[By Tania Hui]
No matter how well you take care of your face, if you have ever looked too closely at yourself in the mirror, you might have noticed your enlarged pores. When it comes to skin pore size, the rule of thumb is ‘the smaller the better’. Light reflects better when your pores are tighter and this makes your skin look younger.
What are they?
Pores are small openings that cover all of the skin on your body. For every strand of hair on the body, there is a corresponding skin pore which functions to regulate your body temperature. Midway up the dermal layer of your skin, the sebaceous oil gland also empties into the hair follicle and both sebum and the hair breach the surface through this tiny aperture we call a pore.
What causes large pores?
Although your genes are the greatest determining factor in your pore size, aging and sun damage also play a part. As you get older, you skin loses its elasticity, which can cause your pores to look bigger. Sun damage can also thicken your skin, causing skin cells to gather around your pores, making them look bigger.
In general, men also tend to have larger pores than women, but women might experience larger pores during hormonal changes such as menstruation and pregnancy.
People who have naturally oily skin tend to have larger pores and when the pores are clogged with dead skin cells, dirt and bacteria (ie blackheads), they become even more noticeable. Pores of the face are largely found around the T-zone region as there is the greatest concentration of sebaceous glands in that area.
Read More: 5 Daily Oily Skin Mistakes That We Need To Kick
What can be done?
It is important to know that you can’t actually physically change the structure of your pores by making them smaller as they are nothing but small openings in the skin. However, to help you look more pore-less, you can target the key factors that cause enlarged pores such as reduce excessive oiliness, unclog them and increase collagen proliferation and skin elasticity to minimize their appearance.
Home Fix:
Choose skin care products which contain ingredients such as AHA, BHA, and tea tree oil to reduce excessive oiliness. You should also exfoliate weekly with a gentle scrub to get rid of the build up of excess oils and dead skin in the pores.
Doctor Fix:
To unclog those pores, you can choose from chemical peels and microdermabrasion, which help to clean pores and smooth out the appearance of your skin.
Laser Peel, a major breakthrough in skin rejuvenation, is also useful for decreasing pore size and refining skin texture. Apart from minimizing pore size and improving your skin tone as it renews sun-damaged skin, it can also help to regulate oiliness and control blemishes.
However, if you wish for a more dramatic result and do not mind a little flushing of the skin post procedure, you may want to go for a resurfacing laser treatment like Fraxel light. ‘Apart from effectively targeting surface imperfections such as pores, lines and rough dull skin, it can also help to erase stubborn pigmentation,’ adds Dr Kenneth Lee from SW1 Clinic.
Remember, you don’t have to live with large pores. Let’s get Pore-fect today!
I had a laser peel last week on my face to fix acne scarring and for uneven skin texture. I wanted to try microdermabrasion but this is better and goes deeper. Because scars and pocks go into more skin layers, a deeper peel will get you better results. I had it done on a Friday afternoon with the weekend to recover. Do this if you can! You will be grateful, guaranteed.
The laser peel is not a difficult or particularly painful but it is uncomfortable nonetheless. Healing times will also vary so you may be fine the next day but you may not. It actually took me about five days to feel better afterwards. At first I didn’t think the laser did much good. My texture improved almost right away but my scars didn’t and this was the main reason I wanted it done. But after about a month or two my skin was much better and I would call it a success at this point. I guess this is due to the collagen-growing effects that the laser has – improving from the inside out! In short, this was a helpful procedure and I don’t regret it.
However, you have to know that it isn’t permanent. If you have the scarring or skin texture to need the laser peel, you will need to follow-up with either another laser peel later or fraxel light. Totally worth it.
Pores are the bane of my existence. I went through a series of laser treatments and they helped to some extent but hurt my pocket. What I found useful was using exfoliating products at home, mild glycolic acid seems to keep my skin clearer and more refined. While the results were nowhere near the Fraxel laser I underwent it was a good compromise for a working girl with a small budget like me.
I had some polishing treatment done at a beauty salon a while back. It made my skin clear for 3 days but nada thereafter. I am really interested in the laser peel…. perhaps i will take the plunge soon. (i hate pores!!!!)