Beauty Review: Large Pores? Forgetta 'bout It!

Enlarged pores and dull, flaky skin can discourage any makeup junkie from applying her trusted foundation, but it doesn't have to be that way! The lovely people at Estee Lauder sent me their Idealist Pore Minimizing Skin Refinisher a month ago and I have faithfully been using it every morning before my daily moisturizer. I'll be honest, I don't have large pores to begin with but they're visible enough to bother me. I do, however, suffer from dull flaky skin on occassions. Here is what it promised:

"In just four weeks, this state of the art, fast-acting treatment provides Estee Lauder's most dramatic skin resurfacing benefits to date; significantly reducing the appearance of enlarged pores and delivering soft, smooth radiantly healthy looking skin."

Interesting facts about pores: Dark clogged pores or blackheads is due to an accumulation of impurities and sebum which become dark when oxidized by the air. When pores are clogged, natural sebum secretion is blocked and unable to flow outside the pore, resulting in swelling of accumulated sebum within the pore shaft which causes the pore to stretch.


Effectiveness: After using Idealist for four weeks, I have noticed an improvement in my skin. Prior to this, my skin was in the worst shape ever and I'm not sure if it was due to allergies or from another product I was testing out. Whatever it was, Idealist couldn't have come at a more perfect time. My pores were small before but are practically invisible now. The texture of my skin is very soft and smooth. My blackheads were embarrassingly visible on my nose but now are barely noticeable and have prevented further blackheads from reproducing. Idealist promises a more even skin tone, but it's not as even as I'd like it yet. However, this could be due to the sun and my face not getting an even colour. The product is light in texture, does not clog the pores, and feels velvety soft when applied to the skin. It's even a great primer for makeup! Overall, on a scale of 1-10 I'd give it an 8.5 and would definitely recommend it especially to people who have oily skin or suffer from large pores. A 30 ml bottle is $63 and a 50 ml bottle is $93. Hey, it's probably cheaper than laser resurfacing! Happy shopping!

Estee Lauder Idealist Pore Minimizing Skin Refinisher is available from all Estee Lauder counters nationwide July 2007. Stay tuned for my review of Estee Lauder shadows, high lighters, and lip products!