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Introducing Products into Your Skincare Routine
Our primary tip? Slow and steady wins the race.
New products come with all kinds of excitement and expectation…but they can also come with reactions like redness, irritation, and sensitivity (Booooo!). The best way to combat these things from happening is to slowly and gradually introduce new products into your routine.
What 'Gradually' Really Means
- Start using the product 3x per week on alternating days. Do this for 2 weeks.
- If your skin is tolerating the product well, with limited to no reaction, increase to 4x per week. Do this for 2 weeks.
- Follow this method, increasing usage up to 5-7x per week if desired.
- If you're happy with how your skin looks and feels at 3-5x per week, don’t feel pressure to up your frequency! Do what feels best for your skin.
What to expect
Does this sound like you?…
You hear about how great retinoids and acids are for your skin health. (And they totally are!)
You try them out and experience some irritation so you decide you can’t tolerate them and give up.
Then you start this cycle all over again. Well, let’s break it and get you adjusted to these amazing products for long-term skin health. Let’s talk about the adjustment phase how to push through.
Anticipated vs. Adverse Reactions
Anticipated reactions: include mild to moderate redness, dryness, flaking, itchiness, and or tingling. These are common and fully expected during product introduction, especially with new acids and retinoids. You’re totally welcome to take a night or two off when experiencing these reactions, but don’t stop altogether. Most reactions subside when your skin fully adjusts—typically after 6-8 weeks.
Adverse reactions: include severe rash, hives, or swelling. Although very rare, they are not impossible. If you experience any of these reactions stop usage of the product immediately.
The B.A.R.E. Method
If you’ve heard about ‘skin cycling’ on social platforms, this is kind of like that. ALl that term means is introduce one product per day, which will allow you to gauge how your skin tolerates every product while also letting it adjust.
Yes, you will work your way up to using a full routine every day, but at the beginning, you would have a hard time determining what’s causing any sensitized reactions if you apply several new products all at once.
Instead, give this a go, especially if you’re prone to sensitized reactions. Repeat this schedule for 2 weeks then follow the tips above for increasing frequency of usage.
If you're still having trouble following, here’s a fun, little additional explanation from Jordan herself:
