Be The Skin is a proud Korean beauty company that has committed to natural, environmentally-friendly skincare for almost two decades. Their popularity has been on the rise again in 2025, specifically their Pore Zero series (launched in 2021). With their line-up focusing on natural salicylic acid, extracted directly from willow bark (BHA), they have quickly become known as a fabulous solution to oily skin. Their serum, is a milky, soft green texture that essentially a pure herbal remedy to reduce acne and oily skin. Be The Skin makes no wild claims about their BHA+ line, but simply stands behind it and its popularity left us wondering – is it really that good? It was time for my oily self to trial out their famous 1% Willow bark serum.

Apart from the usual culprits in most serums (water, butylene glycol, glycerin etc.), this serum is packed with a variety of soothing plant extracts that are all designed for oily, sebum-controlling and acne-prone skin.

Willow Bark Water (BHA) - Containing a solid 1% pure willow bark extract, this is the source of deep exfoliating and soothing salicylic acid. If you know a little chemistry, you’ll know that salicylic acid is the active ingredient of aspirin – designed to halt inflammation in its tracks, soothe redness and reduce swelling. Willow bark was the first source of aspirin in history, where individuals would chew on willow bark to receive its anti-inflammatory benefits (with some tummy upset, as bark is not kind to the stomach lining). Adding soothing willow bark directly to skin provides not only this anti-inflammatory effect, but also the plant vitamins are a source of antioxidants to soften and give skin a soft glow. 

Allantoin – a natural biomolecule found throughout nature that promotes natural skin healing and regrowth. Used clinically to help heal angry, inflamed skin and encourages healing without excess scarring or skin changes – bringing you back to a healthy equilibrium. 

Glycolic Acid (AHA) - a common exfoliant that acne-prone skin loves, as it neatly detaches and removes dead skin cells and refreshes the skin barrier, to ensure strengthening of natural skin integrity. 

Marine Seaweed (Undaria Pinnatifida) extract – seaweed to skin offers a wealth of rich amino acids, lipids, vitamins and minerals to produce a valuable repairing effect on skin. It is often used in the background of cosmetics to not only provide a boost to skin resources, but as a thickening agent to improve product effect. 

Madecassoside – often extracted from heartleaf (centella asciatica), madecassoside provides a strong anti-inflammatory effect and also shuts down the mechanism that causes hyperpigmentation due to damage. This helps not only reduce current blemishes, but prevents future ones arising. 

Long-leaf Pine Extract (Pinus Palustris) - made from young, green pine-needles this provides a nourishing source of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory support to improve skin barrier. It provides a cooling, pleasant sensation to skin and also gives this serum a soft pine scent. 

David Elm Tree extract (Ulmus Davidiana) - brightening bark extract rich in antioxidants that helps repair skin damage and provide natural anti-aging effect. It helps protect skin naturally against UV damage and has been used in traditional Chinese/Korean medicine for centuries to treat burns and inflammation.

Essentially, it contains all the natural hydrating and emulsifying elements of any serum, with a powerful pack of BHA and AHA exfoliating acids (to reduce skin sebum) and a background of deep nourishing agents designed to help your skin repair itself. It is all combined into a light, milky green serum (from natural chlorophyll) that comes with a strong pine/herbal scent. 

On the bottle it claims 5 things: 
- Pore Zero (reducing the appearance and tightening pores) 
- Blackhead Zero (reducing the appearance and number of blackheads) 
- Sebum Zero (reducing the oily excess on skin) 
- Comedone zero (reducing whiteheads and angry comedones on skin) 
- Moisture UP (improving natural moisture of skin) 

So, using this serum over the next two weeks – I hope to see an improvement in oil production, general acne, have good moisture and noticeably smoother pores.

I don't typically get blackheads (whiteheads are my burden) - but I'm curious nontheless to see improvement in my skin.

 Let’s trial it out! 

I have oily-combination skin and often have monthly acne breakouts which can be annoying to tackle. I started using the serum morning and evening, after toner and applying directly to skin to produce maximum effect. I also followed up with my usual essences and moisturizers to ensure I had a good balance (especially in the current winter climate). The serum was a soft, milky green that absorbed very quickly and was pleasant to apply. It did have a pungent pine scent – which dissipates after a few minutes (it takes a little getting used to).

Here is the before and after:

As you can see in the before on the left, I had a lot of general redness and blemishes happening. A few whiteheads and noticeable pores close to my nose. After two weeks of use, we get the after. It immediately started tackling my acne spots and reducing appearance of blemishes. It also helped tighten my pores in a way that other pore-based products haven’t really been able to. I was quite delighted at how quickly everything was clearing up (although there are still small red spots visible). 

Although the serum tackled my acne well – it also did something else, I didn’t expect. It changed my skin type! I’m a naturally oily lad, but I do have combination skin. Within two weeks of using this serum, my oily zones had normalized. They no longer were producing excess oils and I actually had to cut back on other products that also were reducing sebum. And the areas of my skin that were normal? Were dry. For the first time in my oily life, I was trying to hydrate and hydrate suddenly tight, flaky dry skin which I was applying 2-3 layers of moisturizer to try maintain. 

So, the hydration marketed on the bottle I would not pinpoint as accurate – but again, this was using it twice daily, everyday for two weeks – so perhaps that was overkill.  

In Summary:
- Pore Zero (boy it did!) ✔
- Blackhead Zero (could not confirm) 
- Sebum Zero (I was desert dry!) ✔
- Comedone zero (absolutely – cleared majority of my outbreak in 2 weeks!) ✔
- Moisture UP (no, this serum is quite drying due to reducing sebum)❌

If you have oily skin, excess sebum and acne breakouts that are annoying you – this serum is a masterstroke. It will literally reduce the oils on your skin throughout the day, leaving you feeling lighter and clearer when you use it. I don’t know if I’d recommend it twice daily, but if you are eager to quickly reduce an acne breakout, I think it’s the best dose to achieve great results. 

Have combination skin? I would say this is honestly an awesome serum to tackle oily spots (i.e. bridge of nose and forehead), but I would say use once daily and also stick to using it in oily zones. This allows a targeted treatment of pores in a specialized area and won’t leave you struggling to balance out dryer areas. 

This product is a great lifeline to have on hand to reduce acne outbreaks, manage pores in targeted areas. It does have a pungent smell (as it contains around 3x kinds of tree bark), but it does have a delightfully cool sensation on the skin and you can note the redness reducing in real time. [It has been marketed towards and there are customer reviews saying it’s safe for sensitive skin – but if you’ve had reactions to ingredients in this product before, be conscious of your skin type]. 

I would say it's too drying for dry skin (especially in winter), but as a summer serum, this would be a good addition to brighten skin, smooth pores and deliver an oil-free day. 

This serum beat a lot of my expectations for it – and I was so curious about the popularity of the Be The Skin BHA+ line and I completely understand it. If you are an oily skin type – this serum definitely warrants a test run as it revolutionized my skin appearance. The Be The Skin product line is not super expensive, so if you are looking for smoother pores and clearing your acne without breaking the bank – this is one of my top recommendations! 

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