Oil is what makes your pores look large. “It’s challenging, but oil improvements just how mild interacts with solid items, producing points appear bigger,” says Ranella Hirsch, a board-certified dermatologist in Boston. “So the more oil your sebaceous glands are pumping out, the bigger your pores will seem.” It’s also why pores may look their most cavernous right before you get your period – that’s when you have the highest levels of the hormone progesterone, which increases oil production.
So you’ll make your pores look smaller sized by reducing oil – and these three tips do just that. (Note that they’re meant for those with oily or combination skin; dry-skin types generally don’t have the kind of excessive oiliness that leads to larger-looking pores.)
Daily
Step 1: Use a deep-cleaning cleanser
This will clear out oil and prevent buildup of that blackish products that makes pores appear more dominant. (Bacteria in your pores turns black once it comes into contact with oxygen.) You could also use a cleaning brush, Argan Oil which can be more successful than cleaning with your hands, but be gentle with it. “People tend to overdo it with those brushes, especially the spinning ones,” says Jeannette Graf, MD, a board-certified skin specialist and assistant clinical professor of dermatology at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York. “You don’t need to press them into your skin – they should just sit on the surface.”
Step 2: Apply a mattifying primer or powder before you put on any makeup
It will bathe up extra oil seated on your skin and briefly hide pores. And when selecting makeup, look for products labeled as noncomedogenic, which means they won’t block pores and lead to even more oil production.
Weekly
Use a mask with charcoal or clay – two ingredients that excel at absorbing oil.