How To Be Beautiful: Pore nutrition

Levels of satisfaction with your face depend on the qualities of the surface in which you've most recently seen it reflected.

Sensible people rely on old, slightly foxed mirrors, ideally hung above massive bits of furniture that make it impossible to get a close-up view.

Masochists purchase magnifying mirrors and put them in brightly lit bathrooms.

The latter inevitably become a source of great anxiety, scaling things up to horrific effect: fine lines become tectonic rifts; pores take on dinner-plate proportions.

Viewed with the naked eye, enlarged pores – partly genetic, partly down to dwindling collagen and a slackening of skin's internal structure – are far less pronounced. But they do create an uneven surface that reflects light poorly, resulting in a dull complexion.

The products below offer immediate tightening and some longer-term refining. But binning your magnifying mirror is the best place to start.