Thread: Witch hazel as pre-shave treatment?

One of the big things you see all the time from cosmetic outfits especially is how this or that can change the pore size in the skin. This is poppycock. The pores do not change size. Often the skin will swell or shrink a tad and it may look like it but they don't change.

I used to think they did too then I read some medical sites.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

One of the big things you see all the time from cosmetic outfits especially is how this or that can change the pore size in the skin. This is poppycock. The pores do not change size. Often the skin will swell or shrink a tad and it may look like it but they don't change.

I used to think they did too then I read some medical sites.

Aloha!

This is medically correct. I spent many years in medicine (mostly surgical and vascular not dermatology - but I did cross over into dermatology on occasion) and you have it right on the nose. Applying, steam or Witch Hazel or other "astringents" does not reduce pore size directly. What it DOES do is help clean out the sebum that collects in pores, thus they "appear" to shrink once the sebum is removed. But pores have no muscles so there is no physical opening or closing going on. So it may be verbally accurate to say the pores shrink, but it is not medically accurate. Mecially you are cleaning out the pore and thereby allowing it to close a bit more. The degree of closure is different from person to person. Skin type to skin type.

So most will say "Closing Pores" because that's what they appear to do when astringent is applied and the sebum is cleaned out of the pores. And most do not know what's really going on and why the pores may "appear" to shrink. When there is no sebum in a pore, then the pore may appear smaller because it is not holding any material - or not as much material. Obviously when a pocket of skin that can stretch (like a pore) is cleaned out, the pocket or pore does appear smaller as it can appear to shrink in size once the material is removed.

Cold water rinses in the sink after shaving really have no effect on the pore size either. The cold water may help clean out the pores a bit more simply because you are washing more water over your face, and it usually makes your skin feel a bit invigorated because you just shocked it from hot to cold, but it does not REDUCE the size of your pores. Saying that a cold water rinse reduces pore size is again, medically innacurate.

-Zip