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Minimizing Pores
Porely Designed
Pores play a vital role in skin physiology. After all, without them we’d have nowhere for hair to grow out of, no method for skin oils to reach the surface, protecting skin from environmental dehydration.
Technically speaking, the pore is little more than the opening of the hair follicle onto the surface of the skin. The source of the hair follicle lies deep within the dermis.
Midway up the dermal layer, the sebaceous oil gland empties into the hair follicle. Both skin oil (sebum) and the hair breach the surface through this tiny aperture. Wherever there is a hair, there will be a pore.
Larger Than Life
Why do pores appear larger than life? Anything that attracts attention or expands their natural architecture magnifies their appearance. These can be dealt with. However, the closer you look in the mirror, the larger those pores are going to appear. If you have a habit of examining your skin in the magnifying side of your beauty mirror, perhaps it isn’t really your best friend. So put it aside and address these factors that really do play havoc with your pores.
• Genetics may certainly be to blame. Barely visible on those prone to drier skin, individuals with oily, thicker (glabrous) skin tend to have larger looking, more noticeable pores. This is often hereditary.
• Sun damage is another cause. As we age, one of the ways sun damage affects the skin is through the enlargement of the pores. Sun damage and aging cause the epidermis to thicken and a rim of cells are more likely to collect around individual pores. While microscopic, these rings exaggerate pore diameter.
• Pores may be more visible simply due to lack of good skin grooming and poor exfoliation. Too much surface oil and remnant naturally shed skin cells can collect around the edges of pores, creating the illusion of the pores being larger than they really are.
• Blackheads and enlarged pores often go hand-in-hand. Blackheads can either expand pores or simply focus attention on them. But pores can appear larger than life for many reasons, blackheads being but one of them.
Beauty expert Traci Brooks explains how to minimize and camouflage pores to make them appear smaller.
• Glycerin soap is a must for cleansing skin because normal soaps can strip the skin and cause your body to produce more oil. They can easily be found in health-food stores or even drugstores.
• Glycerin soap can be on the pricey side, so instead of purchasing it, create a homemade alternative with the recipe below.
• After cleansing the skin, you should apply a toner.
Homemade Toners
Materials:
tea-tree oil* toner
lavender oil toner
funnel
distilled water
empty plastic containers, such as a travel-size bottles
Steps:
1. Use a funnel to fill an empty travel-size bottle with distilled water, then add 10 drops of lavender oil.
2. For the tea-tree oil toner, fill a second plastic bottle about half full with distilled water. Fill the remainder of the bottle with tea-tree oil--about 30 drops.
3. Apply toner to a round cotton disc and apply to the skin. Be sure not to apply lavender oil directly to the skin. Only apply if it's been combined with distilled water, as in the instructions above.
Create your own facial steamer. Here's how:
Materials:
distilled water
lavender oil
Steps:
1. Boil distilled water, then add 10 drops of lavender for aroma.
2. Place your face over the pot, allowing the steam to moisten your face. Hold there for five to six minutes. It helps soften the pores, loosen debris and sluff off any excess dry skin. You can do this about once a week.
3. Cover your face with a towel for more of an effect.
Oatmeal Scrub
oatmeal
distilled water
Steps:
1. Mix together oatmeal and distilled water to make a paste, then use as an exfoliant on your face.
2. Keep it on for a minute or two, being careful not to get it in your eyes.
3. You can also keep the paste on for five to six minutes for a treatment mask.
Moisturizer
1. Apply moisturizer once the face is clean.
2. Use makeup sponges to apply foundation to your face. Next comes loose powder or press powder instead of both.
3. Be sure the moisturizer does not contain lanolin or mineral oil.
* Tea-tree oil is a natural antibiotic that helps to remove impurities, heal and hydrate the skin.
Posted by Beauty Salon on March 25, 2007 07:05 AM | Permalink
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