Having clean, blemish-free skin is on everyone's wish list. But, at what price? Are you willing to go through an immense amount of pain just in the name of clear skin and clean pores? I am. When I came across Elizavecca's Milky Piggy Hell Pore Clean Up Nose Mask ($10) where some would be scared, I was intrigued.
This is no ordinary face mask: it's known on Ihe internet as the most painful face mask in the beauty market. As the name implies, this K-Beauty mask is supposed to hurt like hell while it extracts every bit of dirt and grime from your pores. Top beauty vloggers from around the world like Manny MUA and Tati have squealed and squirmed in pain while trying this mask, so of course my first impulse was to put it to the test.
Related | I Bought a Fancy Rose Quartz Facial Roller... Does It Work?
First off, the packaging is mainly in Korean, and the only English directions are on the cardboard box it comes in. So, if you're planning on trying this at home, make sure you don't throw away the box! But if you do, English instructions can be found here.
The scent of this mask might actually be its worst feature. It smells like straight-up industrial glue, which is also how you know there's some heavy-duty stuff at work. I had to hold my breath while applying this gray gunk on to my face, because the smell was too nauseating to handle.
The mask is supposed to be for just your nose, but since all the beauty vloggers put it all over their faces, I did the same thing, leaving my eyebrows bare in fear of ripping them off. The mask promises to dry in 15 minutes, but I guess I put too thick of a layer on which made it dry a lot slower (I watched a whole episode of RuPaul's Drag Race and it still wasn't fully dry!)
Related | The World According to RuPaul
Once it finally dried about an hour later, it felt like duct tape was all over my face, and I faced the anxiety-inducing task of removing it. I began at my forehead, and as I started peeling I felt every little hair and pore in my face rip right out. But surprisingly, it really wasn't that painful. Of course I felt a little sting, but nothing out of the usual in comparison to any other peel-off mask I've used before.
TBH, I was kind of disappointed in this mask. Once I peeled the whole thing off my skin didn't feel any cleaner than before. And when I checked out the mask after peeling it off (gross, I know, but we all do it), it looked like there was nothing there. As a whole, my most painful mask experience was pretty anti-climatic.
That being said, as frequent face mask and dermaroller user, my skin is used to a little tough love. When it comes to beauty, no pain, no gain!