The best pore minimisers that’ll make light work of your skin’s texture

Holiday selfies and the obsession with supernaturally flawless skin is enough to have the pore-paranoid swiping on an Instagram filter, because the hard truth is you can’t actually shrink your pores in real life.

The average adult has approximately 20,000 of them on their face, which exist as an outlet for sweat and excess sebum to leave the body. Everything from genetics to skin type and sun exposure affect their size, but being concave in shape means they are also at risk of filling up with the bacteria, gunk and other unmentionables you transfer from your hands to your face every day.

But it’s not all bad news. You can make them appear smaller with effective pore minimisers. ‘First, double-cleanse with an oily cleanser to keep your pores clear of congestion,’ says Nichola Joss, Decléor’s skincare expert and Megan Markle’s facialist.

‘Oil attracts oil, so sebum, sunscreen and grime dissolve better with an oil-rich cleanser than in water.’ Second, exfoliate once or twice a week as dead cells can get trapped in those little holes, causing acne and making them swell.

Also, try salicylic acid, which can penetrate deep into pores. ‘By removing rough dead cells, it immediately makes skin smoother. It also helps prevent oil production for tighter pores in the long-term,’ says Joss.

Or, opt for quick-fix products, otherwise known as ‘under make-up Spanx’, which make enlarged pores virtually invisible.

Finally, the general skincare advice of using sunscreen still applies, as UV rays can damage the support structure around the edge of pores, eventually stretching them out.

Here’s all you need to know…