Bespoke Cosmetics Institute

The pore itself has not really grown. Its surroundings have changed.

Each pore is simply the exit of a hair follicle, with a sebaceous gland feeding into it. Research has found oil output to be the strongest single factor associated with how large pores appear, alongside age and s*x, on a background of genetic predisposition. That is why oily skin and prominent pores
tend to travel together.

Sebum output generally declines with age rather than rising, so oil alone cannot explain why pores become more noticeable in later decades.

Part of the answer lies in the tissue framing the opening. Collagen and elastin around a pore help keep it round and tight. As that framework loses elasticity, the opening loses its crisp outline and can read as larger, most visibly across the cheeks.

Knowing which of these is happening changes the conversation, because an oil-related pore and a
support-related pore involve different mechanisms.
What no evidence supports is the idea that pores can be closed or physically made smaller. They can look more or less noticeable. They do not disappear, and they are not a flaw.

Every human face has them, and their prominence varies enormously between people for reasons that are largely out
of anyone’s control.

Educational content only. This is general information and not personal skin or medical advice. Individual consultation is required to determine suitability for any treatment, and a consultation may conclude that no procedure is indicated. Outcomes vary between individuals. Risk information is
available on our website. This content is for adults only. Fernanda Barbosa | Registered Nurse
(Division 1) | Ahpra Reg. No. NMW0002585008

Roh M, Han M, Kim D, Chung K. Sebum output as a factor contributing to the size of facial pores. British Journal of
Dermatology, 2006 (60 voluntários). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17034515/
Lee SJ et al. Facial Pores: Definition, Causes, and Treatment Options. Dermatologic Surgery, 2016.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26918966/

There are two timelines here, and most people only know the first.

In the hours after drinking, alcohol pulls water out of the body and widens blood vessels in the face. The result is temporary: dullness, puffiness and redness that resolve once hydration and sleep recover. In people with rosacea, this flushing response is among the most frequently reported
triggers.

The second timeline runs over years. A large multinational survey involving more than three thousand women, including Australians, found that drinking above eight standard drinks per week was linked with greater severity of forehead lines, puffiness beneath the eyes, visible vessels and
loss of volume through the mid-face. Survey data is self-reported and shows patterns, not certainties, and individual skin varies enormously. Still, the direction is consistent with what is known about alcohol, sleep quality and
inflammation.

Follow for more content like this on what affects skin health.
Educational content only. This is general information and not personal medical advice or advice about alcohol consumption. Individual consultation is required to determine suitability for any treatment. Outcomes vary between individuals. Risk information is available on our website. This content is for adults only. Fernanda Barbosa | Registered Nurse (Division 1) | Ahpra Reg. No. NMW0002585008

Goodman GD et al. Impact of Smoking and Alcohol Use on Facial Aging in Women: Results of a Large Multinational,
Multiracial, Cross-sectional Survey. Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic Dermatology, 2019.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31531169/
National Rosacea Society, patient survey on triggers (álcool citado por 52%). https://ww

The honest answer sits between the marketing and the scepticism.

Swallowed collagen is broken down in the gut like any other protein. It does not arrive in the skin intact. What does arrive are small fragments, some of which appear in the blood after ingestion and are thought to act as signals that encourage skin cells to produce collagen themselves.

Clinical data exists. A 2021 systematic review and meta-analysis combined nineteen randomised, placebo-controlled trials with 1,125 participants, aged twenty to seventy and ninety-five per cent of them women, and found that roughly three months of hydrolysed collagen produced measurable
gains in hydration and elasticity.

The limitations are worth stating plainly. Many of the included studies were industry funded, the outcomes were captured by instruments rather than by what a person sees in the mirror, and the review itself attracted a published comment questioning how comparable the pooled studies were.

That is the state of the evidence: a signal, with real caveats. What any individual chooses to do with that is their own decision, and worth discussing with their own health practitioner, particularly for anyone pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication or managing a health condition.

Follow for more content like this on collagen science.

Educational content only. This is general information about published research and not a recommendation to take or avoid any supplement, and not personal health advice. Individual
consultation is required to determine suitability for any treatment. Outcomes vary between individuals. Risk information is available on our website. This content is for adults only. Fernanda Barbosa | Registered Nurse (Division 1) | Ahpra Reg. No. NMW0002585008

de Miranda RB, Weimer P , Rossi RC. Effects of hydrolyzed collagen supplementation on skin aging: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Dermatology, 2021. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33742704/

Peres G et al. Concerning the heterogeneity of the studies included in meta-analyses. Comment on the above. International Journal of Dermatology, 2022. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ijd.15748

Smoking earns its reputation here. In a comparison of identical twins with different smoking histories, the twin who smoked showed more lines through the upper and lower lip. That finding is robust.

It is not the whole explanation, though, because non-smokers develop these lines too.

The area is worked constantly by a ring of muscle that tightens with every word and every sip, and repeated folding of thin skin eventually leaves a mark. The upper lip also catches a great deal of sun while rarely receiving sunscreen.

And structurally, the skin here carries fewer oil and sweat glands than the rest of the face. A small anatomical study found women have noticeably fewer than men, which may help explain why perioral lines are seen more often in women.

Where lines around the mouth come from shapes what, if anything, is appropriate to discuss, and that is a conversation for an assessment.

Link in bio to book a consultation.

