How to Shrink Large Pores: What Actually Works

The short answer

If you are searching for how to shrink pores, the straight answer is that you can’t make them smaller for good: pore size is mostly inherited. What you can change is how large they look, and what works depends on why yours stand out. A 2016 review of facial pores named three main causes: too much oil, skin around the pore losing its firmness, and a bigger hair follicle. In everyday terms that gives three kinds of large pore. Oily pores respond to oil control and the right exfoliant, slack pores to anything that protects or rebuilds firmness, and clogged pores to being cleared gently rather than squeezed. Ice, cold rollers and steam change very little, or only for a few minutes.

• 3 causestoo much oil, looser skin around the pore and a bigger hair follicle, in a 2016 review of facial pores.
• Mid-cycleis when women’s pores measured significantly larger, around ovulation, in a study of 60 adults where oil output was the strongest link to pore size.
• 78%of 40 patients had better pore grades after three to four microneedling sessions, in a 2026 study with no control group.

Why some pores look bigger than others

A pore is an opening that lets sweat and sebum, the skin’s natural oil, reach the surface. The ones you notice on your face are mostly the openings of hair follicles, each with an oil gland attached. How big they are to begin with is largely genetic: if your parents have large pores, you probably will too. Everything else on this page is about the part you can influence, which is how wide, how full and how well supported each opening is.

The clearest measurements come from a 2006 study that photographed and measured the pores of 60 adults, 30 men and 30 women. Oil output was the factor most closely linked to pore size, followed by being male, and older participants had larger pores. In the women the link with oil was weaker, which pointed to something else at work, and the timing showed what: their pores measured significantly larger during the ovulation phase of the menstrual cycle. How bad someone’s acne was made no significant difference.

A 2013 study of another 60 volunteers added firmness to the picture. The less elastic the skin, the more visible pores it had, while age and acne severity showed no clear relationship. That fits what happens over the years: collagen and elastin, the proteins that support each pore, thin out with age, and too much sun breaks them down faster, so the openings widen as the skin around them slackens.

Three kinds of large pore

Cross-sections through the skin. The same opening can look large for three different reasons, and each one has a different fix.

• OilyWide openings where the skin is shiniest, with oil sitting in them by midday. Oil output is the factor most closely linked to pore size.
• SlackOpenings that widen as the skin around them loses firmness, with age and sun. The broken lines stand for the thinning collagen and elastin that support the pore.
• CloggedOpenings filled with oil and dead skin. A dark plug at the surface is a blackhead; flat grey, light brown or yellowish dots are usually sebaceous filaments.

• Oil and oil gland
• Oil and dead skin
• Darkened plug
• Supporting collagen

What makes each kind look smaller

Oily pores: less oil, and an exfoliant that reaches inside

Start with the basics: a gentle cleanser morning and evening, and moisturiser, sunscreen and makeup labelled oil-free or noncomedogenic, so nothing you apply adds to the build-up. Then choose an exfoliant that can follow the oil. Salicylic acid dissolves in oil, which lets it work down inside the pore rather than only across the surface; that is why it is the acid most often used for oily, congested skin.

Niacinamide has some evidence too, although for oil rather than pores. In a 2006 trial, 100 Japanese adults used a 2% niacinamide moisturiser or a placebo for four weeks, and oil output fell significantly in the niacinamide group at both two and four weeks. In a second, six-week trial in 30 white adults, surface oil fell but the rate the skin made it did not. Neither trial measured pores, so the most it shows is less oil, which is the factor most strongly tied to pore size.

At the clinic, a hydro facial cleanses, lifts congestion out with suction and hydrates in one visit of about 45 minutes, with no downtime. A salicylic-based chemical peel goes further, because a peel delivers a stronger dose than the smaller amounts in daily products. Peels are offered at eight of our Ontario clinics. If you are weighing the downtime, our chemical peel recovery guide shows what the first week looks like.

Slack pores: protect and rebuild firmness

Because UV breaks down the collagen and elastin that support pores, broad-spectrum sunscreen every day is the single most useful habit here, along with a hat when the sun is strong. It works slowly and quietly, by keeping the support you still have.

Retinoids are the other everyday step. In a 1994 trial, 125 adults with sun-damaged skin were randomly given tretinoin 0.05% cream or a plain cream, applied nightly for 24 weeks. Those on tretinoin reported significant improvements in their pores, as well as in wrinkles, tightness and colour, and irritation, the most common side effect, was usually mild and passed. Two cautions: the pore result was reported by the participants rather than measured, and moulds of the skin surface showed no significant change. Tretinoin is a prescription retinoid, stronger than the retinol sold over the counter, so ask your doctor or pharmacist which suits you, especially if you are pregnant or planning to be. With any retinoid, start with a thin layer twice a week and build up, because irritation is common at first.

