I ground this stick into my oily T-zone every morning for 30 days straight — no primers, no touch-ups, just pure sun protection and wishful thinking about pores.
Here’s the thing nobody tells you: it works like a dream on clean, dry skin, but slap it over a dewy moisturizer and you’ll look like you lost a fight with a bag of flour.
This is Beauty of Joseon’s matte sun stick — SPF 50+ PA++++, $18, and claims to blur pores while protecting skin. I’m a skeptic, but the “matte” got me.
Mugwort extract
Calms redness better than my actual soothing serum — weird flex but okay.
Camellia oil
Sounds rich, but it’s actually lightweight. Balances the matte so you don’t look dusty.
Silica powder
The real pore-blurring MVP. Absorbs oil within 10 seconds of swiping.
Photo: Denis / Unsplash
It’s not just a sunscreen cosplaying as skincare — the formula actually does double duty. Mugwort tackles irritation, camellia feeds the barrier, and silica keeps shine on mute.
- Mugwort extract: Anti-inflammatory that calms my angry chin pimples
- Camellia oil: Lightweight moisture that doesn’t clog pores
- Silica: Instant blur effect — like a soft-focus filter for your face
- Niacinamide: Brightens leftover marks without irritation
Photo: Aleksandrs Karevs / Unsplash
First swipe felt like butter on glass — silky, invisible, zero white cast. Then I layered it over my gel moisturizer and it rolled off in tiny gray snakes. Gross.
Week two I skipped the moisturizer entirely and just used this stick on damp skin. Suddenly it blurred my pores like Photoshop lite. The pilling is real — but it’s 100% user error.
Photo: Simon Hurry / Unsplash
My nose pores looked smaller by week three — not gone, but definitely softer. Oil production stayed normal for about 5 hours, then I needed a blotting paper. The blur is real but temporary.
Photo: JOGphotos / Unsplash
It blurs pores like a pro if you prep right — but it’s finicky enough that I’d only recommend it to oily skin types who hate reapplication.