HOW DO YOU MAKE YOUR PORES SMALLER

April 1st, 2020

How do you make your pores smaller? This is a common question in my treatment room.

I have bad news and good news for you. Let’s start with the bad. There is no way to shrink your pores. Yes, you have been scammed by the beauty industry that you can shrink your pore size. Yes, that explains why everything you have tried has not worked.

So What Exactly is a Pore?

A Pore houses a hair follicle and sebaceous gland and serves as a gateway for sebum, our skin’s natural oil. A pore is just a channel for things to reach the skin’s surface and allows oxygen into our skin.

The size of your pore is genetic.

Your pore size is genetic and can not be changed. What is making your pore size appear larger is due to the skin around a pore loses its firmness when we age and due to the lack of support from the surrounding tissue. If your pores seem to be getting bigger as you get older, you’re not imagining things: aging and sun damage also contribute to pore size. Dirt and makeup build up inside the pore can also make it appear to be darker and more noticeable, AKA those annoying blackheads that everyone hates.

So here is the good news….

While you can’t shrink large pores, you can make them appear smaller.

Everyone has pores! And more than likely you are the only one who notices them!

Here are some ways to keep your pores healthy:

• Stop using your makeup wipes as your cleanser. You can use makeup wipes to remove your makeup, however, you need a good cleanser after to really get in there and give your pores a deep clean.
• The best way to clean your skin at night is by using a double cleanse technique. Starting with an oil cleanser, massage into your skin for 15 secs, DO NOT rise off. Then on top of your oil cleanser apply the corrective/ deep pore cleansing cleanser. Massage into your skin for 45 secs. Next is to rinse off your cleansers. For the first cleanse, my favorite is the Boho Cleansing Balm I created for my Bohemia Skin line. It melts away makeup, SPF and buildup, and raw manuka honey, sea buckthorn and castor oil leave your skin feeling soft and nourished instead of stripped. For the second cleanse, follow with a gentle water-based cleanser to lift away any dirt and makeup that’s left, then go straight into the rest of The Bohemia Skin System. A double cleanse technique also helps combat blackheads!
• Do not sleep with makeup on! That is a major skin SINNN! It will only make your pores appear bigger. EKKKK!
• Avoid highlighters in your makeup – it tends to make your pores look bigger
• Use clay masks to help absorb oils, bacteria, and dirt at least once a week. – I love clay masks.
• Use non-comedogenic makeup and skincare to keep follicles clear.
• Exfoliation is vital to help slough dead skin. Here’s my favorite: Kay’s Glow Oxygen Serum from my Bohemia Skin line. A buffered trio of AHAs (glycolic, lactic and malic) gently smooths away dull surface skin, so your pores look less noticeable and you get that beautiful JLO glow, without the sting. If you use it in the morning, follow with sunscreen.
• Retinol helps clean out your pores and tighten the skin around your pore, helping your pore size appear smaller. Bohemia Skin doesn’t make a retinol, so at night I use The Bohemia Skin System: the Boho Cleansing Balm, then Kay’s Glow Oxygen Serum mixed into Infinite Aura Moisturizer, which smooths texture and helps the skin around your pores look firmer.
• Stay hydrated and drink plenty of water!