There are two big banes of my life - one is my hair, the other is my nose! For as long as I can remember, my nose has been incurably oily and impossible to control. Recently I decided enough was enough and ventured out to find products that would tackle this specific problem. Amongst the ones that came home with me was these nose strips from Beauty Formulas, which claim to deeply clean your nose and also remove blackheads, dirt and grease.

After looking in Boots and not having much luck (£4.99 for nose strips in there!), I went to my old favourite for cheap beauty products, Bodycare - and found these for a very reasonable 99p. I figured that while I wanted results, I didn't want to spend too much and to be honest, I wasn't expecting to find any for this cheap. These strips include witch hazel, which has been proven to help with the appearance of pores and is often found in problem skin products.

In the box there are six individually packaged nose strips, detailing all the instructions and other information that I might need on the reverse. They recommend using these no more than 1-2 times per week and I agree with that - these are quite harsh and are definitely not for every day use unless you want a sore nose!


Applying them is very simple; after cleansing my face in the evening, I thoroughly wet my nose, peel the plastic backing off and stick it straight onto my nose. I try to position it more towards the tip of my nose as that is where the oiliness appears to be the most prominent. It's important to stick the strip down properly all over; it's worth spending an extra few seconds doing this to make sure you're getting right into the nooks and crannies. Then it is simply a case of sitting and waiting. Like the packaging says, it does feel stiff as it dries and it does feel like it's working, which is something I always appreciate. After about 10-15 mins it is ready to peel off!


I start from the outside and peel inwards towards the middle of my nose - and doing it slowly is definitely preferable here! I haven't tried it but I imagine pulling it off like you would a plaster would leave you very sore for a few hours afterwards! It does hurt a little to peel off no matter how slowly you do it, but it is a tape of sorts that has been drying onto your nose so it's not altogether surprising. I could see the results straight away, which was disgusting yet fascinating! The strips left no residue on the skin, which was a pleasant surprise and removed the need to clean up afterwards. My nose felt a little sore afterwards, but this disappeared in a few minutes.


So, after using them did I notice any improvement in the oiliness of my nose? I have to be honest and say no, I didn't straight away and after using them a couple of times there was only a slight bit of improvement. This was disappointing but what they have done is drastically reduce the amount of blackheads on my nose and in general the skin definitely looks and feels cleaner. I am aware that my nose is an extreme case, and I don't think it's going to be one product that will help me find a solution to the problem! So while it hasn't done what I hoped it would do immediately, for the price I will continue to repurchase these, use them in conjunction with other products and look to see if there is any improvement to be seen in the long run.

Final verdict: A cheap, easy to use product that deeply cleanses the nose and removes blackheads, and for the most people would definitely help reduce the appearance of oiliness. This is quite a harsh product, so those with sensitive skin might want to think twice before using these.

Beauty Formulas Deep Cleansing Nose Pore Strips are available from Bodycare for 99p.