You’ve overcome acne, treated the scars and dealt with those pesky blackheads but there’s one thing preventing you from achieving seamless skin – enlarged pores – and you aren’t alone.

‘Although we may not like the size of our pores, they do have a purpose,’ says Lorraine Scrivener, skin expert and director of the Eden Skin Clinic. ‘They are tiny openings to hair follicles and each one produces a natural oil which helps us maintain healthy skin. These oils protect us against infection, dryness and skin chapping.’

While pores serve an important function, there is no denying that they can be unsightly and annoying, especially as we so often find ourselves the target of megapixel smartphone cameras on a daily basis – but to quash what you may have heard about pores, there is actually no real way to ‘close’ them up.

‘It is a myth to think that certain products such as toners and other treatments close pores,’ says consultant dermatologist and British Skin Foundation spokesperson Dr. Anjali Mahto. ‘Many can simply minimise the appearance of them only and this is because pores don’t have muscles around them allowing them to open or close.’

So if we can’t get rid of enlarged pores entirely, what are the most effective ways to diminish them?