The 10 Best Pore Minimizers for Your Smoothest Skin Ever (2024)

Henney is a fan of this best-selling product from Benefit. "This does a really great job of priming the skin, reducing the pores before applying foundation," says the makeup artist. "It’s like a putty to fill in pores."

Benefits: mattifies skin, smooths skin texture

Customer Review:

"Best primer ever. It smooths out my large pores and lasts all day. Has never caused issues on my sensitive skin." —psitsrhandi

"This is such a great product as the stick formulation allows you to swipe it over the skin to give that more porcelain pore-free skin effect," says Henney.

Benefits: mattifies skin, blurs pores

Customer Review:

"I love using this priming stick before I apply my makeup. It blurs all my pores and absorbs sweat and oil on my skin. 10/10 recommend!!" —Olivia

"This is a powerful serum with niacinamide and zinc, plus hyaluronic acid to plump," explains Bazaar beauty director Jenna Rosenstein, who adds that despite having "reactive" skin, "it never makes me get red or irritated, and I do feel like my skin looks smoother and brighter after just using it for a few days."

Benefits: refines look of pores, controls oil, hydrates skin

Customer Review:

"I love this product! My esthetician recommended this to me and I’m so glad she did. It feels very light on my face and absorbs nicely. Great value for money and smoothed out the laugh lines by my eyes. This works great for me!" —flash drive

If you've been missing Milk's now-discontinued Blur Stick, you'll love this formula, which has all the same benefits, along with added skincare boosts like niacinamide, bakuchiol, and soothing tea tree oil.

Benefits: absorbs oil, blurs pores

Customer Review:

"The product worked better than I expected! It smoothed out my pores and decreased the shine in my t-zone. I used it under my matte foundation and it STAYED. I was pleasantly surprised. It also felt like nothing was on my face either." —chanellemboss

This high-performance primer doesn't just smooth the look of pores, but it stays that way for a full 24 hours, so your makeup won't look splotchy after a few hours.

Benefits: mattifies skin, blurs pores, grips makeup

Customer Review:

"This is my new favorite primer. My holy grail honestly, this stuff made me look so fresh and smooth faced. My makeup went on perfect with no pilling." —beesleezy

All you need is a few drops of this primer-serum hybrid to reap the skin-smoothing benefits. Not only does it blur the look of pores instantly, but the BHA and strawberry enzyme in the formula also help smooth skin with continued use.

Benefits: blurs pores, smooths texture, and balances oil

Customer Review:

"I love this glow recipe product so much. It can be used as a treatment or a primer. I use it as a primer and it is soooo good. But I also make sure not to use too little or too much. Last time u put too much, my face felt a little too dry. But overall, 10/10 recommend." —ValeriaJ1322

Devoted fans swear by this mask for ultra-visible pores: Mix the kaolin-based powder with water, then apply where your issues persist—it draws out blackheads and oil to give you a poreless look in 10 minutes.

Benefits: controls oil, blackheads

Customer Review:

"I've always had the nastiest black heads in the corners of my nose and this made them WAYYY less noticeable. I don't feel like I have to cake on concealer anymore." —Jessica

It would be enough if it were a great primer at a great price, but this L'Oréal Paris formula also boasts a 1% AHA + LHA + BHA complex that helps smooth skin's texture the more you use it.

Benefits: blurs pores, smooths texture

Customer Review:

"Super soft and creamy! I didn't even break out when I first started using this! Definitely works and 'fills in' my pores. I can tell a difference when I use it and when I don't. Will definitely be keeping this one in my makeup collection!" —Azia

Using a gentle toner like this one from Paula's Choice is a good way to keep pores in check. It's infused with niacinamide, antioxidants, and plant extracts to soothe and balance skin, so it won't over-strip sebum or leave it feeling tight.

Benefits: hydrates, minimizes pores, balances oil

Customer Review:

"This is the first Paula's Choice product I've tried. It seems to be doing a great job at keeping my pores small-ish, and also isn't drying or irritating. Definitely recommend, especially for prepping the skin for treatments/serums." —Angela

The gel primer feels great on skin but still keeps things nice and shine-free thanks to the addition of oil-controlling salicylic acid and detoxifying limonette extract.

Benefits: blurs pores, mattifies skin

Customer Review:

"This primer is perfect for daily use on my super oily skin. A lot of primers will break me out, but this one doesn't. I'll never stop using it!"—AmandaKSwofford

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Pore minimizers can be various products, from primers to serums to masks. The common thread? Well, as the name suggests, "A pore minimizer reduces the appearance of pores on the skin and gives a more flawless skin effect," says Henney. Again, a pore minimizer can't actually change the physical size of pores, but rather how large they look.

• Tobi Henney is a bicoastal celebrity makeup artist originally from Sydney.