Pore-free perfection! Image: www.pinterest.com/pin/246994360786312675/
WHY DO I HAVE LARGE PORES?
Fact: Flawless skin is pit-free skin – which is probably why just about everyone and their mother’s mother are preoccupied with playing down their pores.
But what in blazes are pores, anyway? Here’s a cool cocktail conversation-starter at your next beauty bash: According to a Korean-based dermatologist from cult cosmeceutical brand Dr. Jart+, you have more than 20,000 of these suckers on the skin of your face. Their purpose? Pores serve as sewer systems through which sebum is secreted.
It’s only when these tiny oil-carrying channels get clogged that things get iffy: “Visibly enlarged pores can occur when excess sebum mixes with dead skin debris to form a sticky plaque that engorges the pore, making it appear bigger in size.”
HOW DO I MINIMISE MY PORES?
You may have heard naysayers harrumphing at any attempts to shrink said pores and turning their (blackhead-speckled) noses up at your futile belief in the power of beauty.
Well, don’t let the cynics get to you; the same Dr. Jart+ rep says that while making pores “disappear” is the sole proviso of Photoshop and other digital tomfoolery, the real-life solution is simple: “You can indeed see some pore-minimising effect if you source for products that stabilise sebum production, remove residue in the pores, and recover skin elasticity.”
WHAT SHOULD I TRY?
What to buy, what to buy? There’s a plethora of pore-tightening products lining the beauty aisles, most of which can be inserted into your existing skincare regime with a little careful curation.
Because cleanliness is next to gorgeousness, consider kicking off your new blemish-minimising mission with Dr. Jart+’s Pore Medic Pore Minish Cleansing Bubble. This pore-purging pleasure is a cool concoction with carbonated bubbles that mimic a “micro-massaging” effect for noticeably brighter and bouncier complexion.
Top up with a toner-type lotion to loosen up the icky stuff encrusting your skin. Here’s what I do first thing in the morning: Grab three or four pieces of cotton and douse them in your go-to softener, then pat them onto cleansed skin. I find the best product for this purpose to be the excellent Visionnaire [LR 2412] Pre-Correcting Advanced Emulsion (from Lancôme, natch), a thirst-quenching treatment with botanical derivatives said to reduce redness and fine lines.
Tad more time to spare in the evening? Flush out the day’s dirt and debris by daubing on a detoxifying mud mask, which not coincidentally happens to be one of my favourite me-time treats.
I’m crazy for Clinique’s covetable new Pore Refining Solutions Charcoal Mask, which comes crammed with calming algae extracts, charcoal powder, mineral-rich montmorillonite and kaolin clay, all of which are great for getting under the skin and clearing out unwanted riff-raff clogging up your pores.
Simply slather on a generous glob of the good stuff, kick back your kitten heels for 10 minutes or so, then splash off for wobbly tofu skin.
Here’s hoping your time spent “poring” over this piece will result in perfectly petite pores on your part. Small pores for Singaporeans, FTW!