Review: Ciracle & Holika Holika Blackhead Product Review

Blackheads. If you have them, you know how much of a headache they are. Those suckers really cling onto your skin like their lives depend on it. Once you get rid of them, they somehow find a way to come back with full vegenance. I have trouble with blackheads as long as I can remember. They were on my forehead, nose, cheeks, chin, everywhere really.  The only good thing that came from my ongoing fight with blackheads is that they made me kind of an expert in getting rid of them.

Today I am going to review the two newest blackhead products I tried: Holika Holika Pig Nose Clear Blackhead Deep Cleansing Oil Balm and Ciracle Pore Control Blackhead Off Sheets.

Holika Holika Pig Nose Clear Blackhead Deep Cleansing Oil Balm

The first thing I have to comment on is the packaging. It is so darn cute! The pig nose with the pastel colors just makes me forget how gross blackheads are momentarily. However I do not like that is in jar form. I wish it came in a tube form so it can be more hygienic. Also with oily hands, it makes it harder to close the jar.

The texture of this product reminds me of coconut oil. It is solid then melts onto your skin by body heat.  Once melted it is smooth without any granules. It also has a pleasant lemony scent.

I tried the product a couple of times and found it best to massage into the skin after leaving it on for a minute so your skin to absorb the product first. The massaging part is where the magic happens. I find it so much more useful to use a pore brush (I used a silicone one) to massage the product into my face. Massaging with your hands does loosen the blackheads but nowhere as much as if using a brush. It is fun to massage my face afterwards to feel all the blackheads that came out. The blackheads that were left on my face were loosen but required extra exfoliation or a peel mask for them to come out.

Verdict: It was a fun product to use. According to Holika Holika website, it is marketed to remove blackheads, dead skin, and other impurities; absorb excessive sebum; and nourish and minimize pores. Overall it does what it says. I did have a good number of blackheads that came out, but it did not help my stubborn ones on my chin. Most blackhead remover products leave my face dry and irritated but this leaves my face feeling clean and moisturized. It also helped with sebum control with my super oily skin up to the next day. I have not used it long enough for me to attribute any changes in pores size to this product. However it is not very different from other oil cleansing product in: removing makeup, impurities, and moisturize. It does remove more blackheads but with the extra help of a pore brush and other exfoliating products. I would leave clay masks to do more of the heavy duty work. For that reason, this is not a product I recommend as a stand-alone product. But I will continue using it and I enjoy it enough to rebuy when I run out. The major reason why I like this product is that I can use it every day to remove /prevent blackheads while not irritate my skin. 7/10

Ciracle Blackoff Sheets

This product comes in a small jar containing 20 sheets. Each sheet is soaked with their magic liquid, with excess on the bottom of the jar. It comes with a tweezer to keep the jar hygienic.

The product is very straightforward: after washing, apply sheet(s) on problematic areas.  The directions tells you to keep the sheets on for 10-15 minutes. I sometimes leave it on longer, but as long as the sheets remain moist, it is ok. Upon first application, my face was tingling. I use a sheet on my nose, forehead and chin. When I remove it, there were a few blackheads that were raised, but most were still there. However with light pressure with their cotton swabs or I use a blackhead extraction tool, they did come out quite easily. The sheets worked best on my forehead and nose. The deep small stubborn on my chin did not bulge.

Verdict: I was ecstatic when I first heard about this product, SO excited that I brought two jars. This product feels and is a bit more aggressive than the Holika Holika Pig Nose Oil Balm. After using I would recommend using soothing products for your skin. I would definitely recommend using sunscreen the day after as well. My nose peeled a little bit the first time I used it. This is not a product I would use right before an event. My skin was much happier if when I used soothing products after. Overall it made my skin feel cleaner, my pores felt a bit smaller temporarily, and I was a couple of blackheads lighter. However like the Holika Holika Pig Nose Oil Balm, this is also not a stand-alone product. Manual extraction is needed to actually remove the blackheads. This product only loosens them. I also would only recommend using the product once or twice a week. This product is also costly in how quickly I would go through it. I require at least 3 sheets each time I use it. If I want to do my cheeks, that is a total of 5 sheets! But I may just save the rest to use only on my nose. It works the most effective there. 7/10

Final Verdict: Overall both products do loosen blackheads and both require further manual extraction to remove them. The Pig Nose Oil Balm is very gentle and I have been using every day or every other day without any problems. I will save the Ciracle Blackoff sheets for any stubborn blackheads on my nose or forehead. As always, steaming your face or taking a warm shower right before to open the pores will increase the benefits of these products.