I've tried everything for my pores and nothing changes

Pores appear larger when they contain more sebum, when their walls have stretched from repeated congestion, or when the skin around them has thinned (making them look larger by contrast). All three of these mechanisms are influenced by sebum production.

Androgens stimulate sebaceous glands to produce more sebum and to grow larger. In a highly androgenic-active skin pattern, this effect is more pronounced — pores on the nose, cheeks, and chin are larger because the glands they belong to are more active.

This is also why pore size tends to enlarge during puberty (when androgens surge) and can change with hormonal contraception, perimenopause, and other hormonal shifts.

Pores also appear enlarged when they're chronically congested — when the sebum inside them isn't clearing efficiently. In a detox-metabolic pattern, where the body's clearance of oxidised sebum and cellular debris is slower than its production, congestion accumulates inside the follicle over time and distends the pore opening.

This is distinct from the androgenic mechanism but often co-occurs. An androgenic skin pattern that also has a metabolic clearance component tends to have the most pronounced and persistent pore visibility.

Topically, ingredients that regulate sebum production (niacinamide, zinc, retinoids) and support follicular clearance (salicylic acid, adapalene) can reduce pore visibility over time. These are meaningful but incremental — they don't change the underlying androgenic sensitivity.

For persistently enlarged pores that don't respond to topical treatment, the androgenic picture is usually the primary driver. Reducing systemic inflammation (which amplifies androgenic activity), managing glycaemic load (which stimulates insulin and therefore androgen production), and understanding the broader hormonal pattern tends to produce more change than any topical alone.