Last time, I wrote about giving new products a month to deliver results for your skin. Alongside this, I feel it’s important to consider how your skin may react to active ingredients, such as retinol or alpha hydroxy acid. Because of the nature of the ingredients, skin can react quickly which causes us to conclude it’s not for us. However, this may just be our skin showing that it is benefitting from and improving with the ingredients and perseverance is required.
That said, there’s always a line to keep in mind between what is improving your skin and what’s not working. A burning sensation or an outbreak of hives is never a skincare goal.
Let’s consider what can happen with the introduction of a chemical exfoliator like Pixi Glow Tonic. While an AHA toner can be used every day, I recommend starting just once or twice a week at night. Your skin should feel a gentle tingle when you use it. You want the AHA to help peel away the dead skin at the very surface, but you don’t want it to dry you out and leave your skin red and irritated. If the tingle is strong, you need to introduce it slowly and sparingly, until you reach the right application levels for you. This may be just three or four times per week or it may be daily evening application.
When I add active ingredients to my routine, my favourite method is to start with one application for a week, then move to two applications for two weeks, three applications for three weeks and so on. I'm watchful of any skin reactions and sometimes, will spend additional weeks at a certain application level while my skin adjusts before making an increase. I know my skin is benefiting from the actives, even if the recommended application levels are a bit too much for me.
Cocktailing products together is also a great option. Sometimes I will combine a vitamin C serum or retinol with my moisturiser so that it’s a more comfortable when applied to my face. The total strength of the active ingredient is reduced when mixed with another product.
Application order can also buffer the effect of the active ingredient to the face. If a product with active ingredients is applied directly to the skin before anything else, it will have the most impact as it's the first product reaching the skin. When I first started using retinol, it was last item I applied in my skincare routine after moisturiser, which allowed for gentler introduction to my skin. Now, I’ve moved it to be applied after serum and before moisturiser. My next phase will be to apply before serum and moisturiser. There's no specific time guidance on when to change application steps, however I recommend at least a month before making a switch, longer if you experience any reactions.
With this knowledge about slow introductions, my skin can still be reactive when I first introduce new active ingredients. It may be the strength of the formulation or that I powered into in too quickly (it happens!). As a result, I have section of my bathroom cabinet devoted to calming products, including: Pixi Rose Glow Mist, May Lindstrom Blue Cocoon, Avene Cicalfate, La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 and Pixi pHenomenal Gel. With a variety of textures to select from, I can choose what’s right for the situation.
If you follow a slow introduction pace, you will hopefully never need these items, but in case you do, I hope they help.
What are your favourite active ingredients? And how did you introduce them?