The ‘Putty’ That Makes My Pores Invisible

Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.

I live right by a Sephora, so I do most of my drunk shopping there. Last week, I stopped in after two big glasses of wine specifically to buy a Beautyblender (I’m very behind) and then remembered that there’s one product I’ve been thinking about for months but never tried: Peter Thomas Roth’s Pore Putty ($38).

The mental image of “pore putty” is so funny to me, but I totally get it: As someone who has large pores on her T-zone, I’ve been daydreaming about this kind of fix-it for years. I finally bought it and I’m really into it.

It has the feel of a moisturizer that’s a little serum-y in texture, but it’s tinted, so you could wear it without anything else on top. I expected it to literally be the consistency of putty, or at least feel a bit more like clay that would fill up what are essentially really tiny holes on my face like tar does for potholes.

I use it as a primer for my foundation, so it’s kind of a two-in-one: It helps my makeup stay on throughout the day, but it also makes the surface of my skin a lot more smooth. The only downside: It costs almost $40, so I probably wouldn’t have bought it had I not been kinda buzzed.