Large pores are in the same tier of skincare issues as acne and wrinkles. While the latter two are unwelcome guests on your skin, pores are a necessity.
They allow your skin to breathe, providing a bridge between the external environment and the inner dermal layer. The pore size may differ due to different factors, including exposure to the sun, age, skin type, and genetics.
Some people are lucky in the genes department, while others suffer a bit with extra-large pores. Luckily, there are ways to minimize the pores and make them look less noticeable.
Steps for Minimizing Large Pores
Before moving forward with this, let’s just lay a disclaimer here: no one looks at your pores as attentively as you do. It’s true. You need to put your magnifying glass down and give your skin a break.
No one in your bus or workplace is going to come up to you and say that your pores look extra-big today. You telling yourself the same thing in front of the mirror is a whole different story.
However, if the pores annoy you or make you feel self-conscious, here are a few things to keep in mind:
Use a Cleanser Regularly
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that a good skincare routine helps in reducing pores. The easiest way to do this is by washing your face regularly.
As mentioned earlier, your pores are the entryway to the skin. So, when you go out in the open, the environmental dust and pollutants gather inside the pores, enlarging them.
It’s important to use a gentle cleanser to wash your face daily - especially before bed. When applying a cleanser, tie your hair up to keep it away from the hairline. Make sure to use a generous amount of the product around your forehead and the nose.
If your skin feels icky because of the grime, use a facial cleansing brush for a deeper clean.
Clean Makeup Brushes
When was the last time you cleaned your makeup brushes? Your makeup brushes come in contact with different products and the residue on your skin. Thus, they get dirty pretty easily.
You should clean them at least once a week. Doing so can help minimize pores since the dirt from the brushes won’t settle in your pores, making them look bigger.
Secondly, touching your face to apply makeup is a huge no-no. On some days, you may be too lazy to get the highlighting brush and do the step with your fingers. Well, the sooner you stop doing that, the better it is for your skin.
Exfoliate Twice a Week
Dead skin seems to be the root cause of most skin problems. In this case, it clogs your pores and makes them appear bigger than they actually are.
Therefore, you should use an exfoliator to remove dead skin twice a week. Now, there are two ways to do this.
You can either use a physical exfoliator, such as a cleansing brush or a face scrub, or a chemical method, like exfoliating products containing gentle acids.
When choosing a chemical exfoliator, make sure it has 2.5% to 5% glycolic acid and 0.5% to 1% salicylic acid. In these concentrations, the acids increase cell turnover, keeping the pores clean. Alternatively, you may use a topical retinoid, such as Retin-A, to enhance cell turnover.
Here’s a warning: do not use retinol or a product containing retinyl palmitate if you’re pregnant or breastfeeding.
Be Gentle
Your skin already takes a lot of crap - quite literally - from the environment. You shouldn’t add more to its toil. Be gentle on your skin by using the right methods and products.
While exfoliating, avoid harsh scrubbing as it may damage your pores. Moreover, do not pick your pimples as this will leave huge, gaping pores behind.
Whether you’re using a cleanser or a serum, apply it gently on your skin. Rub your fingers in a circular motion to get the product into the deeper dermal layers. Another way to ensure maximum penetration is to get microneedling.
What is dermarolling, you might wonder. It’s a technique that has been successfully used for decades to improve the skin’s appearance by reducing fine lines, enlarged pores, acne scars, and stretch marks.
A derma roller, like DermRoller, pricks tiny holes into your skin, allowing skincare products to penetrate the surface easily.
However, you have to be careful when selecting derma rollers. Make sure they are made of medical-grade materials and are 100% safe. Fortunately, DermRoller ticks all the boxes and that too without ripping a hole in your wallet.
Use a Makeup Primer
Many makeup artists swear by primers, hailing them as the Holy Grail for eliminating pores. Primers don’t erase pores off your face - they merely make them disappear for a while.
When applying makeup, primer comes in the first step of the process. After you’ve put on your favorite moisturizer, apply a smooth layer of primer on your face. Silicone-based primers are great for small and large pores alike.
If your skin has some ‘problem areas,’ tap the primer on those places generously. Following that, apply your makeup as you normally do, and the pores won’t be visible throughout the day.
Get Facials
If you think your pores are too big of an issue to be resolved with a drug-store cleanser, visit an aesthetician instead. It’s best to get a pore-specific skin treatment or a facial every month. If that’s too heavy on your pocket, get a facial a few times a year.
Also, ask your skincare professional: what is microneedling? Most of them will couple the microneedling session with other treatments for visible results. However, if frequent visits are not in the cards for you, DermRoller is your at-home microneedling solution.
Use a Hydrating Serum
Before putting moisturizer on your skin, apply a layer of a hydrating serum. It will plump the surrounding skin, shrinking your pores.
To make this work, you’ll have to exfoliate regularly. Otherwise, the hydrator will simply sit on the upper layer of your dead skin, not having access to the inside.
While you’re at it, also increase your water intake. Keep a water bottle with you and chug throughout the day.
Night Time Skincare Routine to Minimize Pores
Most of us would rather sit in bed, scrolling through Instagram than stand in front of a mirror, doing the bare minimum for our skins. However, if you want to reduce your pores, you must follow a strict nighttime skin regimen. Here are the steps to follow:
Step 1: Remove Makeup
Always remove your makeup before sleeping. Even if you were simply wearing a concealer and lipstick during the day, wipe it off with a makeup wipe or micellar water.
Avoid tugging at your skin. Instead, put a few drops of the micellar water on a cotton pad and dissolve the makeup slowly and gently.
Step 2: Cleanse
Use a water-based cleanser to remove free radicals and pollutants from your skin. Make sure you’re covering the areas around the nose, eyes, and hairline.
Step 3: Apply a Toner
Toner is often a forgotten yet crucial part of the skincare routine. It helps balance the skin pH and preps the skin for all the products you’ll put on it in the next few steps.
After cleansing:
- Pat the skin dry with a towel.
- Put a small amount of the toner in your palms.
- Press your fingers onto the face instead of using a cotton pad to swab the product.
Step 4: Apply Serum
Next, layer a hydrating serum onto the toner. While you’re off to sleep, the serum will work its magic, making your skin appear radiant and relatively pore-free in the morning.
Step 5: Night Cream
Finally, put on a layer of night cream to seal in all the other ingredients. You can also use a sleeping mask instead.
Morning Skincare Routine to Minimize Pores
The morning routine for minimizing pores is pretty similar to the night care regimen. Follow the steps given below to have healthy and happy skin.
Step 1: Cleanse
If you put night cream on the night before, you need to cleanse it off in the morning with a gentle cleanser. Wash your face with lukewarm water. Hot water irritates your pores and opens them up, making them look bigger.
Step 2: Toner
Again, to prepare your skin for subsequent products and makeup, apply a layer of toner. A toner also helps maintain pH, which is often disturbed by the impurities in the air.
Step 3: Apply an Antioxidant Serum
While the hydrating serum is for the night, Vitamin C serum is for the day time. Vitamin C has antioxidant properties, cleansing your skin of toxins.
Step 4: Use Eye Cream
Using an eye cream daily can reduce the appearance of large pores. Plus, it improves the eyelids' elasticity, delaying the onset of collagen loss, wrinkles, and fine lines.
Step 5: Sunscreen
You’ve heard it from beauty gurus, makeup artists, and your mother: apply sunscreen every time you step out. A sunscreen with SPF 30 should be an integral part of your skincare routine.
The UV radiation can damage collagen, expanding pores. Thus, wearing sunscreen protects you from harmful rays while preventing pore expansion.
Conclusion
No matter what you do, your pores won’t disappear completely. In fact, you shouldn’t even wish for this since pores are the passage for beauty products and air into your skin.
However, enlarged pores may make you feel conscious about your appearance. In this guide, we discussed different products and methods to keep their visibility minimal. Once you stick to a good skincare routine, large pores will be a thing of yesterday.
