Like most beauty devotees, I’m always down for a time-/effort-/money-saving beauty hack. Whether it’s storing my razor with silica-gel packs or the unexpected key to those perfectly flushed cheeks at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, I’m always on the lookout for ways to up my game. So when I heard that some people were using men’s aftershave balm as a cheap replacement for primer, I had to raid my boyfriend’s medicine cabinet ASAP…

Here’s the hard truth: You’ll never be able to actually change the shape of your pores. But it’s not all bad. You can do things to temporarily make them look smaller. “Your pore size is genetically determined, but you can reduce their appearance with a multipronged approach,” says Joshua Zeichner, the director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City…

A spotless, lineless, flawless complexion is lying just beneath the surface of your
skin—and doctors have found that a classic treatment is the fastest way there.