Thanisorn Thamlikitkul

Pores are the passageways for oil to be released. They are barely visible on normal and drier skin, but people with oily skin tend to have larger, more noticeable pores.

There are a few treatments you can try to minimise their appearance.

Microdermabrasion is ideal. It removes the dead skin cells that clog the pores. The treatment, done at skin clinics, can stimulate collagen production, which is essential for healthy-looking skin.

Double Matrix is another non-ablative laser treatment that's effective in treating                     enlarged pores.

It also treats wrinkles, and the best thing is that it stimulates long-term collagen and rebuilds elastin.

Hi. I'm going out to the beach during the holidays.

Is there a safe way I can get a suntan?

No. The only known safe way to tan is with self-tanners - creams or lotions that you can apply to the skin to give it a golden glow without any of the damage from sun exposure.

Tanning occurs when the sun's ultraviolet rays penetrate the skin's outer layer, which causes the skin to produce more melanin (the brown colour in skin) as a response to  injury.

Though tanning booths will often say that they offer safe tanning, you should be wary of such claims.

Self-tanning creams, however, are safe. They work by staining only the outer dead layer of skin cells, leaving the living tissue beneath unharmed.

Thanisorn Thamlikitkul, MD, is a member of the American Society

of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery and qualified in laser surgery.

For more information, e-mail info@romrawin.com.

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