How to clear and refine your pores~
Had enough of enlarged blackheads on your nose (or chin or forehead or whole face)? Follow this routine every AM and PM to bring out your most refined, clear skin!
The clear, refined skin routine~
1) First cleanse! If you are wearing makeup, sunscreen, have oily skin, have been sweaty, etc., do a first cleanse with a good, non-clogging cleanser in the PM. (This cleanser can easily clean away surface residue without clogging ingredients and without drying your skin.) Here is a good example of one: Fresh-n-Clean Cleanser
This needs to happen every PM before bed. No skipping. Leaving residue from the day on your skin all night is a recipe for clogging your pores.
2) The real (second) cleanse! Use a cleanser that softens and emulsifies the clogs in your pores and helps to dissolve them away. Your cleanser should clean deeply and thoroughly, but also leave your skin soft and supple. Your skin should never, ever feel tight and dry after cleansing. If your cleanser dries out your skin, the clogs in your pores will get hardened and compacted, making it much harder to clear them. Here is a creamy cleanser example and a gel cleanser example that help to clear and prevent clogged pores:
A good cleanser will soften, emulsify and dissolve the gunk in clogged pores. Cleansers that “dry out” your skin will not be able to do this.
3) About 1 to 4 times per week after cleansing, exfoliate your skin. A good scrub or exfoliating mask will do the job. You want your skin to feel smooth and good when you are done (not irritated or dried out). When our skin is well exfoliated, our pores look more refined. We are also getting rid of dead skin cells before they have a chance to contribute to clogged pores. Here are some good exfoliating examples: click
Exfoliation also helps to make our pores look more refined. (Our pores are typically a bit cone-shaped -getting wider at the top- so when we exfoliate regularly, we get narrower looking pores).
Skin Nerd Fact! Did you know there is really no way to “tighten” your pores? Our pores are not musculature, so they can’t truly “contract”, BUT! They can get clogged and enlarged, which does indeed make them bigger. The best way to keep your pores from getting enlarged is by using a really good cleanser every night before bed (yes, EVERY night) and using a good exfoliating product (or two) that is a good match for your skin, and then exfoliating as often as needed.
4) Apply a hydrating toner or hydrosol both AM and PM that is made to help balance oil production. When our skin is well-hydrated, our oil production becomes more balanced, so excess oil doesn’t start to clog our pores. Never use a toner (or astringent) that leaves your skin feeling tight and dry! (You don’t want to harden and compact your blackheads by drying them out, and in general its never helpful to dry your skin out.) Here are three examples of good options:
5) Next, for your PM routine, use a serum that helps to increase skin cell turnover. This is supremely helpful in clearing clogged pores by getting rid of the dead skin cells that contribute to clogs (and will support the work of your exfoliating product). This will also help your skin to be more refined. Retinols, retinals and acids are great at this! Here are a few reliable favorites:
For your AM routine, use a non-clogging, hydrating serum. (Bonus points if its antioxidant rich, too!) When our skin is nicely hydrated (and by hydrated I mean quenched with water-rich ingredients), our skin stops over-producing oil, and this helps to keep our pores clear. Also, antioxidants help to combat the oxidation (darkening) of the clogs in out pores, which is what makes blackheads so visible. Here are some tried and true options:
6) Choose a moisturizer that keeps your skin quenched, but is not so heavy it leaves your skin oily or greasy. If our moisturizer is too heavy for our skin, we’ll absolutely get clogged pores. Here are non-clogging examples:
Apple & Lemon Whipped Moisturizer
Ultra Sensitive Whipped Moisturizer
Probiotc Treatment (cream mask that can be used as a moisturizer)
7) Finally, make sure everything else that goes on your face (sunscreen, make-up, etc.,) is specifically made to not clog pores.
*Bonus: Applying a treatment mask 1 to 4 times per week that specifically helps to clear clogged pores is really helpful! Masks work best when applied after cleansing and exfoliating. Here are three exemplary examples:
Blackcurrent Balancing Clay Mask
Helpful Note: Generally, skin that is prone to clogging does not do well with facial oils. If you use an appropriate-for-your-skin serum and moisturizer, you will most likely not need a facial oil. (If you feel strongly that you must use a facial oil, apply it very lightly over the top of your moisturizer. A lighter oil – like these- will be best.)
