5 Budget Home Spa Blackhead Removal Comparison

I chanced upon Korean brand MiYu's Charcoal Real Pure Pack peel off mask at Singapore's home grown beauty and hair retail chain - Beauty Language.

With close to 30 brick and mortar stores across Singapore, it's a down to earth no frills company that carries hundreds of Korean, Japanese, American and European brands. 

I'm not a fan of facials, tried it a few times and hated it. What's seen as a luxury by some is a pain in the neck for me! I like to multitask and that won't allow my itchy backside to run around. 

So, I have been the home spa queen for close to 2 decades. I'm always in search of the best deals with the highest quality, I don't believe in sacrificing quality nor do I want to burn a hole in my pocket! 

I want to accumulate wealth, see my retirement dreams come true so staying on budget is a must! 

It takes a truly savvy shopper to do both at once. It also takes some tries to find out what're the hits and misses as well. 

I tried Bioré Deep Cleansing Pore Strips when they first entered the market, I'm always the early adopter of new products. Then I tried the black version supposedly made for males, they were bigger in size, at the same price!

Pink tax much? 

I use to cut those large strips up for my forehead and cheeks, they worked better there than on my nose, they didn't do much for my nose. 

Facials are definitely more effective, the problem is enlarged pores get clogged really fast again, so I ended up spending a ton of money and time, exhausted by the cycle.

Not vain enough to want to drain my finances for regular facials, not hardworking enough to do full on home facials that take hours from start to finish, I felt stuck. 

Then I found KOSÉ’s bestselling SEIKISHO Clear Whitening Mask, I'm a huge fan of their products, it's truly high quality for a great price.  

I have sensitive skin, I'm allergic to dust and some foods, so I get rashes easily, I'm careful about the ingredients inside them. Japanese and Korean skincare tend to have more botanicals, use mainly natural ingredients and have far less chemicals, so I prefer them. 

I used it for 7 years, until I found MiYu's version. 

Full face masks are so much better, they remove blackheads all over your face, along with the pleasant surprise of microscopic face hair removal at the same time.

At SGD18 (USD13.30) for MiYu's version and SGD 28 (USD20.70) for KOSÉ’s version, the difference in strength of removal is negligible. I felt the same tightening of the mask when it starts drying, then how much it was adhering when I pulled it off.

MiYu's is thicker, it was harder to spread, Kose's was thinner, I found more of it was absorbed into the skin and I needed more to form a mask. I used it up really quickly, not as much for MiYu's. 

I like looking at the mask after, feeling oddly satisfied at what I see on it, I saw the same amount of blackheads on both kinds of masks. I see a huge difference in skin clarity immediately after it.

A lot of blackheads are invisible to the eye, oh they're there alright! See the little ones, you can't see them with the naked eye. I was shocked the first time I used it! 

The trick is to use a face brush to buff your face or a face scrub to remove dead skin cells before using the mask, I found it was more effective than just washing my face and using it after. 

I initially applied too little, found it coming off in tiny pieces instead and then I applied too much, it took too long to dry, I was getting impatient. 

FYI, it should take about 20 mins to dry. 

If you can peel it off in one piece, that is the right amount. I hang out in an air conditioned room as well, so I don't start to perspire, the mask won't work then.

I was a smarty pants once and was doing strenuous chores with the mask on. I perspired so much, it can't dry, turned into a goopy mess instead. 

You need the tension of the entire mask for the best result, so don't be too cheap or too generous. Check when it's half dried, do you need more in some places?  

I'm part of Abracadabra Home Organising, we're helping people reclaim back their space by decluttering and accumulating wealth by staying on budget, check us out on Instagram and Facebook.

I do budget beauty product reviews and show you tricks to maximise your existing beauty products so you save money while reducing consumption, good for the planet and also your pocket. 

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