After getting lost in an internet rabbit hole, I found myself scrolling through the /SkincareAddiction and /AsianBeauty subreddits. I love learning about skin care and have recently found that these Reddit sections are filled with useful information and wisdom. It was when I stumbled across this post that I started to learn about the nasty habit I had developed without even realizing was an issue.
I struggle with having huge pores filled with gunk across my nose. I have tried nose strips, physical exfoliants, and face masks galore all to no avail. My nose was not getting any better! I had always thought that my nose was covered in blackheads and wondered why blackhead reducing products never helped.
After reading user stonedandlurking’s post I realized that I didn’t have blackheads, those were sebaceous filaments! Sebaceous filaments are an accumulation of dead skin, sweat, dirt, and whatever else gunks up on our skin. All of this collects around a hair follicle and into our pores. Not only is squeezing at our skin to get the filaments out damaging to our skin, but it also can cause the pore to become larger! What does this mean? Even more noticeable sebaceous filaments in the future!
Thankfully, I found the Reddit post that shared this blog post and how it helped shrink and clean out their pores effectively. The original blog posts details a routine that helps to reduce the appearance of sebaceous filaments and clean out your pores. I immediately read the blog post and purchased the products necessary to help my skin.
The routine requires three steps: 1. apply a chemical exfoliant like a BHA to your skin (but AHA works as well), 2. apply a mud mask on top of the dried exfoliant then rinse, 3. apply a cleansing oil to the skin and massage the pores. The products I used are these Stridex pads, the Shea Moisture mud mask, and this Shea Moisture almond oil.
Following the steps from the original blog post, I gave my skin the royal treatment with my new products. As soon as I finished massaging the almond oil into my skin I noticed a huge difference in the size of my pores. My nose looked shiny and clean and my pores were almost empty! This regimen really works!
Hopefully my experience with learning more about my skin can help you to find the best way to treat your pores. No more squeezing pores from now on!