Clogged pores can quickly turn into a number of unwanted skin blemishes including whiteheads, blackheads and pimples.

The clogged pores you see are the result of dead skin cells and sebum on your face combining then getting trapped in the skin.

You might want to know how you got such clogged pores and how to prevent more extremely clogged pores. Luckily this article is here to help you do that.

How to prevent extremely clogged pores

How to you know if you have clogged pores?

The pores on your skin are responsible for providing the sebum (oil) that the skin needs to say looking and feeling supple, plum and soft.

When the pores become clogged with a combination of dead skin cells, dirt and sebum you’ll notice that they appear larger in size compared to the other pores on your face.

You will also notice that there’s something inside the pores. This can be seen by the naked eye.

Clogged pores can be level with the skin or they can be raised bumps in the skin. If you have a bump and the matter inside is white then the blemish is called a whitehead.

If the matter is black then the blemish is called a blackhead. You will be able to feel the bump on your skin if you run your finger over it.

Why do your pores get clogged so easily?

There are a number of things that can result in pores clogging up easily, these include:

Lack of exfoliation: Exfoliation removes any dead skin cells that can mix in with sebum and clog the pores. If you don’t exfoliate you will develop clogged pores. If you over-exfoliate you can also get clogged pores, so find a middle ground. This exfoliator is gentle and will keep your pores from clogging.

Poor diet: Your diet and what happens in your body has a hand in the health of your skin. The better your diet the better your skin.

If you would like to find out the reason for your pimple is based on your pimple location then click here.

Lack of moisture:  When your skin is dry it produces oil on purpose to try to moisturize and hydrate itself. It can overproduce oil and the oil clogs your pores. Lack of moisture also damages your skins moisture barrier. This moisturiser is well-loved and widely used.

Heat: Heat in the body triggers an increase in the production of sebum, this increased sebum causes using clogged pores.

Alcohol: This results in dry skin and dry skin causes pores to overproduce sebum which causes clogging.

How to stop pores for clogging?

Cleanse the face when needed: I say when needed because there are many people who don’t wash their face and have clear skin.

The effects of not washing your face are positive and negative. Still, the majority of people need to cleanse the skin to avoid clogged pores.

Deep cleanse the pores: This can be in the form of a clay mask or a charcoal mask. Both absorb the impurities that can be trapped in your pores.

Note that you need to cleanse the pores on your scalp as well. This is a well-loved charcoal mask

Exfoliate: Exfoliating and using clay masking aren’t the same thing. Exfoliating will remove the dead skin cells off of your face preventing clogging of the pores by dead skin cells.

Just be sure not to overdo it because you can get acne from overdoing it. This chemical exfoliator is gentle but effective.

Keep a good overall skincare routine: This will include everything from double cleaning (even if you don’t wear makeup) to moisturising and everything in-between. This will prevent pores from clogging in the first place.

Steam your face: This won’t do anything for the acne scars but it will loosen any oils that are trapped in the pores so it’s easier to remove. You can add tea tree oil to the water when you steam your face, your skin will love it.

How do I keep makeup from clogging my pores?

Makeup has a variety of pore-clogging ingredient’s if you wear make you need to be extra careful with your skin and pay more attention.

Product choice: You need to find the right make up product that won’t be pore-clogging for your skin.

That is why it is so necessary to read the ingredient list in order to avoid ingredients that are comedogenic and oil-based.

Some ingredients will be pore-clogging to one person and not the other, don’t assume what works for someone else will work for you.  

Application: When you apply the product on your face be sure to apply as little as possible. When you wear makeup don’t cake it on, use it sparingly.

In addition, be sure to clean your brush before applying the product to prevent transferring bacteria onto your face.

Removal: This is the most important step, you need to make sure you remove your make up well enough so that it doesn’t get clogged up in your pores.

You can use an oil to remove the makeup then wash your face with a face wash or a cleanser. This is what is known as a double cleanse.

After the double cleanse you should moisturise at night, there are many benefits to washing and moisturizing at night.

How do you unclog deep clogged pores?

Exfoliation: Exfoliation is the process of removing the old dead skin cells from your face, removing these dead skin cells will help unclog your pores.

Chemical exfoliators remove your dead skin cells by dissolving them and thus unclogging your clogged pores.

Exfoliation is great but physical exfoliators aren’t recommended when trying to unclog your pores.

They don’t work to break up or dissolve the dead skin cells on your face and in your pores, they simply slough off the dead skin cells on the top layer of skin.

This is a good chemical exfoliator that will help unclog the pores

Streaming then extraction: Another way of unclogging your pores is to steam the skin then perform an extraction.

Steaming the face softens the skin and loosens the sebum trapped in your pores making the clog easier to remove.

Performing an extraction is a better method of pimple removal compared to pimple popping because the extraction is less likely to damage the skin.

This facial steamer is effective and comes with pimple extractor tools which work well are is well-loved.

Charcoal masks: Activated charcoal has been used more and more in recent time’s and its been used as an active ingredient in many masks as well.

The charcoal is beneficial as it pulls out any dirt, toxins, pollution and anything else that may be clogging your pores. This is a well-loved charcoal mask

Pore strips: This is a quick and easy way to get rid of some of your clogged pores. The premise is that you apply this adhesive strip on your skin and peel it off after it has dried.

The strip will attach itself to the contents of your clog pore as you remove it the strip will unclog your pore.

These should preferably be used after you steam your face. Note: this method has its drawbacks which I will talk about later on. These pore strips are well-liked.

Does steaming your face unclog pores?

Steaming alone won’t unclog your pores. That being said, steaming your face will play a part in helping to unclog your pores. The steaming process helps to loosen up the hardened sebum in your pores.

