When Pores Look More Pronounced at the Change of Season

Hello, I’m Dr. Kim Kyung-soo, Medical Director of UHCELL Clinic Seocho branch.

There’s a line I hear often in consultations lately. “It wasn’t like this in summer — my pores seem bigger now.”

Pores don’t grow in a matter of weeks.

Usually the conditions around them have changed, so they register more. Dead skin lingering in the epidermis, a widening gap in sebum between the T-zone and the cheeks, or collagen in the dermis declining after a summer of accumulated UV exposure.

So I don’t look at the pores first. I start by separating what is making them stand out.

Why do they look more pronounced at the change of season?

Three things overlap in this period.

• Uneven sebum — the total drops from summer, but the gap between areas widens. The T-zone running from the forehead to the nose still shines while the centre of the cheeks feels tight.
• Dead skin build-up — when skin dries out, dead cells don’t shed smoothly and stay around the rim of the pore. A rough surface casts shadows. That’s why pores read deeper than they are.
• Declining firmness in the dermis — as collagen falls, pores don’t hold their round shape and appear stretched vertically.

Different causes call for different approaches.

If dead skin is what’s making them stand out, starting with a firming treatment tends to spend both money and recovery time for little felt difference. The order decides the result.

What you can check at home first

You can start separating this before you come in.

Just look twice a day. Once right after cleansing, once in the afternoon. It has to be under the same lighting.

If things look fine right after cleansing but stand out by the afternoon, sebum carries more weight. If the surface feels rough and makeup sits poorly even straight after cleansing, it leans toward dead skin.

Angle matters too.

If pores look more stretched sitting up than lying down, we check firmness as well. That difference only shows under gravity.

Coming in with this much sorted makes the consultation far quicker.

Will more exfoliation solve it?

This is where the direction often goes wrong.

When pores bother you, scrubs and peeling products are easy to reach for. At the change of season, that approach becomes a burden.

When the epidermal barrier weakens, moisture escapes faster, and dry skin produces more dead cells. You end up circling the same spot.

If you’re using an exfoliating product twice a week or more, please tell us during the consultation.

In this season I look first at settling the surface and holding moisture, rather than adding stimulation.

And there’s something I want to state plainly. Pores aren’t something you erase. It’s closer to making them read as less noticeable. I don’t describe it as something that disappears in one go.

What to sort out before your consultation

To use a short consultation precisely, it helps to organize the following.

1. Which area concerns you most (beside the nose, centre of the cheeks, forehead)
2. When they look most pronounced (morning, afternoon, in photos)
3. The type of exfoliating product and how many times a week you use it
4. Whether you have an important event coming up

I ask about the third one especially.

If stimulation has already accumulated, we need to adjust the timing of treatment. We look at the fourth one too. Anything with downtime gets reordered around your schedule.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Once pores enlarge, can they never be reversed?

Rather than erasing pore size itself, we work toward settling the surrounding texture and firmness so they read as less noticeable. The range needed varies with the cause, so we confirm it together during the consultation.

Does exfoliating more often help?

At the change of season, accumulated stimulation often leads to a cycle of dryness and dead skin. We recommend confirming your current skin condition first, then deciding frequency and method together.

I have oily areas and dry areas at the same time.

Different conditions in different areas is common. Rather than applying one method across the whole face, it’s better to assess area by area.

※ Skin responses and treatment progress vary. Please consult a clinician for an accurate diagnosis and an individual treatment plan.