Here’s a touchy topic 😀
You know how sometimes you use a new product and within days, get pimples or spots? In very drastic cases, you might even get cystic acne. So you go back to the counter and the sales assistants will always say “Oh don’t worry. Your skin is purging. It will get better” …. and you wait… and it never does? Or it lasts weeks before it gets better?
Do you believe in this whole “skin purging” theory? That your skin is “ridding itself of impurities before it starts to heal”?
I personally think it a load of bollocks 😛
But thats me.
Oh I’ve been through it all. Use a new skincare product, break out, and be told that “your skin is purging”. And here I am thinking that if my skin is purging with this product, how is it that it was perfectly fine when I was using another product?
Also, I do not believe that we have hidden mines of pimples just waiting under our skin to erupt the minute we slap on a new skincare product. No. I believe any spots or pimples we get while using something new is caused by that product.
So personally, when a product breaks me out, I don’t hang around for 2-3 weeks to see if its my skin “purging itself of impurities” or if its a reaction to the product itself. I stop using the product altogether, go back to what I know works, clear my skin of pimples and try the new product again; and if I break out again, into the bin it goes.
No purging business for me.
How about you? Do you subscribe to this whole “skin purging” theory or do you too think it a load of bollocks? 😛
Paris B
Seems like all of us have the same opinion – bollocks that our skin is purging. But I normally buy my skincare from Isetan, so if the product breaks me out, I do get to exchange with something else : )
Oh I didn’t know we could do that at Isetan. Is it a counter thing or a store thing? Its very helpful to know that.
Once was a purchase from Laneige, it did not work out for me. So, I emailed to Isetan’s customer service and I was asked to exchange for something else either from the same counter or other counters.
The other time was from Dior where the SA mentioned if the product does not work for me, she can exchange for something else. The product worked, so no exchanges were done.
So, no harm asking – if they are willing to exchange all the better.
Hell no!! I’m not gonna continue using it to find out either lol My cousin got that when she used Clinique. So she continued for months cos the counter girl said her skin just needed to get used to it. In the end, her face was ruined!! Very sensitive, red, bleeding urgh.. She had to be real careful for many more months and put meds on everyday
Aww so sorry to hear that about your cousin. I guess we do know best what’s going on with our skin
I’m not sure about the “purging” theory but I do know it takes our skin around 2 weeks to adjust to new products – heard the same advise from a derma and my asthma doctor who routinely subjects me to a skin test for my shots. However there are breakouts that tell me it’s not just my skin adjusting to a new product but I can’t describe it in a sane manner on how I can tell if the breakouts are an allergic reaction or just my skin adjusting lol! I do keep track of ingredients I’m horribly allergic to like mineral oil and any oil from nuts. I guess a little bit of self-awareness comes into play – and a lot of reading on product ingredients 🙂
I did break out horribly when I first started taking glutathione supplements orally – but after the 2 wk adjustment period lapsed my skin settled and just glowed! Btw I take these for the anti-oxidant benefits and yes, these do make you fairer or your skin lighter over time if taken regularly. But as a weapon against stress – beats vitamins any day! 😀
Thank you for sharing! You’re right. I’m not fussed if its a tiny spot or two that goes away in about 2 days. But as you said, we just know when the breakout is not normal and that’s when the product is probably to blame! I’m intrigued by the glotathione supplements. I’ll have to go research them 😀 Do you have a particular brand you take?
I take Healthy Origins Setria Glutathione 250mg/60 caps per bottle which costs a little below $12. I think it’s a great price considering glutathione supplements are overpriced in my country. I order them online from iherb.com, intl shipping is around $4 to free (my orders never exceed $50 due to our quirky post office but I think shipping is free for orders $80 and above). I have referral code that’ll knock off $5 for first time buyers in case you or any of your readers are interested let me know and I’ll post it here 🙂
I take it with r-lipoic acid (Doctor’s Best or Country Life brand, $17) and alkaline vitamin C although if you have hypertension or have an acidic stomach, you might want to skip the lipoic acid and alkaline vitamin c. My mom gets heartburns and her pressure crashes if she takes the r-lipoic acid.
