We keep coming back to this subject in our newsletters and it’s for one very simple reason. Of all the email that we receive, an overwhelming amount has to do with pores: blocked pores, or large pores, or ugly, etc. It seems that everyone is obsessed with pores.

What Are Pores and Why Do We Have Them?

Pore is the common name given to the pilosebaceous unit, a part of the anatomy of normal skin and distinct from the pores involved in sweating which are much smaller and not often a cause of complaint.

The pilosebaceous unit consists of:

• hair
• hair follicle
• muscle, and
• sebaceous glands

Sebaceous glands are connected to the hair follicle and deposit sebum on the hair, which brings the sebum to the skin surface along the hair shaft. Sebum can help our skin with some anti-aging effect because it, in essence “waterproofs” our skin, preventing moisture loss over time.

Pores and Acne

One of the not-very-useful effects of sebum is acne, one reason why the popularity of pores is so low.

Pores can get clogged with dead cells and sebum, resulting in an environment with low oxygen and favorable to the growth of the acne bacteria, Propionibacterium acnes. This is a real problem and one that adequate skin care can prevent and correct. Acne may manifest open to the air as a “blackhead” or closed by skin as “whitehead”.

How to Keep Your Pores Clean

If your skin is very oily, decreasing sebum secretion will decrease pore size in younger skin. Try our T-Zone Serum and see whether it works for you.

Advanced Ageless Collagen Serum, used in conjunction with our Clarifying Cream will help with acne scars, including the red marks and hyperpigmentation. This powerful duo will also help diminish the size of pores by decreasing sebum secretion and by promoting synthesis of structural skin components that will build up at the edge of the pore. If you live in a polluted city, our wide-range of cleansers and Cleansing Oil will clean skin, pores included.

Avoid products containing alcohol like toners, which may “shrink” the pore in the short-term by dehydrating the skin, but the alcohol will dissolve and take away valuable lipids with it. Also, long-term, alcohol will dry your skin and sebum secretion may increase in response.