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May 25, 2020Active Ingredients
Starting A New Skincare Regimen That Includes Active Ingredients
What to expect when trying out a new skincare routine with active ingredients.
1. There’s a difference between normal skin reactions and allergic reactions.
2. Give your skin time to ease into your new regimen.
When starting out a new product or regimen pay close attention to how your skin is talking back to you. Check for dry skin, flaking, redness, and of course, acne. If your skin becomes dry, red, and irritated from a product (and this can be an expected result from certain products like chemical exfoliators), reduce the frequency of use: Start one to three times a week. Give your skin a few days between applications to get used to it.
3. Most active ingredients take at least 2 months to show results.
Most skincare products with active ingredients can take about two months to show efficacy. These include topical antioxidants, retinoids, and pigmentation treatment.
4. You may experience tingling and stinging from active ingredients.
Many proven skin-care ingredients, like acids and retinoids, might sting, and in that particular case, they're supposed to. Tingling and stinging for these types of active ingredients is to be expected and even beneficial if it is for a short period. The expected result is immediate inflammation and then, skin peeling. This reaction encourages new collagen growth and cellular renewal.
1. There’s a difference between normal skin reactions and allergic reactions.
Whether your skin is happy with the new product or not, you’re bound to notice a reaction, which can range from mild stinging, burning, and itching to red rashes and skin swelling.
It can be an expected irritation reaction - like the mild stinging from an acid-based product or the peeling and redness from using a topical retinoid.
An actual allergic reaction, in contrast - could be painful and long-lived, instead of a mild bout of side effects. If a product stings your skin beyond tolerance: Wash it off. Try the product again in a few days in a small area, and see if your skin can tolerate it better.
An actual allergic reaction, in contrast - could be painful and long-lived, instead of a mild bout of side effects. If a product stings your skin beyond tolerance: Wash it off. Try the product again in a few days in a small area, and see if your skin can tolerate it better.
Click here for a guide on how to manage expected reactions.
2. Give your skin time to ease into your new regimen.
When starting out a new product or regimen pay close attention to how your skin is talking back to you. Check for dry skin, flaking, redness, and of course, acne. If your skin becomes dry, red, and irritated from a product (and this can be an expected result from certain products like chemical exfoliators), reduce the frequency of use: Start one to three times a week. Give your skin a few days between applications to get used to it.
3. Most active ingredients take at least 2 months to show results.
Most skincare products with active ingredients can take about two months to show efficacy. These include topical antioxidants, retinoids, and pigmentation treatment.
4. You may experience tingling and stinging from active ingredients.
This is where it may get confusing - Not all products should sting! It all depends on the product and the ingredients.
Many proven skin-care ingredients, like acids and retinoids, might sting, and in that particular case, they're supposed to. Tingling and stinging for these types of active ingredients is to be expected and even beneficial if it is for a short period. The expected result is immediate inflammation and then, skin peeling. This reaction encourages new collagen growth and cellular renewal.
However, there is a fine balance. Skincare products should not cause prolonged burning and irritation. If you have an allergic reaction, such as the eyelid, lip swelling, or hives, stop using the product. If your adverse skin reaction doesn’t improve in a few days after discontinuing the product and you can’t manage it with over-the-counter skin-calming options, see your medical practitioner.
Tingling and stinging sensations from irritating and sensitizing ingredients can be harmful to your skin and accelerate the aging process as well as worsen skin conditions like acne and rosacea.
Click here for more information on what sensitizing ingredients to avoid.
Click here for more information on managing reactions from active ingredients.
5. You may experience dryness or flaking.
Mild temporary dryness or flaking is resolved with a gentle, non-irritating exfoliator until your skin adjusts to your glycolic products. We suggest wiping off your facial cleanser with a lukewarm facecloth. This will help to remove the loose, flaking dead skin cells.
6. Signs that your skin may experience sensitivity reactions and how to manage it.
The eye area looks crinkled, dry, puckered, or wrinkled making your eye area look older; this is a temporary side-effect. Cutting back on applications will allow the dead cells sticking together causing the skin to pull together or pucker like a scab, to flake or exfoliate off returning your skin back to normal. We suggest wiping off your facial cleanser with a lukewarm facecloth. This will help to remove the loose, flaking dead skin cells.
Thinner skin around your eyes, mouth, neck, and nose, is sensitive. Reducing applications in these areas until your skin adjusts will take care of the problem. Eventually, these areas will catch up with the rest of your face and all areas will have the same application schedule.
Help, my skin is dry, red, or sensitive.
Not a problem. Just follow the below steps. Let your skin tell you what is right and you will be on your way to confident skin.
OPTION 1: Dilute the strength
- Apply your cleanser to a wet face and rinse off after 1 min. or less.
- Apply your Radiant gel / Daily Acne peel to a wet face, or mix half with water or a moisturizer in the palm of your hand before applying.
- Gradually, decrease the water and/or moisturizer per application until you can apply your product straight to your skin without side-effects.
OPTION 2: Decrease application frequency
- Use your facial cleanser only once per day. Use your cleanser as described in option 1.
- Use your Radiant gel / Daily acne peel only once per week. Stay on this level for 4 weeks gradually increasing to twice per week over time. If you are able to tolerate the product, you may use Radiant gel every second night. Daily acne peel can be used daily until acne or pore congestion has cleared up.
OPTION 3: Stop usage until the skin returns to normal
Step 1: Stop all chemical exfoliating products, wait until your skin returns to normal, then resume with the below "pulse treatment" schedule. This stops problems by giving your skin time to rest between applications. When your skin has adjusted the applications are increased.
Step 2: When skin returns to normal use your facial cleanser once per day. Apply your cleanser on a wet face to dilute the potency.
Step 3: After 1 week, start using your Radiant gel / Daily acne peel once per week for 4 weeks. Mix with water, or moisturizer in the palm of your hand before application. Stop diluting slowly over a period of time until applying straight to your skin without irritation.
Step 4: If you don't experience any side-effects of dryness, irritation, redness, or stinging start washing your face twice per day.
Step 5: If you don't experience any side-effects of dryness, irritation, redness, or stinging start applying your Radiant gel / Daily Acne peel twice per week.
Step 6: Slowly increase the frequency of use as tolerated.
If irritation re-appears, start with step 1 in managing your reactions.
Click here for more information on managing reactions from active ingredients.