What's The Best Way To Shrink Pores?
Large pores are an indication of how much oil your skin produced when you were in your teens-the formative years for your pore size. When your skin rapidly pumped out the oil, the walls of the pore stretched wider resulting in larger pores. For those who were very oily all over the face (due to genetics), your pores will be larger everywhere, while those that produced oil only in the t-zone, their larger pores are confined to this area. And for those that barely produced oil, their pores still remain small to this day.
There are TWO ways to make large pores look smaller:
1. The most immediate way to reduce the appearance of large pores is through exfoliation. Simple use of a gentle facial scrub or leaving a gentle acid exfoliating serum on the skin over night will give instant improvement. A good analogy for explaining how exfoliation works is this. If you were to take a piece of wood and hit it with a hammer, you would make an indentation in the wood. To smooth out this dent, sanding with sandpaper would make it less noticeable. The same rules apply with the skin. Large pores (and lines, wrinkles and acne scars) are all indentations within the skin, so by “sanding” down the skin with exfoliators, the pores will be less deep, and therefore, less noticeable. Once the skin is exfoliated, it’s important to use a good moisturizer to give the skin hydration so the pores stay plumped up. By exfoliating your skin on a regular basis, this will help remove surface dry cells so the opening of the pores are less deep making them look smaller.
I recommend A Natural Difference Cranberry or Mango Scrub made with zeolites from volcanic ash that detoxify the skin along with exfoliation.
5% Phyto Pumpkin Enzyme Peel. I use enzyme peels in my facials and this is the take home version! If your skin is easily irritated by scrubs, or you'd like to try something different, this is it!
2. A long term approach (but the most effective one) is to use a product with retinol. Long-term use of a product containing retinol will really help smooth the skin and make pores look smaller and less noticeable. It is truly the most scientifically proven ingredient to re-texture the skin to reveal smoother skin with less visible pores, lines and wrinkles. My very favorite product for making pores look smaller is Retinoxyl Elixir. It is a retinol formulated for all skin types, without redness or irritation. Great for pore size, fine lines, wrinkles and discolorations. There is no miracle product, but with dedication to a great reigment, pores can be improved! In a time crunch? A quick fix is Coola Matte SPF Moisturizer. This moisturizer not only helps control oil, is a makeup primer and SPF 30, but also smoothes out the skin for the day!