What does skin renewal have to do with getting used to new skin care products?
Customers often ask me how quickly they notice whether the new care product works or not. And with natural cosmetics it actually looks a bit different than with products with a lot of synthetics. They often rely on the immediate effect, but show unsightly side effects after a while. Many of their ingredients have absolutely no value for the skin. Some of them also irritate them, dry them out or seal them.
With natural cosmetics it's exactly the other way around. It supports the skin's own processes in the long term. Natural ingredients are significantly more complex. Your skin gets more that it can use, but it has to process that first. A new care line is like a change in diet for the skin. If you usually only eat white toast, your digestion will initially react violently to hearty grain bread. The skin also has to adapt to other nutrients. And that can take about a regeneration cycle.
The epidermis is renewed every 4 weeks
The top layer of skin is constantly renewed. Further down in the epidermis, new cells are formed, which are then slowly pushed up by their successors. In the process, they slowly become horny and finally reach the outside, where they now form the new skin surface. At least until they die off completely and are kicked out by newer cells.
How long this journey takes depends mainly on your age. In adults between 20 and 50 that is around 28 days. So your epidermis completely renews itself about once a month. Unfortunately, cell division slows down over the course of life. Especially beyond the 50 there is a low. As a "Golden Ager" you should give your skin a little more time to get used to new products. We will now see when the changeover will take noticeably time.
If you switch to natural cosmetics
Conventional cosmetics usually contain highly purified, petroleum-based substances such as mineral oils or silicones. They rely on superficial effects, but have no nutritional value. They smooth the skin by sealing it, the so-called occlusion. Water can no longer evaporate, which is desirable, but the natural regeneration processes shut down. Other mineral oil products make the skin more permeable to introduce active ingredients. It also makes them dry out more easily. Either way, mineral oils and silicones are completely worthless to the skin itself.
If you have used products with silicone or mineral oil for a long time, your skin will first have to learn to work on its own again. Because natural cosmetics do not replace the natural skin function, but supports them. To do this, it supplies the skin with nourishing oils, for example, which it can either incorporate directly into the skin barrier or process into useful . So natural ingredients are much more complex than mineral oil products. The skin is faced with work that it is no longer used to.
If you have previously used strong sealing (occlusive) creams or aggressive cleansing products, the skin must first regenerate its protective layer. In the first few days or weeks it can therefore feel drier or break out. This is nothing to worry about, it is quite normal during the transition phase. After about 4 weeks, i.e. once your skin has completely renewed itself, these effects usually subside. Now the benefits of natural skin care are really coming to the fore.
☝️ An initial deterioration is not a must, but possible. Here it is simply a matter of holding out for a few days or weeks. Persistent redness, irritation, itching and pustules are not normal. They can indicate an allergy.