Four different pore measurements: reading the single-use 3F study

Are area, volume, count and depth interchangeable?

No. They describe different aspects of the measured pore appearance. Area concerns the two-dimensional footprint, volume a three-dimensional measure, count the number meeting the analysis criteria, and depth a different dimensional feature. A percentage should retain its original label.

The domestic 3F report PM-23O26-PO018, conducted by ProBM in 2023, recorded these endpoints after a single use in 20 women. The reported group-average changes were area 47.6%, volume 49.7%, count 29.7% and depth 19.8%.

That set is more informative than the phrase “pores improved by almost 50%.” The latter chooses one of four outcomes and leaves the reader unsure whether it concerns the number of pores, their appearance or a completely different feature.

Does a lower count mean pores were removed?

No. A measured count should be read as an analysis result, not as evidence that anatomical pores have been removed. The definition of what the analysis detects and counts is part of the study method.

A pore whose measured appearance changes may interact differently with an analysis threshold. Without examining the full method, we should not convert a lower count into a story about blocked openings disappearing or skin rebuilding its structure.

Nor should the four percentages be added together. A 47.6% area change and a 29.7% count change use different endpoints and denominators. Their sum would have no defined interpretation in this report.

How is this different from the four-week wrinkle trial?

The pore report addresses a different question, with a different observation period and different endpoints. It cannot serve as the first day of the four-week wrinkle report or explain how wrinkle outcomes developed.

The wrinkle study involved 20 women, with an average age of 50 years, and reported four-week changes in eye, nasolabial and neck measurements. A single-use pore observation does not establish an immediate change in those wrinkle measurements.

The same separation applies when comparing another product’s pore study. A cleanser and a leave-on ampoule have different intended uses. Numerically comparing their separate studies is not a controlled comparison of which product performs better.

Can these changes be assigned to a particular ingredient?

Not from this report alone. The result belongs to the tested finished formula and use conditions. The domestic 3F ingredient information includes EGF, FGF, IGF and 11 peptides, but a list of ingredients is not an experiment isolating each ingredient’s contribution.

We therefore do not write that one ingredient opened an absorption pathway or permanently altered pores based on these percentages. Those are different mechanistic claims that would need relevant evidence of their own.

The 50 ml dropper bottle is also not a dosing instruction from the report. Use the product as directed; more product is not shown here to produce a proportionally larger measured change.

What should you check before relying on a pore claim?

Check the product, endpoint, timing, participant group and institution together. For this claim, the essential description is domestic 3F, four named pore metrics, one use, 20 women and ProBM’s 2023 report.

Ask whether the source establishes persistence. The single-use summary does not tell us how long the changes lasted, what happened after stopping use or whether a longer regimen would produce the same pattern.

Also distinguish the study image from a sales illustration. A truthful diagram can explain area versus depth without simulating a patient’s before-and-after result. A drawing is not additional clinical evidence.

If pore appearance is your concern, the study offers a defined observation worth considering. It remains one product-specific piece of evidence rather than a promise that your skin will reproduce the group average or become pore-free.

Related reading

Information only. Follow the current package directions. Cosmetics do not replace diagnosis or treatment.