I’m a little bit obsessed with pores… they’re one of the first things I hone in on with my spinny magnifying mirror (worst invention ever though much appreciated when in dire need of new glasses - Specsavers, I’m coming for you!). I’m sure my pores are less obvious to others, but I feel quite self conscious about them and minimising their appearance is a big priority when I’m applying make-up (many products emphasise them even more).
The Pore Cleansing duo by Japanese brand, DHC is designed to shrink the look of pores and leave skin feeling clean and refreshed, so the chance to try them was an offer I couldn’t refuse. Refreshingly, the brand admits that it is impossible to make pores physically smaller, (I can’t abide unrealistic skincare claims). The good news is that it is possible to minimise the appearance of pores - temporarily at least - I’ll take that.
A face wash isn’t something I use to remove make-up, but I do like to use one as my morning cleanse (water is not enough to remove the overnight build-up of grease and dead skin on our faces). Occasionally I’ll do a full balm or oil cleanse in the morning, but more often than not, a face wash is as good as it gets and the natural grapefruit scent of this one gives me a rare early moment of ahhhh... Pore Face Wash feels gently creamy on my skin and leaves it feeling clean but not tight or uncomfortable, unlike many other washes. Active ingredients include two gentle exfoliants - baking soda and AHA from pear juice - to leave skin feeling smoother and looking brighter. A pea sized amount is all I need.
Pore Cleansing Oil is in a whole other league. I actually, *actually* look forward to cleansing my face with this. While I’m fanatical about cleansing, it’s not something that I enjoy and usually consider a total chore. Not when using this. If you’re scared of cleansing oils, this is a good place to start because it’s not as thin, runny or messy as some… ridiculous as it sounds, it feels less oily! The consistency is closer to a serum and on my skin feels velvety, almost mousse-like. It deep cleans skin using nine emollient and antioxidant botanical oils: argan, coconut, evening primrose, olive, grape seed, jojoba, avocado, sesame and rice bran. No wonder it feels so dreamy. Once massaged into dry, clean skin (make-up already removed - this is too good to waste on that), I add a little water and it emulsifies slightly. I then remove with a warm, damp flannel - it comes off really easily and ‘cleanly’ for an oil, leaving zero residue on my skin. This doesn’t feel like cleansing; it feels like pampering. One pump is enough for my entire face and neck.
It’s just occurred to me that I’ve been so obsessed with how much of a pleasure this is to use that I haven’t paid a huge amount of attention to whether it’s reduced the appearance of my pores, which may make me a rubbish beauty blogger, but in all honestly I’d be reluctant to make such a claim. Deep cleansing pores is the best thing you can do for them - and this definitely achieves that!
DHC Pore Cleansing Oil & Pore Face Wash, from £20
PS If you’ve tried the original DHC Cleansing Oil ( more traditional oil cleanser & celeb fave), this is on a different (way higher) level.
