Why the pore obsession never really ends
I think I spent about six months just staring at the mirror in my bathroom, specifically around my nose and that weird ‘butterfly zone’ on my cheeks. You know, those tiny little shadows that make you look like you haven’t slept in a week even when you’ve had a full eight hours. I tried everything. I looked into those heavy-duty lasers like Potenza, which honestly sounded terrifying when I read the forums, and even toyed with the idea of a simple acne scaling session at a clinic in Songpa just to see if a deep clean would change anything. But the price, man. Getting a quote for those sessions made me wince. We are talking anywhere from 200,000 to 500,000 won depending on how many shots they decide to fire into your face, and the recovery time always seemed to clash with my work schedule. I’m not really a professional laser person, and the idea of sitting in a waiting room for forty minutes just to be told that my skin needs a ‘course’ of treatments—meaning spending way more money over three months—felt exhausting.
Giving in to the cream shelf
Eventually, I stopped looking for a miracle cure at the clinic and started looking at what I could just put on my face at night. I kept seeing all these press releases about new derma-cosmetics, like that ‘Bery Pearl Bakuchiol Neo Cream’ from ADESII. Every article promised the same things: pore size reduction, less foundation bunching up in those little divots, and low irritation levels. It’s funny how they always mention ‘clinical trials’ for things like makeup settling into pores. I suppose that is a real struggle for a lot of people, especially when the humidity hits and your makeup just slides around. I ended up picking up a jar of something similar because the marketing hook of ‘low-irritation’ was hard to ignore. My skin acts like a toddler throwing a tantrum whenever I introduce a new acid or a strong retinol, so the idea of something gentle sounded like a safer bet than having raw, red skin from a harsh scrub or a chemical peel.
The reality of waiting for results
So, I’ve been using this cream for about three weeks now. The texture is fine—it’s not sticky, which is my biggest pet peeve. But looking in the mirror today? I don’t know. Maybe my pores are 5% smaller, or maybe I’m just getting used to them. It’s hard to tell when you look at your own face every single day. There’s no dramatic reveal. My foundation still settles a little bit if I don’t use a primer, but maybe it’s a tiny bit better than it was in June. It’s just one of those things where you realize that the industry tries so hard to sell you a quick fix, whether it’s a 300,000-won laser session or a 50,000-won jar of cream, but the actual result is just… maintenance. It’s not a transformation, it’s just keeping things from getting worse.
Should I just go to the dermatologist anyway?
I’m still sort of debating whether I should just go to the clinic. I have these weird little spots that look like moles but aren’t, and they are starting to show up more clearly. I’ve been reading about whether I should go to a plastic surgery place that offers skincare services or find a dedicated dermatologist. It feels like a chore, honestly. Every time I get close to booking an appointment, I find a reason not to. It’s the time, the follow-up, the uncertainty of whether the treatment will actually be worth the pain or the cost. I keep thinking, ‘maybe if I finish this cream, it will be better.’ It’s probably a delusion, but it’s a cheap one. I’m starting to wonder if I’m just avoiding the inevitable, or if I’ve just accepted that my skin is never going to look like those filtered photos on social media anyway. I guess I’ll finish the jar and see if I care enough to buy another one.
The ‘clinical trials’ angle always seems to prioritize the *feeling* of efficacy over actual tangible results.
The laser idea really resonated with me – the forums were genuinely unsettling! It’s interesting how the perceived recovery time can completely derail a plan.
It’s interesting how you frame it – more about managing than a real transformation. I’ve had a similar experience with consistently tweaking my routine, often chasing the ‘next best thing’.
It’s interesting how much we fixate on small imperfections; I’ve had a similar experience with trying different serums, and the ‘before’ pictures always seem to make us want even more!