What the analysis measures
Two related things. Pore visibility: the density and contrast of visible pores per zone — strongest on the nose and inner cheeks, where sebaceous glands cluster. Texture: the fine-grained evenness of the skin surface — micro-roughness, congestion bumps, post-blemish unevenness, and dry-patch flaking all break up how light moves across skin, and the analysis reads that scatter. Each zone gets its own reading, because a smooth forehead and a congested chin are different problems with different fixes.
Why texture deserves tracking
Because it improves slowly and invisibly. Pore and texture changes happen over 6–12 weeks — exactly the timescale where mirror-checking fails and people abandon working routines. The ingredients that refine texture are well-established (salicylic acid for in-pore congestion, niacinamide for oil moderation and pore walls, retinoids for turnover and collagen — the full logic is in our pores guide), but every one of them is a slow burner. A zone score that ticks from rough toward smooth across three monthly check-ins is the feedback that keeps the routine alive long enough to finish the job.
Honest expectations
The analysis will never tell you your pores vanished, because pores don't vanish — they're follicle openings, permanent by design. What changes is visibility: emptied of oxidized oil, tightened by collagen support, and un-stretched by moderated sebum, the same pores can read dramatically finer. Similarly, texture scores respond to consistency, not intensity — aggressive scrubbing inflames skin and worsens the reading. If your texture score drops after adding a new product, that's data: back off before your barrier makes it a bigger conversation.
Getting a fair reading
Texture is the most lighting-sensitive measurement in the app: harsh side-light exaggerates every bump; soft frontal window light is fair. Bare skin matters doubly here — makeup literally fills the texture being measured. Keep conditions consistent between check-ins and compare month to month, not day to day. And texture that's painful, spreading, or itchy isn't a texture-score matter — bumps with those qualities go to a dermatologist.
Put a number on smooth
Zone-by-zone pore and texture scores from one selfie — and the trend line that proves your BHA is earning its shelf space.
Download on the App Store