These 6 Steps Help You Through a Skin Detox
Sometimes your skin needs time to adjust to natural and organic skincare products. It’s worth going through the transition to get the happy, healthy skin you want.
Have you noticed that when you’ve changed your diet to healthier, whole foods, your body takes some time to adjust? Your digestive system feels strange, you feel tired and sluggish, you may get headaches and your skin may have some breakouts…
Well, a similar thing happens with your skin when you change your skincare products. Especially when you move from conventional products or products with many synthetic ingredients to a quality natural and organic product. It goes through an adjustment period too.
Some people call it a ‘skin detoxification’ or detox for short. To be clear, it’s a detox in the way your skin is purging and adapting from the ingredients in your old products to the ones in your new products.
If you’re changing to natural and organic skincare products, it’s important to be able to recognise if your skin is going through this detox. To make it easy to handle this transition, we’ve answered your questions about what you can expect, along with tips to change products successfully and get the happy, healthy, glowing skin you want:
Is this adjustment process normal?
Yes, it is. It doesn’t mean every person will go through a skin detox, but if you do, it is normal and happens to many people.
Remember, we compared a skin detox to a dietary change earlier?
When a person is consuming unhealthy foods, the body still takes those nutrients in, uses them and copes.
But when you eat healthy, nutritious foods, your body can get rid of the build-up of unhealthy substances. Now it makes the most of the new nutrients and can thrive, not just cope. The same thing happens to your skin when you use quality natural products.
Your skin is the largest organ of your body, and an intricate and amazing one too. It’s carrying out many complex functions and activities all the time that you’re not aware of.
It is your first line of defence against many threats from the outside world. It’s a physical barrier that protects your delicate inner organs, but it also protects you by being a gatekeeper and carefully controlling what it allows in and out of your body.
Your skin functions in remarkable ways to protect you and control what it allows in and out to maintain balanced functioning of your body and keep you healthy. This means your skin must identify and process whatever is applied to it, and it takes this job seriously.
When you apply products that contain synthetic ingredients to your skin, it adapts its protective functions to what is being put on it. Those ingredients don’t just sit on the skin’s surface, they get absorbed into some of its deeper layers.
Many of those ingredients are difficult for your skin to synthesise and use. It’s the same as when you’re eating unhealthy foods. Your body copes and carries on functioning, but it’s not functioning at it its optimum. As your skin adapts to accommodate these ingredients, it affects the protective secretions and chemistry of the skin.
When you start using quality natural and organic products on your skin, it needs to adjust, just like your body does when you change your diet. It must ‘recalculate’ the way it protects your skin and body. (Kind of like your GPS when you suddenly decide to take a different route.) And it will need to remove the other ingredients that may not have been used by the skin.
Once it’s done this though, your skin can enjoy the new products and the potent ingredients you’re applying to it. It will function better, thrive, and be healthy.
We know it’s not great to go through this adjustment phase, after all, you’re changing products so your skin can look, feel and function better. But it is worth preserving, because your skin will look, feel and be healthier once it has adjusted.
How long does this skin detox last?
It’s different for each person, as it depends on your skin, health and your previous skincare products and routine.
As a guideline, though, it can last from a week to up to three weeks.
How will I know it’s a skin detox?
The adjustment happens quickly, usually within a week of starting your new products.
Once again, each skin is different, so it can vary from person to person. You may experience one or more of the following:
- Your skin becomes oilier while it adjusts.
- You may break out with small papules, pustules, and blackheads.
- In some cases, your skin becomes drier, while the oil and moisture levels of your skin regulate again.
- Your skin feels rough because of it being oily and the breakouts you are experiencing.
- It may feel sensitive.
The onset of these changes is quick, and they heal quickly too. If you have deep inflamed pustules that are not clearing, it indicates another problem possibly related to internal imbalances such as hormones, diet, stress illness or medication.
Should I go back to my old products for a few days?
Once you’ve decided to make the change, it is better to stick with your new products. Switching back and forth between your old and new products will ‘confuse’ your skin and make it more difficult to adapt. Plus, it will prolong the transition time.
How do I know if there is a problem (and it’s not just a skin detox)?
If you are experiencing redness, inflammation, excessive flaking, or peeling, stop using the products. You may have an allergic reaction or there is another problem, and you need to discover what the cause is.
What can I do to help my skin during this time?
- Persevere with your new skincare routine.
- Drink plenty of water. We know you’ve heard this many times before, but that’s because it works. It helps to flush toxins out of your body and keep you and skin hydrated internally so your skin can work more efficiently and clear your complexion.
- Get enough sleep. When you rest, your body is healing, repairing, and regenerating all its cells, and this includes your skin.
- Limit foods and habits that trigger break outs. These include refined carbohydrates and sugary food and drinks. They exacerbate inflammation.Dairy can also aggravate inflammation and contribute to hormonal fluctuations which affect the skin and break outs.
Alcohol dehydrates your skin and body and flushes away important nutrients the skin needs while it detoxifies. It gives your body more work to do, while taking away important water and nutrients your skin needs.
- Do not touch your face. It’s tempting to want to feel your skin and pick at spots and pustules. When you touch your face, you spread pustule forming bacteria to other parts of your skin and increase the chance of more break outs. Picking at pustules also delays healing and causes scarring.
- If you’re still wearing COVID masks, you may have discovered that ‘maskne’ is a real thing. Make sure you wear a clean mask every day and when you have time during the day to remove your mask (safely), do so to give your skin a break from the friction of the mask rubbing against it.
Caring for your skin is a daily commitment and one that pays dividends in weeks, months, and years to come.
Persevering through this adjustment phase is worth it.
Once your skin has gone through the detox, it will look and feel better. Plus, it can make the most of the powerful natural ingredients in your products that will protect your skin, help it function at its best and slow down the ageing process.
If you have any questions about your products or your skin detox, please share it with us at hayley@themedaskincare.co.za .
