Retinol for tightening enlarged pores?

The pores are small openings located at the end of the pilosebaceous ducts, connecting the sebaceous glands to the external environment. They are essential for the evacuation of sebum, but sometimes they dilate excessively and become visible, posing an aesthetic problem and promoting the appearance of imperfections. Pores are generally considered enlarged when their diameter oscillates between 0.06 and 0.1 mm. There are three main causes of dilation: excessive sebum production, a significant amount of dead cells accumulated in the pores, and natural aging, the decrease in collagen levels with age tends to cause a relaxation in the structure of the pores.

Maintaining a skincare routine that includes astringent and keratolytic agents can help reduce the appearance of enlarged pores.

The retinol, a derivative of vitamin A, could be particularly helpful. Indeed, when applied to the skin, retinol undergoes two successive conversions to transform into retinoic acid, its biologically active form. This then binds to the nuclear receptors of retinoic acid (RAR) and the retinoid X receptor (RXR), which leads to the formation of an activated RAR/RXR heterodimeric complex, responsible for transmitting the retinoid signal in cells. The RAR/RXR complex then binds to retinoic acid response elements (RARE), a specific area of DNA, which allows it to normalize cell differentiation. In doing so, the retinol prevents the accumulation of dead cells on the skin's surface, one of the factors involved in pore enlargement. Retinol is also attributed with the ability to regulate sebum production, but, while this property has been widely demonstrated in vitro, clinical studies on this subject are still lacking.

However, several clinical studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of retinol and retinoids in general for improving the appearance of pores. One such study involved 568 volunteers and examined the effects of a cream containing 0.1% tazarotene, an acetylenic retinoid, compared to the same formulation without tazarotene. After application for 24 weeks, a significantly greater reduction in pore size was observed by researchers in the group that received the cream with tazarotene. This was measured using a 5-point scale (0 = barely visible, 1 = very small, 2 = small, 3 = medium, and 4 = large).