Your pores are vital for keeping your skin healthy, but it can be understandably difficult to appreciate this when they look glaringly conspicuous every time you glance in a mirror. 

Fortunately, enlarged pores are a common complaint, meaning that there’s plenty of expert advice and scientific research out there on how to make those pores look invisible once again. Read on as Introstem shares seven things that you can do today to shrink the appearance of enlarged pores. 

Is it Possible to Reduce the Size of Your Pores?

Before we begin, let’s get one thing straight – the size of your pores is determined by your genes. This means that you can’t physically shrink them.

However, pores aren’t usually very visible. You generally won’t notice them unless they become enlarged.

Once they do, working out the cause of your enlarged pores and then taking the steps to fix this should be enough to restore the smooth and flawless complexion of your youth.

What Causes Enlarged Pores?

There are several different factors that contribute to enlarged pores, with the most common being the overproduction of sebum. Your pores are responsible for carrying sebum to the surface of your skin. Any excess sebum ends up sitting in your pore openings, mixing in with dirt and other impurities. This stretches your pores out, making them look larger.

Aging is responsible for enlarged pores too. The skin loses elasticity with age, which loosens pore openings and makes them more visible. Sun damage exacerbates this by breaking down the proteins in the skin. This reduces how firm the skin feels, meaning that pore openings look bigger and looser.

7 Ways to Minimize the Look of Enlarged Pores

And now for the part that you’ve been waiting for; the best ways to reduce the look of enlarged pores. These are all steps that you can take today to make your pores appear less visible, but don’t forget that consistency is key if you want to keep your pores looking that way:

1. Cleanse Your Face

Let’s start with a skin care basic; cleansing. 

This may seem like a simple solution, but a good cleanse is sometimes all you need to remove any debris from your pore openings. This will immediately make them look less visible. Perhaps you haven’t been cleansing enough, or maybe the cleanser that you’re using isn’t effective. Either way, this is the very first thing to try if you want to reduce the appearance of enlarged pores.

To thoroughly cleanse your skin without drying it out, give Introstem’s Stem Cell Mousse Cleanser a try. The lather that it creates is perfect for lifting impurities from the skin. Meanwhile, its non-comedogenic plant oils will hydrate your complexion and its antioxidant-rich botanical extracts will tighten the appearance of your skin, including the look of your pores. 

When dealing with enlarged pores, it’s best to cleanse your skin twice a day. This will help to prevent your pores from feeling clogged and enlarged in the first place. Be gentle when cleansing – avoid rubbing or scrubbing at your skin. Irritation will only make those pores look larger and angrier!

2. Use an Exfoliating Peel

If your pores don’t look any different after you’ve cleansed your face, then it’s worth delving a little deeper with an exfoliating peel. While a cleanser will help with your surface-level pore openings, exfoliants remove dirt from deeper within the pores.

Why a peel? Because these are extremely effective at pulling impurities out of the skin. The Stem Cell Facial Peeling from Introstem is the perfect example. It’s infused with mandelic acid, an alpha-hydroxy acid that will leave your pores looking clear and refreshed. It also contains bamboo powder to physically dislodge any particularly stubborn chunks of debris.

When you use our Stem Cell Facial Peeling for the first time, you’ll be amazed at how it immediately makes enlarged pores look less visible. However, don’t be tempted to over-use it. Exfoliating twice a week usually strikes the perfect balance between keeping the pores clear and looking less visible without drying the skin out. After all, while dryness may seem like the answer to the excess sebum on your skin, let’s not forget that enlarged pores can look even more noticeable on dry skin.

3. Hydrate With Humectants Rather Than Heavy Oils

You don’t want your skin to feel dry but you don’t want to weigh it down and clog it up with heavy ingredients either, so what’s the answer?

It’s simple. Forgo those heavy butters and plant oils in favor of humectants. You’ll find plenty in the Introstem Thermostem Completion Cream. From glycerin to grape seed extract, the humectants in this formula will lend their moisture-binding properties to hydrate your skin cells without clogging your pores. This cream also contains salicylic acid, a beta-hydroxy acid that will delve deep down into your pores to loosen any debris.

It’s important to give your skin cells the moisture that they need to function properly. However, you don’t want to over-moisturize either. Congesting your skin will only lead to enlarged pores. 

