Is My Skin Purging Or Breaking Out? | Lab Muffin Beauty Science

Hi it’s me, Michelle from Lab Muffin again with more science-based beauty advice. Today I’m going to be talking about purging. Sometimes when you try a new skincare product, your skin will break out because the product’s working, and it has to get worse before it gets better. That’s called purging.

But other times, the new product makes your skin break out and it never gets better. That’s just a plain old breakout. Should you keep going with the product, or should you ditch it? Here’s how to tell the difference. A purge happens when a skincare product causes pimple formation to speed up.

A pimple starts off as a clogged pore in the skin called a microcomedone. If your skin is inflamed enough, it can come to the surface and turn into a pimple. It can also go away on its own without ever becoming visible Products that increase skin turnover can cause purging. These products speed up how quickly your skin renews itself, so the whole pimple cycle speeds up.

Any baby pimples already in your skin will grow up faster and you’ll see a sudden breakout. However, products that increase skin turnover also help prevent new pimples from forming. So once this part is over, your skin settles down and looks clearer than before. If your skin is purging, that means the product is working like it’s meant to.

On the other hand, what could be happening is a simple breakout: when you’re sensitive to something in the product and if you keep using the product your skin just gets worse. It could be blocking your pores, or you might be allergic, or it might just be too irritating. There’s a small chance that your skin will get used to the product after a while but mostly you’ll just damage your skin more if you keep using it. It’s hard to say for sure whether you’re purging or breaking out but you can narrow it down a bit by considering these things. Keep in mind that none of these are absolute rules. First, what sort of product is it? If it increases skin turnover it could cause purging. Here are some common ones.

Vitamin A products containing ingredients like retinol, vitamin C products, benzoyl peroxide, chemical exfoliants like hydroxy acids even physical exfoliants like scrubs and brushes can cause purging if your skin isn’t used to them. Most other products like moisturisers, cleansers, and sunscreens won’t cause purging. Secondly, where are the breakouts? If you’re purging it should mostly be pre-existing pimples coming up faster so if you’re breaking out in places where you don’t normally get pimples, it probably isn’t purging. Keep in mind that if the product is irritating then your acne could be worse than normal in the same areas whether you’re purging or not. For example, clogged pores can be replaced with full-blown pimples. This can happen with purging as well as non-purging breakouts. Finally, how long have you been purging? Purging should only last for about a month: the time needed for your skin to completely renew itself. If your skin isn’t getting better after around six to eight weeks ditch the product.

If you’re about to start a new product that could cause purging such as an exfoliant here are a few tips to make the process less painful. Make sure you introduce the product slowly. This will help minimise inflammation and slowly speed up your skin renewal process. For example you can start at a lower concentration of the active ingredient or dilute the product by mixing it with moisturiser at first. You can also use it less frequently at the beginning. Be gentle to your skin to reduce irritation and speed up recovery.

Keep your skin hydrated with moisturisers, use a gentle cleanser and use anti irritant and anti inflammatory products. Make sure you keep your skin protected from the sun. You can treat your purging breakouts just like any other breakouts. I spot treat with benzoyl peroxide and tea tree oil and fade the scars with vitamin C and hydroxy acid exfoliants. And that’s the lowdown on purging! I hope you found this useful. If you did, please comment and let me know, and if you have any suggestions for future videos please let me know as well. If you’d like to see more please subscribe to my channel!

Source: Lab Muffin Beauty Science