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The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Women: Enlarged Pores

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Enlarged Pores

Enlarged Pores

Concealment Tactics to Minimize Flaws

You have great skin, great hair and a great body. In fact, the only thing standing between you and a cover girl's perfection may very well be the enlarged pores around your nose that deflect attention from your sweet nose and sparkling eyes.

Just about everyone gets enlarged pores, says Deborah S. Sarnoff, M.D., assistant clinical professor of dermatology at New York University in New York City. That's because pores are actually tiny openings in your skin that provide a way for the oil glands underneath to lubricate and protect the surface of your skin.

Pores enlarge during puberty, when oil glands in your skin begin to increase the amount of oil that they pump through your pores. The pores get bigger so that they can handle the increased output. And they stay enlarged until somewhere around menopause, when they shrink into the perfect, totally unnoticeable size that you've always wanted.

SHRINK, FILL, COVER

You're most likely to notice enlarged pores around your nose, because that area has more oil glands per square inch than any other part of your body, says Dr. Sarnoff. But it's still possible to shrink your pores and minimize their appearance. "Even models have enlarged pores; they just know how to hide them."

Here's what experts suggest.

Reach for the right skin cream. After washing your face, smooth a lotion containing alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) over your skin to peel away old skin cells that build up around your pores, says Mary Stone, M.D., associate professor of dermatology at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. The AHAs are fruit and milk acids that encourage older cells to peel off, leaving younger, smoother skin underneath. You can buy an AHA-containing lotion in most drugstores.

Use an alpha hydroxy acid product that is 10 percent glycolic acid and follow package directions. "You can improve the appearance of your pores by removing dead skin cells," says Dr. Stone.

Smooth on a pore-minimizing lotion. "Use a foundation that suspends powder in liquid and apply it like a putty," says Carole Walderman, national education director for Matrix Skin Care Products in Solon, Ohio.

Make sure that the base you use is noncomedogenic and oil-free, says Dr. Stone.

"Clinique has one called a pore minimizer," says Walderman. After you smudge it over your enlarged pores, the liquid evaporates, leaving your pores full of powder, like applying putty to a hole in the wall.

Apply a water-based foundation. Let the pore minimizer dry for three to five minutes, then apply a water-based foundation over top, says Walderman. "Your face--including the enlarged pore area--will look as smooth as silk."

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