I bought the medicube Zero Pore Pad fully expecting it to become one of those “everyone on the internet was right” products.

I have sensitive skin, so I don’t jump on every trend, but this one is everywhere in before-and-after shots, “holy grail” empties posts, all of that. I was honestly excited to try it. When it arrived and I opened the tub, the first thing I thought was: Did I get a bad batch? Because what I pulled out of that container looked and felt nothing like what I’d seen online.

The pads themselves are tiny—like, noticeably smaller than I imagined from all the videos—and they’re not plump or soaked at all. Mine were weirdly dry, thin, and wrinkled, almost like they’d shrunk in the wash. I expected that satisfying, juicy pad you usually get with toners or pore pads. Instead it felt like peeling off a slightly damp, crinkled coaster. They don’t hold their shape; they fold over on themselves and feel flimsy, not cushy. For the price and hype, it was a really disappointing first impression.

The next thing that hit me was the scent. I barely twisted the lid and this strong wave of cosmetic fragrance came out. Not a soft, subtle, “oh that’s nice” smell—more like opening a drawer full of heavily scented products that have been living together for years. It’s sharp and very obvious. I have a sensitive nose and sensitive skin, so that combo is just… not ideal. Even before I touched the pad to my face, I was already thinking, this is too much. It doesn’t fade quickly either; it hangs in the air and sticks around on the skin.

When I actually picked up one of the pads, it somehow got worse. The texture feels rough, not in a gentle “exfoliating” way, but in a cheap, scratchy cotton kind of way. Instead of soft, flexible fibers that glide, it has this stiff, almost cardboard-y feeling that made me double-check the expiry date because it honestly felt old. The pad doesn’t feel saturated—more like someone dripped a little liquid onto it and then let it sit there. You know how nice toner pads feel cool and juicy when you press them onto your skin? This felt the opposite: dry-ish and abrasive.

Using it on my face was the point where I mentally checked out. Wiping it over my skin felt like I was just running a smelly, rough pad around for no good reason. There was no sense of slip, no comfortable glide, and honestly no feeling that anything special was happening besides that loud fragrance. For a product that has the words “Zero Pore” and so much reputation behind it, it didn’t seem to be doing anything but irritating my senses. My skin is sensitive, but not ridiculously fragile, and even I could tell this wasn’t something I wanted to drag across my face regularly.

After a few uses (because I did try to give it a real chance), I still didn’t notice any improvement in my pores. No smoother texture, no more refined-looking nose, nothing. If anything, my skin felt slightly more annoyed—like it had been wiped with something harsh and perfumed, not treated with a thoughtful pore-care formula. When people say “pore pad,” I think of something that, at the very least, makes my skin feel clean, fresh, and a bit clarified. This just gave me the feeling of having wiped my face with a strongly scented, almost dry cotton round.

I also can’t get over how unpleasant the whole experience is for sensitive skin. The strong fragrance, the rough pad surface, the lack of moisture in the pads themselves—it all adds up to something that feels the exact opposite of calming or skin-friendly. There’s no cooling relief, no soothing sensation, no “ah, my pores feel clearer” moment. Just an overpowering smell and a scratchy wipe. Every time I opened the tub, I thought, this is not what I signed up for. I kept trying to figure out if it was just my container that came like this, or if this is actually how it’s supposed to be.

The biggest letdown is how off it feels compared to what I saw online. In reviews and ads, the pads look plush and soaked, almost like little toner pillows. Mine look like they’ve been left out to dry. In theory, it’s supposed to be a pore-refining, convenient pad you swipe on and feel “clean but treated.” In reality, for me, it was like using a dehydrated, heavily perfumed cotton pad and hoping for pore magic that never showed up. Nothing about it felt worth the hype or the marketing.

So, overall, this was a big miss for me. The small, dry, wrinkled pads, the strong, in-your-face fragrance, the rough texture that feels old and low quality, and the lack of any real “pore pad” effect on my skin all add up to a product I wouldn’t recommend—especially if you’re sensitive. Maybe I got a weird batch, I honestly don’t know, but based on what I have in front of me, this is not something I want to keep using on my face. Instead of feeling like a quick, effective pore-care step, it just feels like wiping my skin with a smelly, scratchy pad and expecting results that never come.