Joey New York Pure Pores Gel for Blackhead Removal: Review

Review: Joey New York Pure Pores Gel - Well let me start by saying... that this product actually burned my skin! I have very tolerant skin & able to use high concentration salicylic acid, glycolic acid & benzoyl peroxide formulas. I'd read several reviews on this product before buying it & although many of them warned that the product left them with chemical burns, I stupidly ignored them and decided to try it anyways. I figured - hey, my skin is tough and resilient, so I can probably handle this. WRONG! So, here's my story...

I have extremely congested oily skin that is prone to breakouts. Before using the Pure Pores gel, I washed my face using my usual almond exfoliating scrub & 24/7 Acne wash. I blotted it dry and applied a thin layer of the Pure Pores gel to the areas where I have the most problems with blackheads (my nose, area surrounding my nose, lower forehead and chin). It stung a bit, but since I was expecting the usual sting of a salicylic acid product, that didn't really bother me.

The directions on the package instructed to wait until the product was dry - "approximately 1 minute" - and then to rub the product off skin, removing the blackheads in the process. Well, after 1 minute, the gel was still very wet to the touch, so I waited a little longer - maybe an extra 30 seconds or so - before removing it. The gel still wasn't dry, but since it was the first time I used it, I was afraid to leave it sit any longer on my skin.

I tried to 'rub' the product off by moving my fingers in a circular motion over the areas where the gel was applied, but it just kind of smeared around and definitely wasn't removing any blackheads. I could see that some blackheads surfaced, so I used my pinkie fingernail to nudge them out. The gentle scraping did remove some skin debris - quite a few blackheads and some dead dry skin. While I was happy that it was purging this debris from my skin, I didn't realize that it was also removing my skin!

I washed my face with warm water to remove the remainder of the gel and patted dry. When I looked in the mirror, I saw that it had burnt the skin on the sides of my nose and on my cheeks on each side of my nose! There were actual red bleeding patches and they stung so badly I wanted to cry. Imagine the worst sunburn you've ever gotten, then multiply it by 10. For some reason, the skin on my forehead, chin & top of my nose weren't as badly effected - must be tougher skin there. The skin on those sections was still red and irritated, but not bleeding and not throbbing with pain. I immediately put moisturizer on the effected areas, but it stung so bad on the burnt area that I had to blot it off using a washcloth dunked in cold water. Considering the area felt burnt, I searched for my summertime stash of aloe vera gel and blotted some on the wounds. This helped so much - it immediately cooled the area. Twenty minutes and two glasses of wine later, the pain finally went away. However, today I'm left with two scaly dry sections of my face near my nose that are now so dry and injured it hurts to smile. I applied Nivea moisturizing cream this morning, which is an amazingly gentle for dry peeling skin. Foundation and loose powder helped cover the patches, but now that it's been 4 hours since I applied makeup, I noticed the redness starting to peek through. I will have to re-lotion & re-apply foundation in a bit.

So, there's my nightmare. I've never ever used a beauty product that has physically injured me as this one did. The company really needs to put some sort of warning on the package. I plan on telling my story to the company as well, in hopes of preventing this for other customers. At the very least, they need to add to the directions "DO NOT leave on skin longer than 1 minute!" The directions are very vague and leave the impression that you need to leave the product on until it is dry. If I would've waited until the product actually dried, it might have eaten my skin down the bone! The next time I read product reviews and 30% of them say that the product 'burnt' the customer's faces, I will listen!

Now that I know the "1-minute" rule, I've actually tried the product again - but only on my chin and forehead, and only left it on for about 20 seconds. I was surprised at the fact that it did purge some blackheads in these areas where my usual peel-off masks don't quite do the trick. My forehead and chin were a little dry but not too irritated. If there is no peeling after the next couple of days, I will consider keeping the product and trying it again. I'm quite the product testing guinea pig & am usually willing to give things a second try; but this one might have proved too daunting, even for me!