The best ways to reduce your pores

April 16, 2015 1:20 AM

Large pores could mean two things: You'll need to cleanse your skin day and night and exfoliate regularly.

Minimizing pores

You know one of those days when you wake up and you suddenly feel like your pores are as wide as your nostrils?

Yup, they can be a makeup disaster for every chic.

So what do you do when you need your make up to sit just right on a smooth surface?

Large pores could mean two things: You'll need to cleanse your skin day and night and exfoliate regularly.

A scrub or cleansing brush paired with a mild face wash does the trick to get rid of dirt and oil, but if your skin can't handle exfoliation every day, use a cleanser with salicylic acid on off days.

"Even if your skin is sensitive, gentle exfoliation with a cleansing brush is usually tolerated on the nose, where skin is thick and oily," Hale says.

"You can also try working a retinoid (the umbrella term for anti-aging ingredients including retinol and retinoic acid) into your skin-care routine."

"As we age, we lose the collagen that supports our pores," Hale says. "A retinoid helps build that collagen back up. Just don't use one of these products in combination with a cleansing brush. That'll irritate the skin."

If you would like to take it a step further there are also procedures that your dermatologist can perform to reduce the appearance of pores, Hale says.

"A series of three to five Fraxel laser treatments will tighten collagen around pores, but there's also photodynamic therapy [PDT], which shrinks the oil glands that are associated with pores and makes them appear smaller."