When introducing a new skincare product into your routine, you can sometimes experience an adverse reaction like an increase in breakouts or dry, flaky skin. While this may seem like you should stop using a new product, it may actually be a sign that it's working. This process is known as skin purging.
However, because skin purging has similar symptoms to breakouts, it may be hard to tell the difference. But, examining the duration of the breakouts, where they're located, and what type of product you're using can help.
Skin purging is when your skin has an adverse reaction, like increased breakouts and dryness, to chemical ingredients in skincare products, specifically retinol and skin acids like AHAs and BHAs, says Caroline A. Chang, MD, a board-certified cosmetic and medical dermatologist at Rhode Island Dermatology Institute.
Skin purging occurs because newly introduced skincare ingredients increase the rate at which your skin cells turnover, causing you to shed more dead skin cells than usual. This, in turn, pushes layers of dead skin off and also brings clogged pores to the surface, Chang says, resulting in more breakouts.
Skin purging may be intense and make you second guess if you should continue using a product, but understand that this process is temporary and a sign that the product is working.
Common ingredients in skincare products that can stimulate skin purging include:
The duration of skin purging can vary, but it should not last any longer than six weeks, says Michele Green, MD, a cosmetic dermatologist with a private practice.
This is because after six weeks your skin should become used to the ingredients in the product that caused the purge.
Important: You cannot speed up skin purging, but you can reduce its intensity, says Green. For example, you can use small amounts of the product or use it less frequently, says Change. This may mean starting with a retinol serum once a week, then slowly build-up to every day.
It may not be easy to tell the difference between skin purging and breaking out since they both involve acne. However, the key difference between breakouts and skin purging is that skin purging is temporary and usually occurs after you have incorporated a new ingredient in your skincare routine, Green says.
Additionally, skin purging will most likely occur on an area of your face that you normally experience breakouts. If you're experiencing irritation in a new area, it's likely not a purge.
Here's what you need to know about the differences between purging and breaking out:
| Skin Purging | Breakouts | |
| Duration | It varies, but can last up to six weeks | It varies, but can last for months |
| Location | Located where you already experience breakouts | Can happen in the same area or a new area of the skin where you never experienced a breakout |
| Symptoms | Whiteheads, blackheads, papules, cysts, dryness, peeling, or flaking | Whiteheads, blackheads, papules, pustules, nodules, cystic lesions |
| Product/ingredients | Glycolic acid, lactic acid, salicylic acid, retinol | Sulfates, drying alcohols, salts, essential oils |
Ultimately, skin purging is not a bad thing - it's just a sign that your skin is getting used to a retinoid or skin acid. If you have skin purging, you may experience whiteheads, blackheads, dryness, or even flaking.
While skin purging and breakouts have similar symptoms, skin purging is temporary and lasts for a maximum of six weeks, while breakouts can last longer. If your purging worsens over time or lasts longer than six weeks, contact your dermatologist about other products to treat your skin as this could be the sign of an adverse reaction.
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