@BPP1 I'm in my 50s with mostly-dry combo skin. My oily zone's on and around my nose; that's also where all my visible pores are. My forehead's kinda "normal"/balanced, leaning slightly oily in summer, but more often it's sweaty instead of truly oily.
To reduce shine, consider LH Cosmetics Blotting Powder. It contains Upsalite, an ingredient that's truly as crazy absorbent as its manufacturer claims. I hate a very matte look on my own skin; thankfully, this pressed powder doesn't do that to me. It gives me more of a natural skin finish, which I prefer, and it doesn't make my skin look cakey. It works well on both my oily zone and my forehead, though of course I need to reapply if I sweat if off. This powder is translucent and plays nice with my medium-deep skin tone.
If you want more of a pore blurring effect, well... you'll get better results from your skincare routine than any powder. If your pores are normally visible, that's perfectly fine: pores are a natural skin feature, after all. But it they're stretched larger than usual, salicylic acid (BHA) can clear out gunk (dead skin cells and bacteria) that's widening them. Niacinamide is good for pore maintenance, among many other things.
As we age, our skin naturally stretches/sags which can make pores more visible. This is another area where skincare helps more than makeup. Since my skin's mostly dry anyway, I'm always trying to keep it well hydrated and moisturized. This helps it look plumped up. But I also use things to boost collagen production, particularly vitamin A (I use retinaldehyde/retinal nightly, but the vitamin A family includes retinoic acid/tretinoin, retinol, adapalene, etc.).
The only powders I've used that I'd say truly have anywhere near a pore-blurring effect are both By Terry products, and one's been discontinued (my favorite powder foundation). The other is a loose powder: By Terry Hyaluronic Hydra-Powder (translucent). I use this to set concealer in my hollow tear troughs and need just a teeny tiny amountโso little, you can barely see it on my brush. That powder's a rockstar when it comes to setting concealer, and it does blur my undereye lines and texture a bit but, of course, doesn't hide them. I've also used it around my nose to set concealer (masking some surface redness) and it doesn't cake things up. It gives me a velvet finish without looking very dry.
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