Pads are one way in. If you prefer a bottle, there is a whole group of BHA toners and pore serums that do a similar kind of tidying, more slowly and with less friction. They also travel better than pads, which can dry out at the bottom of a bag.

Paula's Choice 2% BHA Exfoliating Toner is the one I recommend to friends who ask where to start. It is a leave-on liquid you sweep on with a cotton round, and it makes the skin around my nose feel smoother in a week or so. Glow Recipe's Watermelon Glow PHA + BHA Pore-Tight Toner pairs PHA with the BHA, the one I would pick if BHA on its own usually feels too intense. Kate Somerville's ExfoliKate is a treatment you leave on for a couple of minutes and then rinse, so treat it as a once or twice a week step.

Sulwhasoo's First Care Activating Serum is a first-step serum, for the person who wants a routine to feel calm. Clarins' Double Serum in its light texture is aimed at firmness, radiance and refined pores all together. Caudalie's Vinopure serum is made for blemish-prone skin and works nicely on the nights I do not want an acid.

The test is simple. Look at the sides of your nose in daylight after two weeks, next to a window and without makeup. If they look clearer and feel comfortable, keep going. If they feel tight or start to flake, ease off.

Clay masks are a different, slower pleasure. They sit on the skin, they dry, and they draw oil to the surface so it can be rinsed away. I do one on Sunday evenings with the bathroom door closed and a podcast on.

innisfree's Super Volcanic Pore Clay Mask is the one I reach for first, made for oil control. Origins' Clear Improvement uses charcoal, so wear an old towel. Caudalie's Pore Minimizing Instant Detox Mask is the one to try if you want a different flavor of pore mask. Benefit's POREfessional Deep Retreat is a kaolin clay mask, and Kiehl's clay mask for pores and uneven texture is the unfussy one for anyone who just wants a classic.

Farmacy's 10% Niacinamide Night Mask goes its own way: it is a night mask, not a clay, and I like it on a night after a clay day when skin needs something back.

What I would skip: leaving a clay to dry into a crust, or putting one over skin that is already irritated from acids. Ten minutes is plenty. If it cracks on your face it has stayed too long. Rinse it off with lukewarm water and follow with a plain moisturizer. Pat, do not rub, and keep the mask off your eye area and lips, where skin is thinner and drier.

The order I follow is boring on purpose. Cleanse, use a pad or a BHA toner on two or three evenings, moisturize, and keep the clay for the weekend. Never use all three on the same night, and never on the same night as a strong retinol.

Sunscreen every morning, no exceptions, because most exfoliating products make skin more sensitive to sun. Introduce one new product at a time and wait a couple of weeks before judging it. If your face burns, peels or stays red, stop and see a doctor. A good pore routine is mostly patience, and the medicube Zero Pore Pad is a nice place to begin. Keep a note on your phone of what you tried and when, because it is surprisingly easy to forget which product caused a good week or a bad one. After a month, keep the two things that clearly helped and put the rest away.