As you steam your face, the sebum loosens up and is able to be removed easier. This removal, whether you choose to extract, use masks or pore strips, will unclog your pores. Steaming also has other benefits to your skin, this includes:

Increases circulation: The warmness of the steam helps to dilate your blood vessels making them wider and allowing more blood to flow in your skin.

Hydrating: Water from the steam enters into your pores to hydrate the skin. The added steam can increase oil production on the skin. This helps to moisturise the skin.

Increase the ability of your skin to absorb: When you steam your face the skin becomes more permeable.

This increased permeability allows the products you use on your skin after the steam to penetrate the skin better. This better absorption ensures that the product works to the best of its ability

Does baking soda unclog pores?

No baking soda doesn’t unclog your pores. Baking soda will wind up drying your skin, this isn’t helpful in getting rid of your blackheads.

Blackheads are caused by sebum and dead skin cells clogging up your pores. If you apply baking soda to your face your skin will dry out and this can actually lead to more blackheads.

When your skin is overly dry it’s triggered to produce more sebum, sometimes even excess sebum. This excess sebum can mix in with your dead skin cells and clog your pores.

What products unclog pores?

Salicylic acid Exfoliator: Paulas Choice–SKIN PERFECTING 2% BHA Liquid Salicylic Acid Exfoliant. This is a gentle yet effective exfoliator that will exfoliate your dead skin cells and unclog your pores.

It not only exfoliates the skin, but it also smoothes out your wrinkles, brightens your skin, evens out your skin and gives your skin a better and smoother texture overall. As a bonus, it’s also effective in hydrating your face as well.

Lactic acid exfoliator: The Ordinary Lactic Acid, this product uses lactic acid to exfoliate your skin. It offers the best of both worlds in that it’s both exfoliating and hydrating.

Lactic acid is an exfoliator and humectant, this allows it to exfoliate as well as penetrate deep into your skin to deliver water and hydration. It also helps to stimulate the production of collagen thus making your skin firmer

Clay: Kiehl s Since 1851 Rare Earth Deep Pore Daily Cleanser this product absorbs external pollutants from your skin, it also exfoliates and deeply cleanses the skin.

The clay is gentle enough to be used daily and will give you softer, smoother, fresher skin and will unclog your pores.

The white clay in this product extracts all the gunk out for your pores and absorbs excess oil to give you better-looking skin.

Are pore strips bad?

Yes, pore strips are bed. Pore strips are bad because they can cause irritation and remove some skin as you remove the strip.

When you remove the pore strip from your skin the skin can become red, flaky and inflamed.

If your skin is particularly sensitive you may find that the pore strip can give your broken capillaries and spider veins.

In addition, the pore strips can cause damage to the skin, when you apply the strip to the skin it attaches to more than just the gunk in your pore. It also attaches to your skin well.

As you peel it off the force can peel some of your skin off as well. If you apply the pore strip over a damaged pore you can damage the pore even more.

How often should you use pore strips?

If you still want to use the pore strip after reading the above then you should at least use the pore strips as recommended by the manufacturer.

Usually, manufacturers recommend that you not use them more often than once every 3 days. This will ensure that you do minimum damage to your skin.

Is it ok to squeeze nose pores?

It may be tempting to squeeze the pores on your nose in an effort to get the stuff out but you should know that even if you squeeze the clogged pore it will clog right back up again.

The pores on the nose are quite large, larger than the pores on the rest of your skin. This is why it’s important to focus on this area when unclogging the pores.

If you do want to squeeze your nose pores its ok to squeeze them, just know there are other ways to deal with the problem.

The pores on your nose don’t contain puss like pimples do, they are sebaceous filaments. These sebaceous filaments, occur when dead skin cells and sebum collect around a hair follicle, not in a clogged pore.

What is the white stringy stuff that comes out of a pimple?

The white stuff that comes out of a pimple is puss.

The pore gets clogged up with sebum, dead skin cells and acne-causing bacteria to form puss and this puss is the stuff inside a pimple. Pores are actually long tubes that extend deeper into your skin.

When you extract the pimple it all comes out of the small holes and comes out as a white and stringy

What causes an overproduction of sebum?

There are various factors that affect how much sebum your produce, these include:

Genetics: If your parents have oily skin and produce a lot of sebum then it’s likely that you will also produce a lot of sebum and even overproduce sebum

Hormones: Our hormones have an effect on many aspects of our body and personality. One of the things that are affected by hormones is how much sebum we produce.

When the hormones estrogen, androgen and progesterone surge the skin produces more sebum, and sometimes the skin overproduces sebum.

Alcohol and salt: These two increase with the production of sebum indirectly.

Consuming alcohol or salt will result in drier skin, when dry the skin is triggered to produce sebum, the skin does this in an effort to moisturize itself. This can result in an overproduction of sebum.

Incorrect skincare products: If you’re using a skincare product that are drying out your skin then your skin will react by producing excess sebum in an effort to moisturise itself.  

Does retinol help clogged pores?

Yes, retinol can definitely help to unclog your pores. Retinol has a variety of uses and works very well to unclog pores. Retinol works to speed up the cell turnover process.

Clogged pores take a while to form and are brought up when cell turnover happens. Our skin cells usually turn over every 14 days.

Retinol increases cell turnover and this brings out all the clogs in the pores and anything else that may be developing in your skin,  this process is called purging.

This purging gets rid of your clogged pores and after this stage, you will be left with smoother clog-free skin.

This process may be uncomfortable to go through but it doesn’t last long and it’s worth going through.

Read more about the retinol purging period here. This is a well-loved and well-used retinol.

I hope you enjoyed this article looking at extremely clogged pores and what you can do about it. If you enjoyed this article please share it.