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How Long Does It Take Skincare Products To Work?

According to the dermatologist Dr. Aanand Geria, it’s not realistic to expect visible results in a night, or even in a week. So how long does it take for skincare products to work? “The timeline to see results is entirely dependent on what kind of product you are using,” he says. “But I think 28 days is a good rule of thumb.” Yup, 28 whole days. Four whole weeks. One whole month. In other words: Patience might be the ingredient your skincare routine has been missing.

At first, the idea of a 28-day trial period might seem a bit random, but the number is significant in the skincare world: It’s the length of the typical skin cycle. One cycle accounts for the time it takes for a fresh skin cell to appear, mature, die, and shed — so theoretically, after 28 days, every single skin cell on the surface of your face will have had a chance to experience the efficacy (or lack thereof) of the product in question.

10-19 years old, skin regeneration takes 21 days

20-29 years old, skin regeneration takes 28 days

30-39 years old, skin regeneration takes 40 days

40-49 years old, skin regeneration takes 45 days

50-59 years old, skin regeneration takes 55 days

Of course, some ingredients work quicker than others. “Yes, there are some products out there, like physical exfoliants, that give instant results, but they are often temporary and superficial,” Tracy Julien, the Vice President of Marketing at beauty brand said. Dr. Geria says it can take as little as two weeks for cleansers, moisturizers, and spot treatments to earn a place in your permanent lineup. But deeper, long-term changes — like reducing acne or lifting hyperpigmentation — naturally take a little longer. Julien suggests thinking about it in terms of how the body heals from a cut or scrape. “The smaller the wound, the quicker it will heal and the larger or deeper the wound, the longer it takes to heal,” she says. “In the case of acne, the root cause of it is often subdermal, so it will take time for the active ingredients to penetrate into the dermis and reach the source of the inflammation and irritation.”

That make seem like an interminable waiting period, but in the grand scheme of dermatology, it’s pretty reasonable, actually. “Products that contain retinoids, peptides, or growth factors can take up to three to four months to see the full effect, because they’re working on a genetic level,” Dr. Geria reveals. Glowing skin is a long game, and “allowing your skin adequate time to adjust to new products is essential,” he says.

However. When a product very clearly doesn’t work for your skin on the first try — if it stings or causes redness on application — there’s no need to give it 28 days to wreak more havoc. “The most immediate sign would be a burning or stinging sensation,” Dr. Geria says. “A little bit is ok, but if it persists for more than a minute or two, it is probably too irritating for the skin.”

Here’s where it gets complicated: A bad reaction to a certain product isn’t always about that certain product — it could be that its ingredients are interfering with another item in your routine, or you’ve over-exfoliated your skin and impaired its protective barrier. “For example, if a skin product is causing irritation, you may need to eliminate other sources of irritation in your regimen such as over-exfoliating or using harsh cleansers, which will then allow you to tolerate the new product better,” Dr. Geria says. “This ‘discovery’ phase can take several weeks to see how your products interact with each other.” For this reason, he recommends testing out no more than one new product every two weeks. (And even that’s pushing it.)

The article are originally from thezoereport.com

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