It’s an affliction that affects most of us, Regina George included. Alongside ingrown hairs, rogue spider veins and wonky eyebrows, open pores speckled across our noses and cheeks are one of beauty's most persistent annoyances and are notoriously hard to treat.

There’s been much debate over the years about how exactly pores work. Although a splash of cool water is said to constrict blood vessels, helping to make pores appear tighter and a good steaming session with a bowl of hot water and a towel over your head will help loosen things up enough for a spot of squeezing, pores don’t, in fact, open and close like doors. Nor can we really shrink them.