Following this routine faithfully will so do much more for keeping your pores clear and refined that any pore strip or tool or crazy fad on social media ever could. Only a solid, regularly followed skin care routine will improve your pores (and your skin overall) both now and long into the future.
More helpful info~
Can we instantaneously get rid of all blackheads with a pore strip or other DIY hack? Ummm…..
Sure, you can try the gelatin mask/glue/sticky tape strip/suction tool/whatever DIY hack or miracle product is out there (which may mildly damage your skin, do nothing, or possibly even help a little bit temporarily by just removing the uppermost, visible portion of the blackhead). But, what none of these hacks will ever do is prevent the blackheads from coming back or from just continuing on unabated. They do nothing to change the daily situation that allows the blackheads to flourish in the first place. So even if your DIY mask or pore strip temporarily removes the top of your blackheads, the blackheads will just come back again.
This is why a good skin care regimen is your first line of defense. Always. We want clear, refined skin for always, people! Nothing else will do.
There is no getting around doing this:
Using a deep cleaning, non-drying cleanser every single PM (cleansing twice if you are wearing makeup) and ideally every AM as well;
Using a really good quality exfoliating product (or two) as often as needed;
Making sure your serum, moisturizer and sun protection are all non-clogging and that they all keep your skin hydrated enough to put the kibosh on any excess oil production.
If all these things are not in place, a DIY trick or pore strip or “miracle” product is not going to do any long-term fixing.
A good professional facial with extractions (as well as other beneficial pro tools like peels, professional cleansing brushes, ultrasonic exfoliating tools, etc.,) and the HydraFacial treatment are both options that can also help to remove blackheads more fully, especially when received regularly, and can be used in addition to a solid homecare routine.
If your skin is dried out and your blackheads are compacted and dried in your pores (“nailed in with a nail gun!” an esthetician friend used to proclaim when blackheads were really hardened in place and tough to get out) it may take multiple facials along with an improved home care routine to get them cleared out. Don’t lose heart, though! Its do-able! Sometimes long term, positive changes must happen in steps, but if you stick with a good skin care routine, your skin will become (and stay) more clear and refined. The end.
Science Note: Blackheads are a dark color because they are oxidized (meaning they’ve been sitting there awhile, getting exposed to the air, gradually darkening). The more on top of a viable skin care routine we are, the less opportunity blackheads have to begin, become enlarged, and darken).
More good tips for achieving refined, clear skin here~
Spoiler alert! All of these tips include using a gentle cleanser that does not dry out your skin, some type of exfoliation (including an acid that’s a good fit for your skin, such as glycolic or salicylic or mandelic, etc., and some form of vitamin A that’s a good fit for your skin, such as retinol or retinal or tretinoin or Retin-A, etc.,) and non-clogging products over all.
Do Blackhead Strips Really Work?
How to Get Rid of Blackheads on Nose
The good news here is that there is a lot you can do, all on your own, to help keep your skin more clear and refined.
xoxo marna
“Always wash your face before you go to bed - skin care is key.”
~Kelsea Ballerini
“Take off your makeup before you go to sleep. Sometimes I forget, and it is always horrible when you wake up.”
~Georgia May Jagger
“Success is the sum of small efforts - repeated day in and day out.”
~Robert Collier
Blog written by Marna Herrington with Rich Earth Organic Skin Care Studio
Blog copy editing and polishing provided by Karen-Eileen Gordon (MsGordonLovesWriting@gmail.com)
This blog is not intended to take the place of in-person consultations with qualified skin care and health care practitioners. This blog is for the purpose of education and fun only. All images and text in this blog are under the legal ownership of Rich Earth Organic Skin Care Studio or are unambiguously in the public domain. Permission is not granted for this text or these images to be copied and used out of the context of this blog, or for commercial purposes. If any part of the text is quoted in an article or other blog for educational purposes, a hyperlink to this page must be included.