Our customers have a wide range of skincare concerns, but one of the most predominant concerns is large pore size. While pores are essential to keeping our skin moist and healthy, enlarged pores can create a bothersome and unattractive appearance to the skin. Large pores are usually a characteristic of thick, oily skin types, but can surface with age on other skin types as well. Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to permanently shrink or eliminate large pores, but luckily there is a number of ways to reduce the appearance of large pore size.

When your pores are clogged, the debris expands the pore, causing acne, blackheads and whiteheads and create the appearance of an enlarged pore. To reduce the size of large pores, you’ll need to keep your skin clear and exfoliated. We recommend exfoliating on a regular basis to eliminate dead skin build up. Exfoliants are available in a physical form (scrubs with grains, beads or sand) and chemical form (alpha hydroxy acids). While scrubs are great for the top layer of the skin, we recommend using a chemical exfoliant as it penetrates deep into the pore to rid of residue, dirt and bacteria. Pre-soaked exfoliating pads are an easy and convenient way of exfoliating the skin. I recommend Philosophy Multi Use Peel Pads, which contain lactic acid for rapid exfoliation.  If you insist on using an exfoliant with beads I recommend that you try the ZO Skin Health Offects Exfoliating Polish which contains round magnesium crystals to rapidly exfoliate the skin, while depositing scrumptious antioxidants into the skin.

In addition to exfoliating with alpha hydroxy acids, we recommend using a beta hydroxy acid in a topical treatment to keep your pores clean and clear. Salicylic acid, which is a beta hydroxy acid, has very small molecules so it penetrates deep into the skin, and works as an anti-inflammatory (salicylic and aspirin  both come from the willow family), so it’s not only great for keeping your pores clear, it’s also outstanding for reducing swelling (goodbye, cystic acne)! I swear by (and recommend to everybody) the SkinCeuticals Blemish Control Gel, it’s never drying or irritating, and when used as a spot treatment on the nose, forehead and other problem-prone areas (jaw bone and chin areas for hormonal break-outs) it clears everything right up… the results are achieved almost overnight!

If your skin is clear but your pores are enlarged due to aging, you may not be interested in putting acne medication on your face, instead opt for a retinol based cream. Retinol not only shrinks large pores but it’s also great for anti-aging as it induces collagen production, thus firming and toning the skin. As an added plus, it’s also great for hyperpigmentation caused by excess sun exposure. SkinMedica Rejuvenative Moisturizer is a great choice as it contains Retinyl Palmitate (retinol), and vitamins C and E.

Once a week use a mask to further reduce the appearance of large pores. Kaolin clay is a great ingredient for pulling impurities from deep within your pores. We love the June Jacobs Pore Purifying Mud Masque because it has botanicals and antioxidants and a luxurious clay base. Your skin is baby-soft and pores are nearly invisible when the mask is washed off, plus this mask is great for all skin types, including very sensitive.

To reduce the appearance of large pores quickly, we recommend using a facial primer. Primers use a silicone base to fill in large pores or lines without clogging, or irritation the skin. Plus, primers make your foundation go on much smoother. I like the bareMinerals bareVitamins Prime Time, as it balances the skin, controlling oil where needed, and smoothing dryness or flakiness where necessary, it also has a built in SPF and additional antioxidants to protect the skin, an all-in-one for $21? Count me in!

With regular exfoliation and diligent care- your skin can look more like porcelain than crater-laden moon, so scrub it up, mask and prime for a healthy, poreless, beautiful complexion.

Products featured in this article: Philosophy Multi Use Peel Pads, ZO Skin Health Offects Exfoliating Polish, SkinCeuticals Blemish Control Gel, SkinMedica Rejuvenative Moisturizer, bareVitamins Prime Time, June Jacobs Pore Purifying Mud Masque.

Do you ever wish that there was just one skincare product out there that did everything you’ve ever wanted? Just one product that would take of all of your skincare needs and concerns? Well, after five long years of research, Dr. Perricone, in collaboration with Los Alamos Laboratories physicists has created just that- introducing Cold Plasma, your genie in a jar that’ll transform your skin.

This ground-breaking product had been proven to suit anyone from mature to young, male to female. Individually meeting the wide range of unique skin care needs, this also advances your current anti-aging regimen with the influence of biochemical individuality. Biochemical individuality is the ability to adjust your skin’s distinctive needs through the use of phospholipids. This is a division of lipids that is an important unit of cell membranes, and their purpose is to form these lipid bilayers. These bilayers contain hydrophilic heads which attract water and hydrophobic tails which repel water, in return giving the perfect custom approach for your skin needs. By mimicking the natural phospholipids found in our skin cells this allows the products delivery system to be more compatible and highly effective with our own skins function.

Some of the key ingredients that you will read about when researching the product are Dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE), L-Tyrosine, and DHA. The DMAE helps to reduce sagging and promotes tightening so that skin will appear lifted and firm. The L-Tyrosine is an amino acid, one of the building blocks of protein, which supports the production of melanin or pigment thereby assisting with brightening the skin. This amino acid is also considered a mild antioxidant. The DHA is major fatty acid that preserves the youthfulness of your skin, provides advanced hydration, and hinders future damage.

The main attribute of Cold Plasma technology is the products ability to read skin issues and fully utilize all main nutrients to repair any depletion in the skin. According to Perricone, this technology results in preventing the 10 most visible signs of aging and assists with the primary concerns of wrinkles, enlarged pores, dryness, redness, discoloration, uneven skin tone, impurities, loss of firmness, loss of smoothness, and loss of radiance. In a nutshell, this super-hero of a product addresses multiple issues but has one common goal – to give you great, healthy skin.

Clinical Reports that can be found at Perricone.com show that in independent four-week clinical studies on individual’s ages 20–65 unparalleled results were revealed. To highlight the findings:

• 99% felt that their skin was soft and smooth

• 94% said they liked the results and felt it gave their skin all it needs

• 92% reported that their skin looked radiant and healthy

• 91% felt that their skin was infused with moisture

• 89% said their skin never looked healthier and saw improvements in radiance

• 87% reported improvement in skin smoothness

• 85% said they got instant results

• 82% saw improvement in their skin’s discoloration

• 81% saw improvement in pore size

• 79% said this works better than anything else they have used

• 69% reported improvement in the appearance of skin blotchiness and redness

For more information about Cold Plasma, click here!