In clinic, microneedling works on firmness directly. Fine needles make controlled micro-injuries, and the skin repairs them by laying down collagen, so pores look smaller because the skin around them is firmer, not because the opening itself changes. In a 2026 study, 40 Korean patients had three to four sessions four weeks apart, with a glucose and hyaluronic acid serum applied straight afterwards; pore grades improved in 78% of them, with only temporary redness and mild swelling. There was no control group, so the study cannot say how much came from the needles alone. Texture usually responds within three to four sessions, and our guide to whether microneedling is worth it sets out what a course does for each concern. If you are tempted by a home roller instead, read at-home microneedling first: home devices stay near the surface.

Clogged pores: clear them without squeezing

First, work out what is in the pore. A blackhead is a type of acne: a plug of oil and dead skin sits at the surface and darkens on contact with air. Sebaceous filaments look similar but are smaller, flat and lighter, typically grey, light brown or yellow, and they are a normal, healthy part of the skin that helps oil reach the surface. If you squeeze them out, the pores fill up again within about 30 days.

Either way, squeezing hard or digging with an extractor tool can scar the skin. Salicylic acid loosens the contents from inside, and a retinoid helps keep dead skin from building up. Steam can soften the skin and loosen oil before you cleanse, for up to 10 minutes at a time, but skip it if you are prone to redness or rosacea or have broken capillaries, because heat brings more blood to the surface. At a clinic, the suction step of a hydro facial does the job that fingers otherwise would, with far less trauma to the skin; our comparison of a hydro facial and a regular facial explains the difference. If blackheads come with breakouts, see how to get rid of acne.

One pore that looks like a small hole with a dark plug, usually appearing after age 40, may be a dilated pore of Winer: a single large blackhead on the head, neck, face or torso. It is benign and not contagious, and a healthcare provider can remove it if it bothers you. Don’t try to dig it out at home.

What doesn’t shrink pores

• Ice or a chilled roller. It does tighten the skin, but only for a few minutes, and the effect fades as the skin warms back up.
• Steam. It softens the skin and loosens oil, which helps cleansing. It does nothing to the size of the opening.
• Red light wands and masks. The research has not shown that they reduce pore size.
• Squeezing. It risks scarring, and sebaceous filaments refill within about 30 days anyway.

Large pores somewhere other than the face are a separate problem. Dark, open-looking pores on shaved legs are covered in our guide to strawberry legs.

Which kind of large pores do you have?

Every option side by side

If you are choosing between the two treatments that work on texture, our guide to chemical peel vs microneedling compares them in detail.

What pore treatments cost at Femme

A hydro facial is $150 a session, and monthly visits suit most skin. Microneedling is $199 a session, or $499 for three, and $225, or $597 for three, with the neck included. Both are offered at all twelve Femme clinics at the same price. Chemical peels are available at eight Ontario clinics and priced at consultation, because the peel is matched to your skin.

Every treatment is listed on our pricing page.

Questions about large pores

Prefer to talk first? Call 647-229-7397.

Sources

1. Lee SJ, Seok J, Jeong SY, Park KY, Li K, Seo SJ. Facial pores: definition, causes, and treatment options. Dermatologic Surgery, 2016;42(3):277–285.
2. Roh M, Han M, Kim D, Chung K. Sebum output as a factor contributing to the size of facial pores. British Journal of Dermatology, 2006;155(5):890–894.
3. Kim BY, Choi JW, Park KC, Youn SW. Sebum, acne, skin elasticity, and gender difference: which is the major influencing factor for facial pores? Skin Research and Technology, 2013;19(1):e45–e53.
4. Draelos ZD, Matsubara A, Smiles K. The effect of 2% niacinamide on facial sebum production. Journal of Cosmetic and Laser Therapy, 2006;8(2):96–101.
5. Lowe PM, Woods J, Lewis A, Davies A, Cooper AJ. Topical tretinoin improves the appearance of photo damaged skin. Australasian Journal of Dermatology, 1994;35(1):1–9.
6. Yi KH, Wan J, et al. Microneedle therapy system combined with glucose 10% for the treatment of enlarged pores and fine wrinkles. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 2026;50(17):7388–7392.
7. Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials. 7 tips to shrink your pores.
8. Cleveland Clinic. Sebaceous filaments: difference from blackheads and treatment.
9. Cleveland Clinic Health Essentials. Is steaming your face good for your skin?
10. Cleveland Clinic. Dilated pore of Winer.