We have unlocked the pore truth! Have you ever spent an entire morning makeup-session staring at your reflection wondering why your pores have begun to take over your face? Well, it’s not that you’ve developed a whole slew of new pores, or more have come out from their hiding places. Your skin care regime just needs a little tweaking. For those who aren’t aware a pore is a route or a channel by which the skin’s surface can be reached. Pores house a hair follicle and sebaceous gland and serves as a gateway for sebum. The sebum is our skin’s natural oil.

Myth or Truth?

While many people believe you can get rid of pores, this is simply a myth. The truth is that you cannot banish them completely, but with the right skin care, you can make pores look less noticeable. You can make pores appear smaller by removing the excess sebum, debris, and makeup that has built up within them. Oil sitting at the mouth of a pore also contributes to the problem of large pores given that the oil may reflect light which would make the openings once again appear larger than they really are.

Pores

How do we develop pores you ask? Pore size is largely determined by genetics. Although, poor hygiene and its resulting dirt and oil and the dead skin cells that lurk about underneath the surface of your skin. This can contribute to making pores look much larger. If a pore becomes clogged, it is stretched temporarily and it will in turn become more apparent. So when your esthetician tells you to make sure you’re taking care of your skin at home, listen to her, she’s trying to save you from large pores!

Other Beliefs

Aging and sun damage also contribute to pore size; the skin around a pore loses its firmness when we age and the pore may appear larger due to the lack of support from the surrounding tissue. The pore truth is getting regular facials is of key importance if you are trying to keep your pore size at bay simply because the esthetician will do extractions which will help to clear the debris that has built up over time. Another myth that tends to surround pore size involves steaming them. Contrary to popular belief, pores cannot ‘open and close’ with steaming; this is because pores do not have muscles around their openings. Steaming instead, helps to loosen underlying debris, which makes for easier extractions.

We can therefore see that although annoying, pores are an essential part of our facial structure and having a route for our natural oil to derive from is of the upmost importance. It’s all about managing them to make sure they look their best! That is the pore truth!