How To Get Rid Of Large Pores In Simple Yet Effective Ways

Pores are tiny gaps in your skin that allow it to breathe, but when these pores enlarge, they are prone to collect excessive oil, sebum, and other impurities causing acne and pimples. Read ahead to know how you can minimise pores and prevent them from occurring.

Do you find yourself covering bumps and pimples with makeup instead of finding a solution for your visibly large pores? Then you have to get on the pore-minimising train where we offer solutions for your large and open pores. These pores are a result of oily, acne-prone, and even dry skin, so finding a solution lies in understanding the causes. They can ruin even the most flawless makeup look. Even a full-coverage foundation doesn’t stand a chance. Before we get into solutions, we have to first learn about pores in detail, what causes them, how to nip them in the bud, and how to prevent them in the future.

So how do you nix pesky pores and flaunt a smooth complexion? Here’s how to get rid of pores on your face.

What Is A Pore & Its Types

Pores are tiny openings in your skin that allow it to breathe. These pores can be small or large, due to several factors these pores can get bigger causing the oil, sebum, bacteria, and other impurities to settle in them. This causes the pores to stretch further and clog. Clogged pores can cause acne breakouts, pimples, and oily skin. There are different types of pores your skin can get. They are as follows:

O-shaped pores: These are small round pores that usually appear on the T-Zone. They are prone to oil and sebum accumulation which is a common phenomenon for people with oily and acne-prone skin.

U-shaped pores: These types of pores are more common with dry skin where lack of moisture causes the pores to skin further, similar to sink holes on dry and moisture-less grounds.

Y-shaped pores: These pores are common among people with photoaged and mature skin. When your skin stops producing collagen, there is often an empty space that causes the pores to widen. They start appearing deeper and rounder, especially around your cheeks.

Causes Of Large & Open Pores

Here are a few causes for large and open pores:

Genetics: If your genetic makeup creates less collagen, it reduces the speed of cell regeneration and thus causes moisture loss and a weak skin barrier. This means your skin is more prone to pores and them growing larger due to lack of moisture.

Environmental Stressors: Excessive sun damage, pollution, humidity, dry air, and sweat can all cause your pores to open up further inviting impurities to settle in.

Thick Hair Follicles: Our skin has sweat, hair, and oil glands that increase the elasticity of your skin. Sometimes these glands are enlarged causing the pores to widen and get clogged with oil and sebum.

Products: When you use heavy oil and cream-based products they can clog your pores and cause your skin to break out. If you have oily or combination skin, use products that are lightweight, mild, and gentle.

Overuse of makeup: Overuse of makeup is a bad practice anyway, since your skin is always covered, it doesn’t get a chance to restore and breathe, causing your pores to enlarge. But if you are someone who doesn’t clean your makeup before going to bed, that can make things worse.

Ways To Get Rid Of Pores

Here’s how to get rid of pores on your face:

1. Vacuum-clean your skin

Time to wage an all-out war! Large pores and excess oil go hand in hand. When dirt and oil get stuck in your pores, they cause them to stretch. A quick way to nix this is by using a charcoal-based face wash that literally sucks the bad stuff out. Did you know charcoal can bind 800 times its weight in dirt and oil?

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2. Buff your stuff

A common mistake that people often make is indulging in extra vigorous exfoliation in the milieu of extra cleansing, this can not be further from the truth. This inflames pores, making them even larger. You need a mild but tough exfoliator infused with chemical exfoliants like Salicylic acid or Glycolic acid. They stimulate cell turnover and keep pores clean. But be mindful about such a powerful exfoliator with AHAs and BHAs, do not use it more than twice a week.

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3. Tighten up

Have you noticed your pores look larger in your 30s than they did in your 20s? That’s because skin loses collagen and elastin – the building blocks for tight skin – as you age. Hydrate yourself inside out: drink lots of water and use a hydrating serum. This shrinks pores by plumping up the surrounding skin. We tried The QUENCH Zit Fix Serum With Salicylic Acid & Chia Seeds and loved the moisture surge it gave our skin.

