The Skin Nerd: Do the pores on your face really open and close?
Our pores, also known as our hair follicles, are simply openings in our skin, that allow hair (including vellus hairs, the fine, soft hair that covers the vast majority of us), oil and sweat to exit the skin.
From how pores are spoken about, we would think they are like a door that gets stuck and you have to give it a good tug to get it open (and clear out the junk inside – I'm looking at you, cupboard under the stairs). In reality, pores are not doors and they genuinely do not operate as such. The thought that warm water “relaxes” the pore seems to signify that the pore is like a muscle, and that we can loosen it up by applying warmth. The pore isn’t a muscle, nor a mechanism of any kind. Our pores, also known as our hair follicles, are simply openings in our skin, that allow hair (including vellus hairs, the fine, soft hair that covers the vast majority of us), oil and sweat to exit the skin.
Confusingly, warm water or steam can help in professional extractions – I say this because in general, I don’t advocate towards non-skin-professionals clearing each individual pore with an extraction tool. This is because our pores, as mentioned, are the tunnels our skin uses to transport our sebum, the skin’s oil. In “normal” skin, we produce just about enough sebum to keep our skin protected, soft and hydrated, and it’s a thin enough consistency to slip out of the pore without causing clogs. However, if we are producing too much sebum, it may remain in our pore, mix with dead skin cells and become a plug. The top of this plug, as it is lipidic, can be gently softened with heat, meaning that a professional can thus extract these not so enviable pore contents with ease and without causing damage to the skin.
This is why I don’t agree that everyone needs a traditional toner, as traditional toners often use astringent ingredients such as drying alcohol or witch hazel, which can dehydrate skin, causing pores to look temporarily smaller. However, skin dehydration can cause a host of other concerns, including making lines or wrinkles more apparent!
Nothing “tightens” the pore, per se. If the pore appears larger because there is a plug of sebum and dead skin cells, using an exfoliant with salicylic acid such as Skingredients Sally Cleanse (€25, skingredients.com & selected stockists) can help to dissolve the plugs as they form, thus helping pores to appear slightly smaller. However, if the pore is large due to the skin becoming less elastic (when our skin loses the protein elastin as we age), it takes a different approach to help the appearance. In this circumstance, we want to introduce ingredients that work to help stimulate the synthesis of collagen and elastin in our skin, so vitamin A, vitamin C and peptides, for example, as this will help our skin to look plumper, and may help to repair the damage that underlies this degradation of elastin. I would be remiss not to mention that UV light is a huge contributor to this degradation of elastin, so wearing SPF every day for your whole life is the best mode of prevention!
What I would encourage would be thinking about the skin as a unit or an entity, rather than trying to target elements of the one cohesive organ! Use proven ingredients that help to protect, maintain and nourish the skin in general, and these will in turn benefit your pores too.
As a lash extension aficionada who has not been able to access lash extensions for most of the year (for good reason), I have been relying on my lash products to give me that bit of glossy, healthy lash oomph. Lash conditioners help to make the lashes look fuller by keeping the lashes themselves hydrated, so they are effective when you use them AM and PM.
This Jane Iredale one contains hydrators galore, including beeswax, glycerin, panthenol and carnauba wax, and can be used as a primer prior to mascara too.
Jane Iredale PureLash Eyelash Extender and Conditioner (€23, theskinnerd.com)
