Consistency is important in your skin care routine

For skin care and beauty fans it’s a wonderful time to be alive. The internet holds a wealth of information on ingredients and trendy new products. And any new formula or brand is only a click and next-day delivery away. Skin care from around the world is ready for trying – tempting K-Beauty, J-Beauty, and new interesting options from worldwide.

Frequently, beauty gurus will tout the latest and greatest ingredient and the beauty product addicts (like myself) will desperately want to try it. Snail Mucus; gotta try it. Jade rollers, micro needling, red light masks, sheet masks with gold, and beyond – all of it has me reaching for my credit card.

However, jumping from one product to another can wreak havoc on your complexion and skin health. Ask beauty junkies, youtubers, and influencers – swapping skin care products frequently is problematic. Your skin take days to weeks to acclimate to a new routine. And finding the right blend of products for use day and night can take a lot of trial and error.

So if you’re constantly switching, your skin can’t adjust, and you’ll never really know what product caused what reaction in your skin. So the sage advice is, be cautious and go slow. Give your skin ample time to accommodate a new product. Remember, products can cause purging, or trigger flare-ups in inflammation before their benefits kick in. Switch carefully and methodically. Don’t toss out everything and change overnight or you might find an unrecognizable face staring back at you in the mirror.

Our team suggests swapping out one product in the AM and perhaps another in the PM for something new. And always patch test a new product first – try a small amount on the inside of your forearm or upper arm to see if you’re sensitive or allergic to something in the product. If things are OK, then keep at this new product(s) for several days or weeks to monitor how your skin is responding. If things are going well, feel free to change over or to introduce another new product. But give it time to work and for your skin to adjust. If you’re seeing a negative reaction, remove one product at a time, to see if things improve – unless it’s an allergy, then stop the sensitizing product immediately.

Only on the rare occasion should you throw caution to the wind and chuck all your existing product assortment in the trash for something completely new. Of course, if you’re using skin care products that contain harsh or controversial ingredients – you might want to speed up your product transition. But what’s harsh and problematic for one person might be the holy grail for another. After all, we’re all different, and so is our skin and how it reacts.