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4. Sun protection

The sun too plays a big part in how big your pores become. Direct sunlight tears up collagen in the skin, making pores larger. Simple solution daily mattifying SPF to structural skin damage before it happens. When looking to get rid of pores on your face, give a lightweight mineral sunscreen the chance, instead of entering your skin, it simply creates a protective barrier without the rays ever entering in.

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5. Add a retinoid to your routine

It’s time to say hello to the wunderkind of skin care: retinol. A vitamin A derivative that stimulates the metabolism of skin cells and encourages collagen production. Use daily to visibly reduce the appearance of brown spots, wrinkles and large pores. Pure Retin A is available at chemists. Add a drop to your night cream or simply pick up retinol-infused skin formula like L'Oreal Paris Revitalift Night Cream.

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6. Primer first

A must before putting on your foundation. While you're waiting for results to kick in from the treatments above, invest in a pore-minimising primer. These wonder formulae contain optical reflectors that mattify skin and visually fill in pores so they look smaller and smoother. We love the super light, matte primer that doesn’t clog pores. Then look for a blurring foundation like Huda Beauty Fauxfilter Luminous Matte Full Coverage Liquid Foundation.

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7. Never sleep with makeup on

Beauty and skincare is a polarising subject, but if there is one idea that every faction agrees upon is never sleeping with makeup on. This should be a big no-no for everyone, whether you have enlarged pores or not. Clean your makeup with a cleanser or micellar water to clean and unclog your pores for your skin to breathe better.

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8. Last resort: The dermatologist!

If all else fails, head to the dermatologist for a laser treatment. The only proven way of ACTUALLY reducing pore size. A series of treatments with non-ablative lasers can reduce pores by building collagen, plumping the skin and shrinking pores. Bonus: The treatment has minimal downtime.

Parting Thoughts

We hope you have learned everything there is to know on how to get rid of pores on your face, because when it boils down to the causes, they are manageable, and if not the preventative and curative measures are also simple. Never let open and large pores get the best of you, radiate from within with the right routine.

Tips To Prevent Large Pores

If you are still wondering how to close pores on the face naturally, without any dermatologist or chemical intervention, then here are a few tips for you.

Always wear sunscreen, whether it is winter or cloudy, rainy or stormy. A sunscreen, especially a mineral sunscreen, creates a protective barrier around your skin, without ever letting harmful UV rays and other impurities from entering.
Always keep yourself hydrated, I have heard it’s somewhat good for your body and pores :D
Maintain a healthy diet, avoid overly sugary, deep-fried, and carbonated drinks and food. These foods can cause gut issues that lead to excessive oil and sebum production.
Scrub your skin with AHAs and BHAs to chemically exfoliate your skin instead of rubbing it with coarse facial scrubs that can cause wear and tear to the skin.

Parting Thoughts

FAQs

How to close pores on the face naturally?

You can close your pores naturally by using oil-control ingredients such as kaolin clay, aloe vera, fuller’s earth, and yoghurt. You can either DIY a face mask or get products formulated with the goodness of these ingredients.
How to get rid of pores on your face?

You can get rid of pores from your face by maintaining a pore-minimising skincare routine that includes cleansing your face regularly, exfoliating it occasionally, and using a hydrating primer before makeup to not let the formulation enter your pores.
What causes open and large pores?

Several reasons cause open and large pores some of which are impossible to prevent such as genetics, hormones, and environmental stressors. But there are some causes that you can stop from occurring such as sleeping with makeup on, over-exfoliation, skipping sunscreen, and using oil and heavy, cream-based products.
Recommend clay masks to minimise pores.

Clay masks are great to minimise large and open pores as they enter the surface of the skin and suck out all the impurities to unclog your pores, here are a few recommendations for the same:
What product is the best to close open pores?

Toners are the best product to remove excess oil and tighten open pores, here are some toners for the same: