Clogged pores can lead to a number of skin concerns including: acne breakouts, blackheads, and uneven skin texture. All of which can trigger an unhealthy level of squeezing or picking at the skin.
When it comes to clogged pores it can be tough to keep your hands off your skin to squeeze out the offending blackhead or pimple. Plus we get it. It can be pretty satisfying to see all that gunk come out of your pores. But, it may not be all that worth it in the long run.
Squeezing or constantly picking at the skin can have some damaging after effects. For example, picking at your pimple and even popping it can leave behind an acne scar or discoloration. And when it comes to acne scars especially for severe types of acne you can be left with some permanent scars (unless you are willing to dish out the money for some expensive in-office treatments).
And, picking or squeezing at clogged pores isn’t your only recourse. The best thing to do is tackle the issue at the root.
What ingredients work best on clogged pores
Treating skin concerns like acne and/or blackheads starts with targeting the underlying causes. When it comes to acne, it doesn’t exactly just sprout up out of nowhere (although it does seem like it sometimes).
Pores can become clogged through a buildup of excess sebum, dead skin cells, and bacteria. So, if you want to prevent breakouts and blackheads, you have to address the factors that lead to them which means reducing the excess sebum and cleansing away dead skin cells and bacteria that can get trapped in pores.
There are a couple of different skincare ingredients that can help tackle the factors that can lead to clogged pores:
Salicylic Acid
As an exfoliating ingredient, Salicylic Acid helps break up dead skin cells and sebum trapped inside pores. This helps clear the pore as well as prevents future acne breakouts. It also helps treat existing acne by drying up the pimple and minimizing inflammation from acne.
Typically in products like cleansers, spot treatments, clay masks, and serums, Salicylic Acid best delivers its benefits through a leave-on treatment. Although it is super beneficial it's also best to limit the use of products with Salicylic Acid for those with OTC-level concentrations (0.5% - 2%) to about 2 to 3 times a week to avoid irritating the skin.
Niacinamide
If you constantly deal with clogged pores, then your pores may have appeared to get bigger in size. When debris constantly stretches the pore lining, pores begin to look bigger. In this case, Niacinamide can be your best friend. Aside from nourishing the skin and helping to even the skin tone, Niacinamide helps improve the look of enlarged pores and can help control oil production to prevent pores from clogging up.
Retinol
Similar to Salicylic Acid, Retinol exfoliates the skin to lift dead skin cells and excess sebum from the surface of the skin. And as a multifunctional ingredient Retinol helps with a couple other different concerns like helping to fade dark spots that can linger after a pimple has healed and reduces the appearance of fine lines.
AHAs
AHAs like Glycolic Acid and Lactic Acid are exfoliating ingredients that help remove dead skin cells to help prevent pores from clogging with debris. While it sounds pretty much the same as Salicylic Acid, AHAs don’t penetrate as deep as Salicylic Acid. AHAs typically tend to work their magic more on the surface as opposed to deep in the pores.
Clay
Not talking about play doh, but clays like Bentonite or Kaolin can help as a weekly treatment to soak up the excess oils in the pores. As a weekly facial treatment, clay masks are known for their oil-reducing abilities. But you do have to watch out for over-drying the skin so keep the treatment down to 1 to 3 times a week (depending on skin type).
Pore care routine
Keeping in mind the ingredients mentioned above you can follow a simple routine to help improve the look of clogged pores:
🫧Step 1: Cleanser
Given that dead skin cells and excess sebum can accumulate on the skin, you’ll want to use a good, pore clarifying cleanser. Depending on your skin type, this could be a foaming cleanser that helps lift and cleanse away debris from the surface of the skin like our Pore Cleanser with Niacinamide.
🧽Step 2: Exfoliating Treatment
As explained earlier, some specific skincare ingredients like Salicylic Acid can help get deep into pores to help clear out trapped gunk. So, whether it’s a toner or serum, an exfoliating treatment can help keep pores in check.
Our Pore Serum with Niacinamide includes Salicylic Acid and Glycolic Acid to help flush out gunk in pores and clears away surface debris to overall help reduce the appearance of clogged pores.
💦Step 3: Moisturizer
Lastly, even if you think your oily skin doesn’t need the hydration, you likely do. Excess oil production can occur if the skin is not getting enough hydration so the skin over produces oil to compensate. Plus lots of moisturizers are lightweight and come in a gel formulation so you don’t have to worry about any greasy, heavy feel on the skin.
☀️Step 4: Sunscreen
And lastly, always end your routine with sunscreen. As an FYI, sunscreen can also help improve the look of enlarged pores by protecting the skin from sun damage.