I take the gluta and r-lipoic combined every morning and wow! I get a lot of energy without becoming hyper. And then there’s the skin benefits – it just makes your skin better overall! But it’ll make you fairer too over time – so I stop every once in a while when I feel that I’m becoming too fair. If you’re acidic, it lessens the acidity of your skin to the point that you can skip the a shade or 2 lighter foundation rule – thing is you will become fairer so your foundation shade will really change to a shade or 2 lighter lol! That’s pretty much the gist -quite a mouthfull lol 😀
Just wondering how much C to take with the glutathione (Setria ) and
where to get the alkalized type. I always stay away from too much
ascorbic acid but since I have the glutathione I guess I need it to go
with.
Totally agree, it’s nonsense. I hate it when facialists tell me that too. It’s more like they aggravated my skin then tell me it’s impurities coming out! Not-buying-it!
Oh yeah! That’s why I’m so afraid about going for facials at places I’m unfamiliar with. Sometimes its the products too. I used to break out after my facial at one time and I asked for the list of products they used. In the end, I told the salon to not use the Kanebo Sensai line on my skin and its been good since 🙂
If a skincare broke me out I wouldnt wait for months for it to clear, I would just stop right away. Regarding those herbal supplement, when my boyfriend starts taking spirulina he starts to broke out with cystic acne all over his face and back. Even though he had stop taking those the acne continues to bother him for 2 years. I cant tell whether he had been cleared of toxins in his body but certainly I see a lot of acne scars! LOL
My relative is allergic to spirulina supplements too.
Gosh! Might that have been an allergic reaction? I do know that when I take spirulina, I feel like puking right away. Tried it twice and never again.
with regard to cosmetic products, i think purging is BS. i concede that facials do make your skin look bad for 2-3 days but the key is that it subsides quickly and noticeable with each day. the only thing that irritates me now is that extraction makes my skin (nose) start peeling a week after the facial no matter how i moisturise/ apply masks. It’s be peeling and oily at the same time, which means i cant use AHA/BHA products to keep the blackheads away, so after the peeling ends, the blackheads are back. It didnt use to be the case but is the norm now. sigh, all that pain is futile now. and $$ 🙁
oh and i found out why ZA skin beauty foundation gave me the same bumps as Hada Labo: hyaluronic acid. Allergy, not purging haha. Which also means it’s not a matter of getting used to it.
Yep. We’ve had quite a few girls report that hyaluronic acid does not suit their skin because it gives them the bumps instead of lovely moisturized skin as the majority. I guess that’s why there’s a product for everyone !
It’s pure & simple BS. Purging… right! You can purge all the way into purgatory if you like, but the damage is already done. If your skin is reacting adversely to the new skincare regimen, then throw it away. I know that the skin takes some time to adjust to new creams, mainly if we’re talking about acids, but it should be only a mild irritation that quickly subsides. Not something that makes your face blotchy red, itchy and full of pimples. That’s plain allergy. Sticking to the product that caused you this will only make it harder to reverse the process.
Is the purging theory still going on? I thought that myth was busted long ago…
haha… We still get that whole purging spiel now and then. I don’t think it’ll ever go away so long as products break people out and people are scared to death of toxins 😛
Total BS. Philosophy’s Purity Made Simple made me break out badly along my jawline. I stopped using it after 2 days, and hey presto! clear skin again. Now THAT was simple 😛
Well…. I just changed a whole range of my skin care and right now im starting to consume supplement of omega 3, spirulina and zinc and also i newly using clay mask into my skincare routine.. And this has been going for 2 weeks i guess… Results right now? i dont have break out ( or.. Its too early to tell?) but i do noticed i have white heads over my forehead, not too many but more than usual and i have little tiny spots on my jaw and cheeks, not many but bothersome for me. Does it tell me one of the products im using not good at all and gotta stop rite away or… Is it just some impurities needed to surface?
My skin ruin because clinique purging product..my face ruin and until now i still spending my rm to treat my face with dermatologist..so stupid me believe the purging thories!!it was few years ago..but till now i still have the effect