Acne.org Products
To cut to the chase, I had bad acne from 1994-2003. I went on roaccutane from 2003 for 6 months which helped.
My skin has been quite clear lately except a pimple here and there and red marks from them. But...I really can't stand my pores.
It's like they have a really dark shadow, maybe because they are clean, open and deep. I don't think they are blackheads...unless the dark bits are under my skin but I have been told they are open pores and it's smooth so it isn't clogged( ironically they look better when I clog them lol)
I have attached some images and this is me cleansing and using salicylic acid from Paula's daily.
So I have used nearly everything (no joke). I also feel using any exfoliant makes pores worse as it makes them look like dark holes lol.
Here is a few things I have done.
Professional needling 2.5mm 3 times from a doctor. Too expensive to continue.
Professional peels from doctors
My own peels 20% salicylic and mandelic acid worked good, it removed skin and lots of white gunk come out from my pores(or the skin on the outside softened into them. However my pores looked worse after that and extraction as they were big open gaps leaving a dark shadow on them... and it's not the same anymore as my skin got used to it.
30% salicylic peels which dries my face out as it had alcohol and worse off.
45% glycolic and lactic peels. Face went worse 5 days after peel, but just hydrated my face and pores reduced somewhat only for a week or so post 5 day peel.
Now I have used oil free, non-comedogenic moisturisers, serums, light lotions but they don't hydrate enough. And oil based cream moisturiser actually hydrates and makes pores slightly smaller after using it for a week after a peel... but eventually after a week gets worse again.
I have also used
5% salicylic leave on serum ph 3
Paula's choice bha 2% for 5 months
Glycolic 10% and 25% overnight
Azelaic acid
Retinol 1.5% (dried me out and made pores worse)
Epiduo(worst thing ever, broke me out and dried my face up badly) (contains adapalene(retinoids) and benzoyl peroxide.
Triclosan.
Steaming then nose strips
Clay, kaolin, bentonite masks
Even newer things like lha, caprolyl salicylic acid, sulfonic acid, dioc acid, bha 9% overnight...
OCM with sunflower and castor oil
Heaps of random things like tea tree, witch hazel and pretty much everything I can find.
Used 100's of cleansers, scrubs(don't like scrubs as it irritated skin and made it worse)
I am sure there are loads of others but its exhausting haha.
It seems exfoliants and extracting with a blackhead remover makes pores worse. And I hate having dry skin from using all of these so I have just stuck to cleansing twice a day, and using skin ceuticals b5 hydrating serum(it has sodium hyaluronate and isn't comedogenic) and pore reducing toner from Paula's choice.
I'm at wits end on what to do. I am looking into Fraxel laser but heard horror stories of scaring and that it didn't even help.
What else am I missing?
We are in the exact same boat. Right now I am just trying to be as gentle as I can with my face, except that I am doing dermarolling at home. But lately I've been using diluted apple cider vinegar at night which seems to be helping and then using clearasil's tinted acne cream which has sulphur. I wash with dessert essence thouroughly clean face wash and occasionally scrub with baking soda. I am really scared of making everything worse too. My face is so messed up I can't afford that. What ever procedure I do I want to do Recell right after to limit the chances of it damaging my skin even further. But I think once skin becomes like this pores will never go back to the way they were with any topical kind of stuff. So I try to be gentle.
We are in the exact same boat. Right now I am just trying to be as gentle as I can with my face, except that I am doing dermarolling at home. But lately I've been using diluted apple cider vinegar at night which seems to be helping and then using clearasil's tinted acne cream which has sulphur. I wash with dessert essence thouroughly clean face wash and occasionally scrub with baking soda. I am really scared of making everything worse too. My face is so messed up I can't afford that. What ever procedure I do I want to do Recell right after to limit the chances of it damaging my skin even further. But I think once skin becomes like this pores will never go back to the way they were with any topical kind of stuff. So I try to be gentle.
Sorry to hear you are in the same boat.
I found using ACV, baking soda(or any scrub) to make my pores worse. It seemed to irritate the skin causing inflammation.
Yeah I feel now that they have enlargened, they won't go back to their original...however...The skin ceuticals salicylic and mandelic peel I got from strawberry net, or the 40% lactic I used made my skin worse for 5 days, and then my pores were hardly visible or so minuscule it was perfect, so you can reduce them...trouble is this only lasted a week or 2 and then I was back to square one. I just moisturised those 5 days post peel with sodium hyaluronate and cream based moisturisers 2-3 times a day.
I'll see if I can get them good again and show you it works...temporarily unfortunately 😔
My doctor said you need at least 2.5mm for any benefit with the derma roller. Let me know how it goes for you and I will keep you posted if I find a miracle
Hey, I don't know what difference it will make but I think a lot of guy struggle with their pores being larger across the nose and cheeks than girls do. Guys skin is normally thicker, I think that might have something to do with it. I know my boyfriend has some larger pores in the same areas as you and he has never had acne really. Your skin is maybe a little bit irritated as well from all the products you've tried. I know people tell you that you can shrink your pores but I believe if there is an underlying reason then you can. This time last year my skin was a mess from using harsh benzoyl peroxide and then about ten other products to try and clear up a breakout. My pores were huge, red irritated and oily skin. Since being on birth control ( I know this wont help in your case) and using differin for a year ( although not near my nose as it is too sensitive) my pores are pretty much invisible. Since I didn't use the differin near my nose or inner cheeks, I assume it was my skincare that made the difference and that was gentle cream cleansers and a good moisturiser. Maybe try and go easy on your skin for a while, if it is irritated then your pores will look bigger. I hope this helps 
Azelaic acid didn't help you with your pores ?
I stopped using this website and didnt see the replies.
Azelaic Acid actually made my skin worse. I tried the Finacea Gel for about 4-5 weeks and noticed pimples getting worse and didnt help my pores. It also made inflammation worse on any existing pimple. I then decided to try azclear 20% and same issue. I figured I cant be the only person to not agree with this since its a Holy Grail onlineI tried the potassium derivative which is more gentle and noticed no benefits.
its so strange how using this on any spots makes them actually a lot worse and worsens any red marks causing more PIE and PIH. So I stay away from this.
I found leaving Paulas BHA 2% liquid without any moisturisers for a few hours every couple of days to actually help my skin somewhat. Pores seem to be less noticeable.