Actually I have been having writer blocks this few months. That is why you see me posting more of products reviews rather than giving tips on how I take care of my skin.
A reader asked me before about pore strips and how long does it take to work. So, why not I share with you how I actually clean pores and avoid them from enlarging. I am not paid for this so be ensured that I am honest and had personally tried these method myself. After all, if you are long readers of my blog, you would know how bad my skin was actually. I certainly did not run to the dermatologist or skin clinic for my fix.
While your pore is not like a door where it can close and open, you can actually keep the pores clean and not clogged up. If it is stuck with sebum and bacteria, then the oil can’t flow out of the skin and that the reason you have enlarged pores with sebum trapped inside. Clean pores will look smaller. While you may not want to go for drastic measures like getting medicine which comes with side effects(it can help to shrink the pores but there is risk with it) you can do home care but of course you would need to be hardworking and don’t expect miracle to happen in one night.
So, why not talk about the reason on why the pores enlarged. I experience those situations myself so I do know.
1.Genes
-so, do not blame your parents on it. You could still ‘fix’ it.
2.Weather
If you are living in places where summer is 365 days thing, you would probably have combination or oily skin. It is also the reason that you have enlarged pores while people in winter would have dry skin.
3.Spicy food/clogging food
Spicy food caused the skin to heat up and well bigger pores. I like spicy food but because my skin just can’t tolerate it, I can’t eat it for every meals. Sometimes, I just don’t know how to choose between my face and the food.
It gets worse if you are eating all those milk, sugar, processed food or cakes. Of course it taste good but if you eat it every day then do not blame that you pores are ‘angry’ and huge as well.
Your enlarged is because of sebum and the sebum is actually produce in your body so not eating those food will help to reduce the sebum in your pores.
4.Your skincare regime
You do not properly clean your face or using the wrong skincare products. I personally tried many cleaning method before and I just have to share this. I can’t tolerate foam cleanser. I don’t know why but my sensitive, acne prone and combination skin doesn't like foam cleanser! Although foam cleanser claim to clean the skin better, it just hurt my skin.
You would probably not agree with me but I find that my skin likes cleanser without foam. I usually use gel type of cleanser. Those that doesn't foam.
This is what I normally do to clean the pores:
Peeling gel (Currently using UGB peeling gel)
Gentle cleanser (A'kin or Cetaphil)
Clay mask or mud mask
Nose pack (Skinmiso)
Sheet mask/hydrogel/bio cellulose (look for calming ingredients-green tea, rice, snail, ginseng)
Serum (pore minimizing/calming/acne prone)
Emulsion/moisturizer (look for light texture and don't use too much)
The reason I like using those sheet mask is to cool the skin and calm the pores. You can get the same effect by just soaking the cotton pad in green tea and put it on the face or the DIY mask. I do that like every day because I can’t stand the heat which is 35 degree of Celsius here and my face literary burns even with sunblock on.
If I feel hot and can't apply mask, I will start with spraying mist (DIY green tea) since I can spray it like crazy. Korean will look for those minimising pore mist but well I know it is quite expensive so DIY will do as well.(just lesser effect)
I don’t use paper blotter because my face became oiler after using it. I just use tissues to dab the oil of my face. You can also just use mist on the face. It helps to cool the face.
So, the key thing to minimizing pores is to keep the pores clean, balance the oil production on the face (don’t clean it until the skin turn raw or red like Sahara) and cool down your face (make sure the face temperature is lower than your body).
So, I think that is all. If you have any question, just leave me a comment and I will try my best to answer them.
I am not a professional chemist or anything so what I said here is just my opinions and please be kind to me if there is any discrepancies found in my article. After all, I haven't try 100% products in the world since there is so many coming out every second.
The opinions expressed here are my own and honest as always.
