In this blog post, we examine the causes of pores and the reality behind various pore-shrinking methods, uncovering the truth about the pore care methods we commonly believe in.
There’s a skin problem that troubles women worldwide every summer. It’s ‘stretched and enlarged pores’. Pores are the openings where hair grows and the pathways through which sebum travels from the sebaceous glands to the skin’s surface. Typically, pore diameter ranges from 0.02 to 0.05mm, and their size can change due to factors like aging or climate. Pores are considered an important indicator of skin health, and those seeking clean, smooth skin often pay close attention to pore care. People often magnify their facial pores and react sensitively to even minor changes, leading to sustained interest in pore care. This concern extends beyond women to men as well. In recent years, as men’s use of grooming products has increased, pore care has become an essential skincare item transcending gender.
The reason people are so concerned about reducing their pores is that skin with many large pores often struggles to appear clean. The cosmetics market, ever attentive to women’s such concerns, is flooded with basic skincare products, nose strips, and massagers promising to shrink pores. Moreover, pore care products are readily available at dermatology clinics. How effective are these various methods for reducing pore size?
Sadly, the size and number of pores are predetermined by genetics. This means attempts to make pores smaller have inherent limitations. No matter how diligently you apply pore-minimizing cream every morning or squeeze sebum with nose strips every night, once enlarged pores won’t shrink back. Even undergoing a multi-hundred-dollar pore treatment course at a dermatologist yields the same result. Of course, depending on the method tried, you might temporarily feel like pores have shrunk or disappeared. However, as mentioned earlier, pores are simply hair follicles and sebum channels—not muscles—so they cannot voluntarily expand or contract. Therefore, once pores have enlarged, it is impossible to permanently reduce their size through acquired care.
But that doesn’t mean you should give up on pore care. When using pore care cosmetics or receiving pore treatments at a dermatologist’s office, many people feel like their pores have shrunk. Even if such pore care has no actual permanent effect, users experience temporary and immediate results. So why do people feel that pore care products are effective?
First, the truth about pore care cosmetics lies in alcohol. Most pore care cosmetics contain high levels of alcohol, which temporarily swells the skin. As the skin around the pores swells, it covers the pores, leading users to mistakenly believe the pores have shrunk. However, the pore-minimizing effect from alcohol is extremely temporary, and alcohol itself strongly irritates the skin, making side effects highly likely. Long-term use can make the skin drier or more sensitive, potentially leading to a vicious cycle where pores become larger. Therefore, caution is essential when using products containing alcohol.
Nose strips also ultimately worsen pore problems. The purpose of nose strips is to remove keratin plugs—clumps of old dead skin cells and sebum stuck in pores like nails—to reduce the size of pores around the nose. Since pores are most prevalent around the nose, nose strips are a widely used, convenient method for pore care. Properly removing keratin plugs is indeed a crucial aspect of pore care. When dead skin cells block pores, sebum gradually accumulates inside, causing the pores to enlarge. Furthermore, blocked pores accumulate dead skin cells four times faster than unblocked pores.
However, nose strips are not an effective method for removing keratin plugs. Nose strips are thin, paper-like sheets that, when applied to the nose for a set time and then peeled off, can extract sebum from the nose. However, during the process of applying and removing the strip, the keratin plug that needs to be completely removed can get cut in the middle. Then, the existing pore opening is filled with the cut-off keratin plug and the empty space. Since skin is the tissue most directly exposed to the external environment, this empty space easily becomes susceptible to external contaminants. This ultimately stimulates increased sebum secretion in the pore area or causes acne.
Finally, pore treatments available at dermatology clinics work on the principle of temporarily making pores appear smaller by utilizing their shape. Pores are funnel-shaped, wider at the top and narrower towards the bottom. Dermatologists shave off the wider upper part of the pore to make it appear smaller. However, this method inevitably thins the skin, ultimately leaving it weaker and more sensitive. Furthermore, when the skin’s natural protective barrier weakens, it becomes more easily damaged by UV rays or pollutants. This can ultimately harm long-term skin health and accelerate the skin’s aging process.
Thus, products claiming to shrink pores are merely illusions designed to stimulate consumer desire and open wallets. Yet, it’s too distressing to simply watch pores grow larger. The answer lies surprisingly in a simple place. Since enlarged pores cannot be reduced, prevention is key—taking care to prevent them from enlarging in the first place. At the heart of this prevention lies thorough cleansing. Maintaining basic skincare habits is the first step in pore management. Using a foaming cleanser to massage along the muscle lines and rinse thoroughly will help remove sebum, the primary culprit behind enlarged pores.