Educational content only. This is general information and not personal medical advice. Individual consultation is required to determine suitability, and a consultation may conclude that no procedure is indicated. Outcomes vary between individuals. All procedures carry potential risks, which should be discussed as part of informed consent. Risk information is available on our website. This content is for adults only. Fernanda Barbosa | Registered Nurse (Division 1) | Ahpra Reg. No.
NMW0002585008

Okada HC et al. Facial Changes Caused by Smoking: A Comparison between Smoking and Nonsmoking Identical Twins.
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 2013.
https://journals.lww.com/plasreconsurg/fulltext/2014/05000/facial
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comparison.55.aspx
Paes EC et al. Perioral wrinkles: histologic differences between men and women. Aesthetic Surgery Journal, 2009 (10
cadáveres de cada s*xo). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19944990

The way skin changes over time depends heavily on how much melanin it carries, and that has practical consequences.

Melanin absorbs ultraviolet before it reaches the dermis. With more of it, collagen is better shielded, which is why deep lines typically arrive later in darker skin types.

The trade-off is that colour becomes the dominant sign of sun exposure. Rather than wrinkles, photodamage in darker skin tends to present as patchiness, with areas that are darker or lighter than the surrounding skin. Inflammation of any kind, whether from a breakout, an injury or a treatment, carries a higher chance of leaving a dark mark that persists, and the risk of raised scarring is greater.

An assessment built around lines alone therefore asks the wrong questions. Pigment behaviour and
healing tendencies have to sit at the centre, and any treatment decision has to account for them, because getting that wrong raises the risk of pigmentation that lasts longer than the treatment itself.

Link in bio to book a consultation.

Educational content only. This is general information and not personal medical advice. Individual consultation is required to determine suitability, and a consultation may conclude that no procedure is indicated. Outcomes vary between individuals. All procedures carry potential risks, which should be discussed as part of informed consent. Risk information is available on our website. This content is for adults only. Fernanda Barbosa | Registered Nurse (Division 1) | Ahpra Reg. No. NMW0002585008

Vashi NA, de Castro Maymone MB, Kundu RV. Aging Differences in Ethnic Skin. Journal of Clinical and Aesthetic
Dermatology, 2016. https://jcadonline.com/aging-differences-in-ethnic-skin/

Does sugar show on your skin? 🤔

Glucose in the bloodstream does not only get used for energy. A portion of it binds permanently to proteins, and in the dermis the protein most affected is collagen. A collagen fibre with sugar bonded to it loses its flexibility, and because the body clears these damaged fibres slowly, they build up over
the years.

Researchers group the results under the term advanced glycation end products. They have been measured directly in skin, they increase with age, and they are considered a likely contributor to age-related change in the dermis, although much of the evidence comes from laboratory and observational studies.

Eating patterns high in refined carbohydrate are thought to accelerate the process. Sun and smoking add to it.

We are not here to demonise sugar. We share it because it is one of the lifestyle factors with a clear proposed mechanism in the skin.

Follow for more content like this on the science behind skin ageing.

Educational content only. This is general information and not personal medical or dietary advice.
Individual consultation is required to determine suitability for any treatment. Outcomes vary between individuals. Risk information is available on our website. This content is for adults only. Fernanda Barbosa | Registered Nurse (Division 1) | Ahpra Reg. No. NMW0002585008

Gkogkolou P , Böhm M. Advanced glycation end products: key players in skin aging? Dermato-Endocrinology, 2012.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23467327/

The belief that discomfort equals results sends a lot of people in the wrong direction.

The surface of the skin is built from flattened cells bound together by lipids, forming a barrier whose purpose is to hold moisture in and keep irritants out. Exfoliating acids, retinoids, physical scrubs and layered actives all remove those lipids.

Used within the skin’s capacity to rebuild, that is fine.
Used beyond it, the barrier thins, water leaks out and the skin becomes reactive.

The pattern we see is recognisable. Products that used to feel neutral begin to sting. The face feels tight immediately after cleansing. Redness settles in and stays. Flaky patches appear that moisturiser does not resolve. Eventually almost everything provokes a reaction.

A sting is not a sign that an ingredient is doing its job. More often it is the barrier reporting that it is overwhelmed.

One caution: the same symptoms can come from eczema, rosacea or an allergic reaction, which are managed differently.

If a simpler routine has not helped within a few weeks, that is a GP or dermatologist question before it is a cosmetic one.

Educational content only. This is general information and not personal medical advice, and not a
diagnosis. Individual consultation is required to determine suitability, and a consultation may
conclude that no procedure is indicated. Outcomes vary between individuals. All procedures carry
potential risks, which should be discussed as part of informed consent. Risk information is available
on our website. This content is for adults only. Fernanda Barbosa | Registered Nurse (Division 1) |
Ahpra Reg. No. NMW0002585008

Proksch E, Brandner JM, Jensen JM. The skin: an indispensable barrier. Experimental Dermatology, 2008.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19043850/

Our skin runs on a slower clock than the calendar. Here’s what that means for a plan.

The reason we talk about timing in September has nothing to do with urgency. It has to do with biology.

The outer layer of the skin replaces itself on a cycle of about a month, and that cycle lengthens with age. Whatever changes now takes weeks to reach the surface.

Collagen moves on an even longer clock. Where a procedure is intended to encourage new collagen, the body lays it down over two to three months, which is why we do not judge how
someone has responded after a few days.

Most treatments also run as a series rather than a single visit, with sessions several weeks apart and an assessment before anything starts. Put those pieces together and a realistic plan needs a runway of roughly one season.

None of this means a treatment is the right answer for you. It may not be. It means the conversation belongs at the start of that runway, not at the end of it.

Link in bio to book a consultation.

Educational content only. This is general information and not personal medical advice. Individual
consultation is required to determine suitability, and a consultation may conclude that no procedure
is indicated. Outcomes vary between individuals. All procedures carry potential risks, which should
be discussed as part of informed consent. Risk information is available on our website. This content
is for adults only. Fernanda Barbosa | Registered Nurse (Division 1) | Ahpra Reg. No.
NMW0002585008