How to get rid of large pores? (Minimize/ shrink pores simple ways)

Large pores: Causes and solutions:

If you have large pores and you are looking for a fix, you are in the right place. Here I have explained basic things about pores. What makes your pores large? How to minimize them? And a few good ingredients to look for, to help minimize the large pores. 

Large pores representation

Table Of Contents

◆ What are pores?
◆ What causes large pores?
◆ How to minimize large pores (temporary fix)
◆ How to minimize large pores (long term solution)
    (i) Pore cleansing
    (ii) Maintain skin's temperature
    (iii) Gentle exfoliation
    (iv) Moisturization
    (v) Sunscreen
◆ Ingredients that minimizes large pores

What are pores? 

Pores are small openings in the skin that release oils and sweat. They are also connected to hair follicles. In simple words, Our pores are holes where the hair comes out from. So basically pore has a hair follicle and is connected to sebaceous glands that secrets sebum.

What causes large pores? What makes pores look bigger?

Sebum production: When your skin produces excess sebum, your pores naturally becomes wider because it has to secrete sebum out. If the dirt and sebum clog the pathway, your pores can become even larger. So when the cycle of producing and secreting sebum continues, the pores can become larger.

Loss of elasticity: Pores can also become larger if the collagen production levels are reduced and when the skin loses its elasticity.

Clogged pores: Pores looks larger when the pores are clogged and congested. This happens when there is excess oil, dead skin cells are stuck inside pores. This leads to whiteheads, blackheads, and acne. 

Other causes: Genetics, sun damage, clogging ingredients, skin type, and age. 

This makes skin feel rough and textured.

How to minimize the appearance of large pores? (temporary fixes):

There are many articles on the internet and videos on youtube with the title "How to get rid of large pores?" Even my post has the same title because that's what people want and it's the best title to grab your attention and guide you through the right path.

First things first, you cannot get rid of large pores. You can only minimize or shrink the pores by following a few tips and a good skincare routine.

When we consider the idea of large pores, what comes to our mind is cleansing our pores and drying out our skin to get rid of gunk present inside our pores. 

But what really happens is that we are scraping away impurities from the top layer of the skin. So, only the top layer of our skin gets cleared giving an illusion of clearer looking pores.

To achieve this, we tend to use over-drying face washes, scrubs, and clay masks. And I know that gives very satisfying results. But trust me they can harm our skin in the long run, it can compromise our skin barrier and cause more harm than good. 

Clay masks can shrink pores and make them look cleaner. But clay masks can also suck out natural oils from our skin if overused. Make sure to use clay masks not more than twice a week. Also, don't wait for a clay mask to completely dry on your skin.   These things can also make our skin oilier in the long run. 

You can also use ice to minimize the appearance of pores. But be careful while doing this. Never apply ice directly on the face, which can cause something called "ice burns". Always wrap ice in a washcloth (cotton cloth) and very gently massage it on your skin for a few seconds. That will shrink your pores. This can be used as a quick fix. 

It is always better to concentrate on the long-run solution for large and clogged pores.

How to actually minimize the large pores? (Long term solution) :

So what should you do is, target the root cause. 

Targeting the root cause of large pores will help minimize large and congested pores. This can be done by following these steps: pore cleansing, Gentle exfoliation, moisturization and regular use of sunscreen.

1. Pore cleansing: We should get rid of excess sebum from within our pores. We tend to physically remove sebum or use extraction tools to get rid of sebum and clogged pores. It is also a common tendency to use over-drying cleansers to minimize pore size. But this is the last thing you should do. It bothers and irritates your skin.

Stripping off your oils from your skin does nothing other than making your skin oilier.

So what you have to do is, melt down the sebum with low irritating cleansing. Use a gentle cleanser. Mostly a gel type cleanser that does the job of cleansing without damaging skin barrier.

2. Maintain your skin's temperature at 31 degrees Celcius:

If your skin's temperature is too high: Excess sebum production takes place, clog pores, and causes breakouts. Also decreases skin's elasticity.

If your skin's temperature is too low: It can slow down blood circulation and dead skin cells tend to linger on, which in turn clogs pores.

3. Gentle exfoliation: Prefer a gentle chemical exfoliator that helps get rid of excess sebum from pores. But make sure not to over-exfoliate, that can irritate sebaceous glands and produces more sebum. Use AHAs, BHAs, and PHAs.

AHA exfoliates the outer layer of the skin. It is similar to PHAs. Whereas, BHAs goes deeper into pores to cleanse them. Choose an exfoliator according to your skin type, concern, and sensitivity.

Talking a little about BHAs. Salicylic acid is the most commonly known BHA. Blackheads, whiteheads, excess sebum, dead skin cells are the main things that make your pores look larger.

Salicylic acid(BHA) helps with not only appearance but the texture of your skin as well. So, BHA gets rid of dead skin cells and can work within pores. 

Salicylic acid exfoliates deep within the pores as well as results in smaller looking pores, less bumps and less texture.

4. Moisturization:

Irrespective of your skin types, you need to use a moisturizer that is meant for your skin type. The right moisturizer keeps your skin healthy and controls excess sebum production (especially in oily skin types), hence will not make pores look larger.

5. Sunscreen: 

Sunscreen is an essential step of your morning skincare routine. Make sure to use sunscreen even indoors (you can use the one with SPF 20-30) But do not skip sunscreen. Sunscreen will protect your skin from harmful sun rays damaging your skin in various ways.

Ingredients to look for (for healthy skin and minimized pores) :

1. For skin's elasticity: Peptides, Vitamin C, and Panthenol.

Peptides recovers damaged skin. Vitamin C helps repair damaged skin due to UV rays and removes dead skin cells.

(Vtamin c and peptides together helps recover damaged skin. It will help with skin's elasticity by supporting production of collagen)

2. Niacinamide: Known to give your pores a tighter look. Niacinamide can actually help to boost the repairing of your skin. Increases elasticity, so it gives the appearance of tighter-looking pores. The best part about Niacinamide is that you can use it on a daily basis. (Niacinamide of 5% or more is known to show results)

3. Clays: Bentonite, Kaolin masks help to minimize the appearance of pores, but this is a temporary solution. These can suck out natural oils from the skin if left for more than 15 mins on the skin. However, there are some good clay masks these days that remove only excess oils from the skin,.

4. Retinols/ Retinoids: Retinols and retinoids are basically forms of Vitamin A. Retinols help in the proper functioning of the skin. They help massively with cell rejuvenation. If you are a beginner, use it once a week until you build a tolerance. 

Note: Use Retinols/retinoids only in the late 20's (at least after the age of 25)

5. Sunscreen: Sunscreen is a must. It also prevents your skin from aging faster (wrinkles, fine lines, large pores). Reapply sunscreen every 3-4 hours to make sure you get maximum protection. 

Disclaimer: 

I have personally had large pores and I kept on looking for information about it and tried to minimize them. What I have presented above is from my personal experience and a lot of research. I am not a dermatologist and this is not a piece of professional advice. This is just to give you a basic knowledge and I hope this was helpful.

No one knows your skin better than you. Make wise decisions and get the right products for you.