Clogged Pores – Why You Get Clogged Skin Pores

Skin care ingredients are what causes most clogged skin pores. Choosing natural or synthetic solve a lot of other skin care problems. Knowing the causes will help you know the correct solutions.

• Facts About Skincare Products

Petrolatum, mineral oil and other ingredients are classified as comedogenic. The classification is less common today, because cosmetic companies convinced dermatologists that new formulations did not produce plugging of the pilosebaceous unit, otherwise known as your pores.

The term comedogenic was more commonly used in the 1970s and 1980s. Dermatologists convinced cosmetic companies to include the non-comedogenic or comedogenic labels in order to help acne sufferers identify products that could be used without aggravating their problem.

It all sounds a bit political. Cosmetics can still clog the pores and cause the inflammation that leads to acne, but now the condition is usually referred to as low-grade folliculitis; inflammation of the hair-producing follicles.

• Facts About Your Pores

We have two basic kinds of pores. One kind of pore contains the hair follicle and leads up from the sebaceous gland. Sebum, a kind of fatty wax, is produced by the sebaceous glands to lubricate the hair and the skin. Sweat glands may also empty into this kind of pore.

The second type of pore is simpler. The only secretion from it is perspiration.

• ·How the Pores Become Plugged

Either type of pore can become clogged with dirt or the salt found in perspiration. Sebum can combine with dead skin cells to clog the openings. The petrolatum and mineral oil mentioned above can combine with dead skin cells, colorings, minerals or other substances to create a plug.

• · Why Clogged Pores Are Bad

the material that makes up with the plug will typically contain some bacteria, which is naturally present on the skin. The bacteria can cause an infection ranging from mild to serious. Infection is accompanied by inflammation or swelling. The inflammation further narrows the channel that would normally secrete perspiration and/or sebum. So it is something of a vicious cycle.

• · An Uncommon Cause of Clogged Pores

Although it is uncommon, it is worth mentioning. In some cases, the body produces excessive keratin, a structural protein found in all of the skin's outer cells. The excess keratin can form a plug that typically looks white or yellow in color.

This is not the same thing as a whitehead. What we refer to as a whitehead is an open comedone or pimple. A blackhead is a closed comedone. Those things are common.

The condition caused by the keratin plugs is called keratosis pilaris and is colloquially referred to as chicken skin. It is believed to be a genetic condition and is sometimes mistaken for acne.

Regardless of the cause or the type of pore involved, there are preventative measures and solutions for clogged pores. If you read my next article, you will learn all about the solutions and preventative measures.

the best skin care product

There is really nothing like a best skin care product. There really can’t be anything like ‘The best skin care product’, because skin care products work differently for different people (based on the skin type to some extent). A product that is the ‘best skin care product’ for one person might end up being the worst for another person. So, a more logical question to ask would be ‘What is the best skin care product for my type of skin?’. However, this still is not completely logical. We tend to segregate people into 4 groups based on their skin types – i.e. dry skin, oily skin, normal skin and sensitive skin. However, this classification is just too broad to be used definitively in determining the best skin care product. We can say ‘best skin care product for a dry skin’ or ‘best skin care product for an oily skin’ are better statements than just ‘best skin care product’. But really, that is what it is – ‘better’; still not accurate.

So, it really comes to rephrasing the question to – ‘What is the best skin care product for me’. Yes, this is exactly the question that you should be asking, and unfortunately there is no easy answer for this.


First of all, you need to understand how the skin care products work. This is simple. You can consider all skin care products to be composed of 2 types of ingredients – Active and inactive. The active ingredients are the ones that actually work on your skin. The inactive ones just help in delivering these active ingredients to your skin. Both the ingredients need to work for your skin, in order for the product to be effective (and move on to become the best skin care product for you).

Besides the ingredients, the way you apply your skin care products is equally important. In fact, this is even more important. If you do not know how to apply skin care products, you might forever be hunting for the best skin care product for yourself, when that has already passed you. Moreover, it’s also important to decide on the frequency of application (of the skin care product). The environmental factors - temperature, humidity and pollution level, also affect the selection of best skin care product.

Here are a few rules that you could use to ensure that your best skin care product is really the best for you:

• Cleanse your skin before applying that best skin care product.

• Use a makeup remover instead of plain water and remove your makeup before going to bed.

• The effectiveness of active ingredients is reduced when applied over another product e.g. over moisturiser. So apply that best skin care product first and then apply a bit of moisturizer if needed.

• Apply the products on moist and warm skin.

• You will have to experiment with a few products before you arrive at the one that is the best skin care product for you.

• Do not exfoliate too much or too hard.

• Vary your skin care routine as per the seasons (winter/summer etc), changes in environmental factors and changes in your skin type

Note that the best skin care product cannot be determined overnight. It’s only through experiment (and awareness) that you can find the ‘Best skin care product’ (for you).