How To Shrink Pores in 5 Easy Steps

We’ve all seen the pore minimizing skin care products. They claim to shrink your pores leaving you with flawless skin. The big question is how? Is this even possible? Can you shrink pores? I know. There’s a lot of questions and a lot of false information out there, so we’re gonna get into it. 

Before we can learn how to make pores smaller, we need to understand a bit more about our pores. What do pores do? Why do pores get larger or smaller? Or do they? Answering these questions is the first step in our journey to reduce pore size. 

Pores actually have quite a vital role in the health of our skin. They allow the necessary oils to lubricate our face to prevent it from becoming dry. That being said, it is not in anyone’s best interest to have completely shut pores. This is why clogged pores are almost always a reason for a breakout. 

Another fact that might shock you considering the loads of information pointing otherwise, large or small pores are mostly up to genetics. This is not something that grows or shrinks over time in all reality. However, there are many ways that your skin can give the illusion of larger or smaller pores, which is what we are going to expound on. 

Step by Step

Now that we’ve got a bit of background on pores, let’s talk about fixing our issue with them. Here are 5 steps how to make pores smaller, or appear that way: 

1. Cleanse

One of the biggest factors of minimizing pores is keeping a clean canvas. This means clearing out your pores as much as possible. The first step of this is to cleanse your face regularly. Grab a gentle cleanser to make sure you don’t irritate your skin. 

2. Retinol

The next step of keeping your skin clear and healthy is adding some form of Retinol into your routine. This has loads of benefits including tightening, removing wrinkles and fine lines, and keeping your skin plump which gives the illusion of reduced pore size. Apply this during your nighttime routine and watch it work magic. 

3. Exfoliate

Exfoliation is great to remove the dead skin cells that can clog your pores and give them a larger appearance. Any type of exfoliation will work, but remember to lean towards gentle products to protect your skin. Your face has the thinnest skin on your body after all. There are two types of exfoliation, chemical and physical. Be careful with each, but typically specialists recommend chemical to help protect your skin from damage. 

Whichever you choose, don’t over-exfoliate. Start once a week and work your way up to determine how sensitive your skin is. The goal is to exfoliate two or three times a week, but take your personal skin into consideration!

4. Extractions

A lot of time, when we see large pores, we are really seeing blackheads in our pores. This is why they look so much larger than normal. The best way to fix this is to go get a facial where an esthetician can do professional extractions on your blackheads. This is the most thorough option. 

Attempting to extract your own black heads is risky. You could damage your skin or not fully extract, leaving the blackhead to come back like before. Plus, facials come with lots of other benefits and a self care dare. Focus on you!

5. Light Makeup

This one might be a big adjustment for some of us. Heavy makeup can actually have the opposite effect than intended and make our skin look less airbrushed and smooth than it did to start with. This is from a combination of bad skincare, which hopefully we have fixed, and heavy foundation clogging our skin. 

Try giving your skin an extra kick of moisture before applying your makeup and grab a light to medium coverage foundation to see if this makes a difference in terms of your pores’ appearance. This moisture will help the foundation blend into your skin rather than sitting on top of your skin with a layer of dead skin in between. 

Conclusion

So while you didn’t get the exact answer you might have been looking for in how to shrink pores, you can minimize pores appearance with these five steps. The biggest takeaway should be that it all falls back on a good skincare routine. Whether you are blessed with smaller or larger pores naturally, good skin routines can make or break their appearance. Now go book your facial, grab your check list of skin care products, and enjoy your new and improved skin! 

Like content? Share it!
Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin
Share on pinterest