Can you shrink pores? Large Pores: why they happen and what you can do about them.
Written by Team Maelove
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February 04, 2023
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4 min read
Your pore size is largely written in your DNA — but that doesn't mean you're powerless. Certain conditions can enlarge pores beyond what nature intended, and there's a lot you can do to prevent further enlargement and visibly reduce their appearance.
What are pores, what do they do, and why do I have them?
Pores are openings that allow sweat and sebum — the face oil — onto the surface of your skin, and often contain hair follicles as well. Enlarged pores are typically related to sebum rather than sweat, with increased sebum output associated with bigger pores (Roh et al. 2006).
Eccrine / Sweat Pores
Matched to eccrine glands, these pores function to secrete sweat. When sweat glands are paired with hair follicles, these are called apocrine glands.
Sebaceous Pores
Matched to sebaceous glands, these pores secrete sebum — your natural face oil. Most are paired with hair follicles and are the primary culprit when it comes to visible, enlarged pores.
Combined Pores
Some pores contain all three: hair follicles, sebaceous glands, and sweat glands together.
Image Credit: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
DID YOU KNOW
Some people just naturally have bigger pores than others, and this is largely genetically determined (Flament et al. 2015). If your parents have large pores, you might too. That said, certain conditions can enlarge pores beyond what your genes intended.
THE SCIENCE
Pores are enlarged by one of two factors
1
Excess Sebum & Acne
When your sebaceous glands go into overdrive and secrete too much sebum, pores can enlarge — or become clogged, leading to inflammation that can cause hyperpigmentation, enlarged pores, and even pitting. Hormonal changes, clogged pores, and acne are all contributing factors. Anti-acne and anti-inflammatory products like retinoids, hydroxy acids, niacinamide, azelaic acid, Vitamin C serums, and anti-inflammatory botanicals help address this.
2
Aging & Elastin Loss
As you age, you naturally lose elastin — a stretchy protein in the dermis where your pores originate. Think of elastin like a rubber band: without it, your pores lose their ability to snap back and begin to enlarge. Loss of collagen leads to wrinkles, but it's the loss of elastin that leads to enlarged pores. Wrinkles can also cause adjacent pores to merge, creating an even more enlarged appearance (Lee et al. 2021).
CAUTION
UV damage actually increases elastin levels — but this elastin is abnormal. It leads to a condition called solar elastosis, characterized by thickened, yellowed skin. You want to eliminate this abnormal elastotic material and rebuild properly with collagen and elastin, not encourage more of it.
Solar elastosis — more elastin, but not in a good way. Image Credit: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
To address both natural aging and photoaging, use anti-aging products such as retinoids, niacinamide, Vitamin C serums, peptide serums, and botanical serums. Photoaging — the aging of skin caused by sun exposure — accelerates all of these unwanted developments, so consistent sun protection matters enormously.
KEY INSIGHT
Anti-acne and anti-aging topicals will help prevent further enlargement of pores. But if you already have enlarged pores, you can still reduce their visible appearance with the right ingredients.
PRACTICAL TIPS
If you already have enlarged pores, what can you do?
Exfoliate with Hydroxy Acids
Chemical exfoliation with AHAs or BHAs keeps pores clear and removes the layer of dead skin that makes pores look larger and skin look dull. Regular use visibly improves pore appearance over time.
Try Physical Exfoliation
A good clay scrub once a week is like a simple at-home microdermabrasion — skin feels instantly smoother. Clay is particularly effective at drawing out oily residue. Modern scrubs are formulated to be gentle, not the harsh, skin-cutting formulas of years past.
Use a Niacinamide Product
Niacinamide is a powerful anti-inflammatory that helps normalize and reduce sebum production. By doing so, it has been clinically shown to reduce the visible appearance of pore size (Draelos et al. 2006, Berson et al. 2014).
NIA 10 Niacinamide Serum
10% niacinamide clinically shown to reduce sebum production and visibly minimize pore appearance. Also calms inflammation and evens skin tone.
Berson DS, Osborne R, Oblong JE, Hakozaki T, Johnson MB, Bissett DL (2014). "Niacinamide: A topical vitamin with wide-ranging skin appearance benefits." Cosmeceuticals and Cosmetic Practice, edited by PK Farris, John Wiley & Sons, 103–112.
Draelos ZD, Ertel K, Berge C (2005). "Niacinamide-containing Facial Moisturizer Improves Skin Barrier and Benefits Subjects with Rosacea." Cutis 76: 135–141.
Flament F, Francois G, Qiu H, Ye C, Hanaya T, Batisse D, Cointereau-Chardon S, Seixas MD, Dal Belo SE, Bazin R. Facial skin pores: a multiethnic study. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. 2015 Feb 16;8:85–93.
Lee S, Cherel M, Gougeon S, Jeong E, Lim JM, Park SG. Identifying patterns behind the changes in skin pores using 3-dimensional measurements and K-means clustering. Skin Res Technol. 2022 Jan;28(1):3–9.
Roh M, Han M, Kim D, Chung K. Sebum output as a factor contributing to the size of facial pores. Br J Dermatol. 2006 Nov;155(5):890–4.
