We always need face masks, serums and vitamin C in our skincare routine. In such a situation, when we include new products in our skincare routine, our skin starts getting pimples, either due to skin purging or due to common breakouts. When our skin reacts to an active ingredient present in the product, it increases the turnover of the cells and this is called skin purging or skin purification. This allows dust and bacteria to accumulate on your face before the appearance of new and clear skin, which clogs your pores.
To know in detail about this, let’s know what is the hallmark of skin purging and how it can be cured.
What Is Purging?
Imagine that you have applied an anti-aging or purifying skincare product with the hope that it will give you smooth and glowing skin, but suddenly instead of clearing the skin, pimples appear on it. Started coming. Isn’t it shocking! This is simply called skin purging.
In skin purgings, whiteheads and blackheads, which are deep in your skin, come to the surface of the skin. Later on they turn into pimples and you understand that the product you have applied has a bad reaction on the skin.
How Does Skin Purging Appear?
Purging breakouts appear as tiny, red bumps on the skin that hurt when touched. Including the bumps, whiteheads, and blackheads really aren’t rare.
Symtoms of Skin Purging
Whiteheads, blackheads, pimples, and cysts can appear on your skin during a skin purge. In other words, a skin purge occurs when we start using a new skincare product. Because of this, we start seeing breakouts on our skin and the skin itself starts renewing and it takes at least 1 month. If you do not see any change in your skin even for 6 to 8 weeks, then it is not skin purging. In this case, you should start using the skin care product on the skin and otherwise see a professional.
Skin purging is triggered when we use active ingredients to treat acne and it gets worse before it gets better. Retinoids, vitamin C, AHAs and BHAs (glycolic, malic, lactic and salicylic acids) are all active ingredients that are useful for skin purging. Retinol is an ingredient found in most acne skincare products and it tends to purge the skin. Some of the main retinoids, such as oral isotretinoin and topical tretinoin, are those that react on the skin and cause skin purging.
How to know if it is purging or acne?
If you have acne-prone skin, it can be difficult to know whether you have a breakout or a purge. Still, there are a few things you can do to differentiate. If your product doesn’t have active exfoliating ingredients yet still causing breakouts, it’s not purging. A sudden breakout after using any skincare product for 4 weeks is a sign that it is not skin purging. If you have itchy skin, red spots, or patches, then it is an allergy and not purging. Dryness of the skin, stretching, burning and redness – all these are due to skin irritation, not purging.
How to take care?
When skin purging, do not stop applying the new product that you have tried and which is causing the purging, as it shows that that ingredient is showing an effect on your skin. In fact, those active ingredients pull out the dirt that has accumulated in the inner layer of your skin and this purging will go away on its own in 2-3 weeks.
Follow a gentle skincare routine if you want your skin to become more irritated. For this, using a sulfate-free cleanser, a skin-soothing moisturizer, and sunscreen will make your skin look healthy again. Also, don’t take the product you were using on the skin. Don’t worry that your skin will get worse. prepare your skin to get used to the new product. After two to three weeks the skin will get used to the product.
When skin purging is occurring, do not try any home remedy on the skin. Don’t apply anything hydrating or soothing here, as this can aggravate the sensitivity of the skin and give you more rashes.
What not to do during skin purging?
You should always follow a gentle skincare routine during skin purging. It treats your spots and rejuvenates dull skin and kills bacteria. During this time you must clean your skin at night. Also, you may not feel like using the product on your skin, but you should not do so at all. The ingredients which are causing pimples on your skin, also remove many of your skin problems later. During this, never scratch your skin. Pimples caused by purging tend to heal on their own, and scratching can leave a permanent scar on your skin. Always follow a clean diet during a skin purge as it speeds up the process. Because junk food, fast food, etc can cause more acne on your skin.
What Is the Duration of Skin Purging?
Skin purging can last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. It is a quicker cell turnover process.
In an adult of around 30 years of age, cells are replaced in about four weeks. The cycle becomes slower as we age. Exfoliators containing purge-inducing ingredients cause skin purging to last the entire cell renewal cycle. It may last a few weeks longer in some cases.
Finishing
When your skin is purging, don’t try to control or stop it. It is actually beneficial to your skin because the process removes all of the excess germs and grime that have become embedded in the inner layers of your skin. But it’s important to know whether it’s a skin purging or a breakout. Seek solutions accordingly.