How to clear blackheads and minimise pores on your nose

The advisor looks at the sides and tip of the nose for dark dots, which are oxidised oil in open pores, and for the fine sandpaper texture that clogged pores create. A hard, bright highlight along the bridge and tip indicates shine. We also note enlarged pores that look clean but obvious, which is a different problem with a different fix.

A blackhead is a pore filled with oil and dead skin whose surface has darkened on contact with air. It is not dirt, so scrubbing does not remove it and can enlarge the pore. Salicylic acid (BHA) is oil-soluble, so it travels into the pore and dissolves the plug from inside. Applied to the nose every evening, it clears most blackheads in two to four weeks and keeps them from returning.

Pore strips give a satisfying instant result by pulling out the top of each plug. They do not reach the base, so the blackhead refills within a week or two, and pulling can irritate. Used once a week alongside a BHA, they are a reasonable quick fix before an event. Used alone and often, they make things worse.

Resist squeezing. It works on the odd surface blackhead but bruises the surrounding skin and stretches the pore, which makes it more visible even when it is empty.

A clean pore looks smaller than a full one, so the BHA routine above does most of the work. Niacinamide serum tightens the look of pores further over about eight weeks by reducing the oil that keeps them stretched.

During the day, a sebum-absorbing mineral powder pressed lightly onto the nose blurs pores and controls shine for hours without the cakey look of heavier powders. Apply it over moisturiser or foundation, not on bare, dry skin.

Sunscreen matters here too. Sun damage weakens the collagen around each pore, which is what lets pores sag open and look larger with age. Daily SPF keeps the walls firm.