The Skincare Lies Everyone Believes
My friend texted me last week: "Should I use hot water to open my pores before I wash my face, then cold water to close them after?"
No.
Your pores don't have little doors. They're not opening and closing based on water temperature. They're not miniature mouths that yawn open when it's hot and clamp shut when it's cold. This is one of those skincare "facts" that everyone knows, everyone repeats, and that happens to be completely wrong.
The weird thing is how persistent this myth is. I've heard it from smart people. I've seen it in articles on major beauty websites. It's in countless YouTube tutorials. And it's based on a fundamental misunderstanding of what pores actually are and how they work.
What Pores Actually Are
A pore is just an opening. That's it. It's the opening of your hair follicle at the surface of your skin. Every single one of your pores has a hair in it (even if the hair is so fine you can't see it) and a sebaceous gland attached to it that produces oil.
There's no muscle around your pores. No mechanism for them to open and close. The size of your pores is determined by genetics, age, and how much oil your skin produces. You can make them look smaller temporarily (we'll get to that), but you can't actually make them open and close.
When people talk about "opening" their pores with steam or hot water, what's actually happening is that the heat is softening the oil and debris inside the pore. This makes it easier to clean out, which is useful. But the pore itself isn't opening. It's the same size it was before. The stuff inside is just more pliable.
When you splash cold water on your face, you're causing temporary vasoconstriction (your blood vessels constrict) and your skin tightens up a bit. This can make pores look smaller for a little while. But again, the pore hasn't closed. It's the same size. The skin around it has just temporarily tightened.
The Other Big Lies
Once you start looking at common skincare advice with a skeptical eye, a lot of it falls apart pretty quickly. Here are some other ones that drive me crazy:
"You need to let your skin breathe."
Your skin doesn't breathe. You have lungs for that. Your skin gets its oxygen from your blood, not from the air. This is why you can put on a full face of makeup and not suffocate.
The kernel of truth buried in this nonsense is that heavily occlusive products (thick creams, certain oils) can trap stuff in your pores and cause breakouts. But that's not because your skin can't breathe. It's because you've created a nice environment for bacteria to party in and your pores are getting clogged.
"You should feel a tingle/burn - that means it's working."
No, that means your skin is pissed off.
A slight tingle from certain actives (like strong retinoids or high-percentage acids) can be normal when you first start using them. But if something burns, that's not "working" - that's irritation. Your skin shouldn't feel like you've rubbed it with sandpaper for a product to be effective.
This myth has sold a lot of harsh scrubs and overly aggressive peels to people who think skincare should hurt to work. It shouldn't.
"Pores can be permanently shrunk/eliminated."
Nope. You're stuck with the pores you have. You can make them look smaller by keeping them clean (so they're not stretched out by all the gunk inside them) and by using certain ingredients that temporarily tighten the appearance of skin. But you cannot permanently shrink your pores, and you definitely cannot eliminate them.
Anyone telling you their product will "erase" your pores is either lying or doesn't understand how skin works. Probably both.
"Toothpaste will dry out your pimple."
It will also irritate the hell out of your skin. Toothpaste is designed for your teeth, which are made of enamel, not skin cells. Yes, toothpaste contains some ingredients that might dry out a pimple, but it also contains a bunch of stuff that has no business being on your face and will likely make the whole situation worse.
If you want to dry out a pimple, use an actual spot treatment with salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. Don't use something designed to fight cavities.
"Expensive products are better than cheap ones."
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Price often reflects packaging, marketing, and brand prestige more than the actual quality of the ingredients. I've used $10 products that worked better than $100 ones.
The expensive product might be using higher concentrations of actives or more elegant formulations that feel better on your skin. Or it might just be the same basic ingredients in a fancier bottle with a luxury brand name slapped on it.
You have to read the ingredient list and pay attention to what actually works for your skin, not what costs the most.
What Actually Matters
If you can't open and close your pores, and half of what we've been told about skincare is wrong, what should you actually do?
Keep your skin clean. Wash your face. Don't overwash it to the point where you're stripping all the oil away, but do wash away the dirt, oil, and whatever else has accumulated during the day.
Use products with proven ingredients. Retinoids for anti-aging and acne. Vitamin C for brightness. Niacinamide for a bunch of things. Sunscreen for sun protection. These have actual science behind them, not just marketing claims.
Pay attention to how your skin responds. If something makes your face red, tight, or irritated, stop using it. Doesn't matter if everyone on the internet swears by it. Your skin gets a vote.
Be consistent. Most skincare products take weeks to show results. Using something three times and giving up because you don't see immediate improvement is like going to the gym twice and wondering why you don't have abs yet.
Don't believe everything you read on the internet. Including this article. If something sounds too good to be true (erase your pores! look 10 years younger in 10 days!), it probably is.
The skincare industry has a vested interest in making everything sound more complicated than it is. Most skincare is pretty simple. Clean your face, keep it moisturized, protect it from the sun, and use a few evidence-based actives if you have specific concerns. That's about it.
Your pores aren't doors. Your skin doesn't breathe. Natural isn't automatically better. And if it burns, you should probably stop putting it on your face.
