhood did this recipe. However, she DOUBLED the recipe and put it all over her entire face!Needless to say it HURT because it was on very thick and was also on skin that was already sensitive!She was very grateful when I came over and told her STOP! We are going to wash this off your face no matter how many wash clothes it takes. (It did take at least three before I felt like the crises was averted and I could go home.)
this is kind of a gross question, but what I really like about pore strips is that when you peel them off, you can see all the junk that you cleaned out. Do these work the same way? It's not that I like looking at that stuff, it's that I feel I have accomplished something when I see all that bad stuff I removed...
How fantastic!! I cannot wait to give this a shot :)
This recipe smells pretty funky, but it works! I love seeing the teeny piles of gunk that come out of pores, I'm gross like that.Another thing that works decently is the membrane on the inside of egg shells. Peel a piece of the membrane off the inside of the egg shell, place on washed and dry skin, let it sit until almost dry, and peel it off!
I'm a picker. Hardcore. Sadly, I have nasty acne scars to prove it, yet, I still pick.I am definitely going to try this. I LOVE pore strips. I'm not sure why but it's completely fascinating to see all the gross stuff come out of my face. Either that, or I like to know that products are actually working because I can see the evidence. Either way, I need to try this. It sounds incredible and also very easy. I'd love to be blackhead free.
I am so excited to try this, I love these DIY recipes! Hopefully I will never have to purchase pore strips again! Thank you :)
I am so all over this, thank you for the recipe!
I constantly have blackheads on my nose that just won't go away. I cannot wait to try this!
Wow, here I am spending all this money on nose-strips every month...the gelatin-recipe sounds indeed gross but I will give it a try, I guess:-).The quicker-picker-upper....LOL.
Make up your beauty-full mind...
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How Cool!!! Thanks for the tip!
Thanks for the recipe, can't wait to try it !!!!
Pure genius!