I was sent some products by the people at b.liv by Cellnique a few weeks ago to trial and review.

I told them that I had some pore concerns on my nose, and they sent me 3 items from their pore range - Shrink and Tighten, Shrink and Tighten+ (for nighttime use), and Off With Those Heads.

I'm going to review all of them in this post, so be warned, it might get a little lengthy! I will try to summarize as much as possible.

Off With Those Heads


This peppermint infused gel claims to painlessly remove blackheads and whiteheads, and prevent them from reappearing.

This gel was heaven to put on! It smells amazing, and it feels so cool and refreshing! All you have to do is pump a small amount and rub it into your face in a circular motion until the gel is absorbed.

I wasn't really impressed with this product after my two weeks of testing - I didn't seem to notice much of a difference, and I was still seeing blackheads all over my nose area.

I decided to try a pore strip to see if it would help. I was very much amazed with the result! Usually, when I use pore strips, only the small blackheads come off, even if I heat my face up with steam beforehand. This time, the large blackheads came off as well. I was pretty tempted to take a picture of my pore strip to show you all, but it looks gross, so I will spare you all the torture. Suffice to say that a lot came off on that pore strip.

I will definitely buy this gel again. I was looking high and low for a decent-priced gel that would remove blackheads since I don't want to spend an insane amount of money on facials in Melbourne, and I believe I have found my solution!

Shrink and Tighten

This gel is meant for use in the mornings, and claims to be able to seal and tighten large, unsightly pores. It has a more fruity scent compared to 'Off With Those Heads', and is slightly more water-like in consistency.

Shrink and Tighten +

This gel is meant for use at night, and is very watery compared to 'Shrink and Tighten', and more oily. It also has a pretty unpleasant rubber-tyre smell, but it's not a strong smell, so to me it's bearable. If you have a sensitive nose, I recommend you test out the product first before buying.

I'm not sure if the 'Shrink and Tighten' products really worked for me. I shall let you be the judges of that, with a couple of not-so-pretty pictures for your scrutiny. Here are unedited pictures of my nose - before and after 2 weeks (which is the time period within which the b.liv range claims to produce results). The pictures were taken under different lighting, unfortunately, but hopefully you'll still be able to tell the difference.

Please note, though, that the lighting conditions in the 'before' picture were way harsher than the light in the 'after' picture - the difference is not that drastic!


In my experience, I don't recommend at all using any products that shrink pores unless you first use a product to loosen, unclog, and clear your pores. In this case, I loved that I had 'Off With Those Heads' to use. I heard that using a pore-unclogging product for a couple of weeks first before using a pore-shrinking product is a good way to use products designed for pores.

If you liked what you saw, here's where you can find out more about b.liv's range (including an ingredient list and more product information):

http://www.blivskin.com/