So, if you’re only going to be moisturizing once a day, make this the morning. This way, your skin will feel replenished throughout the day, which will help to prevent your sebaceous glands from producing too much excess oil.

4. Add Vitamin A to Your Skin Care Routine

Although vitamin A isn’t an exfoliant, it has a similar effect in that it helps to prevent the pores from feeling clogged with debris. This helps to minimize their appearance.

However, vitamin A has another benefit too; it’s fantastic for firming and tightening the skin. Since aging and loose skin can often cause enlarged pores, tightening the complexion back up will help to reduce the look of your pore openings.

Add Vitamin A to your skin care routine with Introstem’s Hydro Age Reforming Beta Solution. Vitamin A becomes even more powerful when combined with other antioxidants, which, in this formula, are provided by cucumber fruit extract and grape seed extract.

You’ll also find vitamin A in our Stem Cell Vitamin C Serum. Vitamin E makes an appearance too, along with grape stem cells to really maximize the serum’s antioxidant content. Use this formula regularly and your skin will soon start to look smoother and tighter, with your pores appearing considerably smaller.

5. Apply a Clay Face Mask

Clay has been used for centuries to rebalance the complexion, and it can help with your enlarged pores too. Studies show that clay can effectively absorb sebum, along with bacteria, making clay masks ideal for pulling impurities out of enlarged pores.

While that may be the case, clay masks do also have a reputation for being drying. To counter this, choose a formula that combines clay with plenty of hydrating ingredients, like the Hydro Transforming Mask from Introstem.

This mask makes use of two types of clay; bentonite and kaolin. Bentonite is much more absorbent, but kaolin is gentler. Mixing the two results in a mask that’s effective without being harsh on the skin.

To enhance the detoxified feeling left behind by this mask, we’ve also infused it with willow bark extract. This botanical is a natural source of salicylic acid, the beta-hydroxy acid we discussed earlier. It’s ideal for clearing out the pores and reducing how oily the skin feels.

We usually recommend using this face mask once a week. However, to get some control back when it comes to your enlarged pores, you may want to try using it every five days instead. Once you see results, you can drop your usage down to weekly.

6. Protect Your Skin From the Sun

The sun contributes to enlarged pores in a few different ways. Firstly, it damages the protein fibers in your skin, including collagen and elastin. This leads to the skin losing its firmness and elasticity, making the pores appear bigger. The way in which the sun dries the skin out doesn’t help either. This makes the pores look so much more noticeable.

Fortunately, there’s an easy solution to this – make sure that your skin is always protected with a good sunscreen. 

One of our favorite formulas is the Stem Cell Active Defense SPF 30 from Introstem. Ideal for year-round protection, this sunscreen provides SPF 30, which is the recommended level for most skin types. It also contains a vast selection of antioxidant-rich botanical extracts, including grape stem cells, green tea, and aloe. Together, these antioxidants will leave your skin cells feeling even more shielded from the sun’s damaging UV rays.

Make sure that you give your sunscreen 15 minutes to soak into your skin before stepping out of the sun. Don’t forget to apply enough of the product either – aim for about 1/3 of a teaspoon to cover your face and neck.

7. Give Microneedling a Try

Microneedling may sound a little intimidating at first. After all, it involves piercing your skin with lots of tiny needles! 

However, it’s a technique that offers up a number of different benefits, including reducing the appearance of enlarged pores. It also happens to be painless. It may feel slightly uncomfortable, but it doesn’t actually hurt as such.

So, how does it work? 

A derma roller, which is a device that contains micro needles, is rolled over the skin. The wounds that it creates stimulate the skin’s natural healing processes, resulting in an increase in collagen production. The more collagen that your skin has, the firmer and tighter it will look, making this a great way to minimize the visibility of enlarged pores caused by skin aging.

While microneedling used to be a treatment that could only be carried out by professionals, there are now safe at-home devices available. Purchasing one of these will enable you to treat your skin more frequently, while also saving you a fair bit of money in comparison to professional treatments.

The Bottom Line

Although it may not be possible to physically alter the size of your pores, there is still plenty that you can do to make them less visible. From at-home exfoliating peels to clay-based face masks, incorporate our tips into your routine and it won’t be long before your complexion looks smooth, firm, and flawlessly pore-less once again.

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