Skin Purging Vs Breakout: What Is a Purge & Is It Good for You? (Before & After)
Normally, if a new product is causing you to break out, it’s time to chuck it in the bin. But, what if we were to tell you that breakouts are a sign that your new skincare product is actually working? Introducing, “skin purging.” No, it’s neither a scary movie nor a medical diagnosis. It’s a pop culture word that is used to describe a very common process that your skin goes through when starting a new product. While it can get a little bit ugly, it’s really just a bump in the long road to clearer, smoother, and younger-looking skin.
Below, we’ll cover the ins and outs of skin purging and the best skin care products you can use to achieve your best complexion yet!
What Is Skin Purging? (Purging Skin Meaning)
Skin purging doesn’t happen out of the blue (thank goodness!). What is a skin purge? Essentially, purging is your skin’s reaction to a new product in your routine, but not just any product. The skin purging process is triggered by skincare products, chemical peels, or lasers that increase the skin cell turnover rate. Skincare products and treatments that increase cell turnover rate are used to treat acne, sun-damaged skin, and signs of aging.
So, how do these products work and why does skin purge when you use them? Basically, these products are applied to the surface of the skin and remove the upper-most layer of the skin. When these products are applied over time, dead skin cells, excess sebum, and dirt from the deeper layers of our dermis are brought to the surface of the skin. This is when you start to see breakouts, AKA the first signs of purging. You can think of this process as a skin detox, since all of the dirt, toxins, and impurities are extracted from the skin. What does skin purging look like exactly? The best way we can describe it is as a really bad breakout, but we’ll go into more detail below.
Ingredients That Increase Skin Cell Turnover Rate
As we’ve explained above, skin purging occurs when your dermis sheds excess cells, bacteria, and oil that clog pores. This process happens when we introduce a new product, like a retinoid or chemical exfoliant (salicylic acid), into our routine that increases our skin cell turnover rate. Some of the most common active ingredients that cause skin purging are:
- Vitamin C
- AHAs (Glycolic acid & Lactic acid)
- BHAs (Salicylic acid)
- Retinoids (Vitamin A skin care)
- Benzoyl peroxide
Many of the ingredients listed above serve a dual purpose. Besides treating acne and uneven skin, ingredients like retinoids can also improve fine lines and wrinkles by stimulating collagen production. Collagen is one of the most abundant proteins that we have in our bodies and it’s what keeps our skin bouncy, plump, and youthful. 1
Pairing a retinoid or chemical exfoliant with a collagen supplement, like Taut Collagen Powder, can help support your skin’s elasticity and structure and combat gradual collagen loss.
To create each sachet of our marine collagen peptides powder, we use a patented hydrolysis process that breaks down super-sized collagen molecules into nano-sized pieces called collagen peptides. These tiny peptides are small enough to be readily and efficiently used by our dermis to boost collagen synthesis in the skin.
Unlike most other collagen powders, our formula has a quick-acting and quick-dissolving formula that can be stirred into a glass of water or dissolved right on your tongue. It’s the best way to support your skin while you’re on the go!
How to Tell if Your Skin Is Purging Dead Skin Cells
Do you know how to tell if skin is purging? While it may seem like your skin is having a negative reaction to your new product and causing you to break out, it’s actually part of the exfoliation process. In fact, the clogged pores that become breakouts during the purging process would come to the surface eventually. Retinoids and chemical exfoliants speed up this process, which causes pimples to rise to the surface sooner rather than later. The breakouts that most people notice during skin purging are referred to as “inflammatory acne.”
Generally, skin purging can look like a standard breakout and they typically occur all over the face, not just in places where you normally see breakouts. Breakouts, irritation, and inflammation caused by a purge from a new skin care product may look like:
- Pus-filled pimples
- Blackheads
- Papules
- Flaky skin or peeling skin
- Excess sebum
Is Purging Skin Good?
While the skin purging process may not be the most attractive thing that can happen to your face, it is actually a good sign. When you start to see skin purging it means that the active ingredient in your new product is working and your pores are becoming unclogged. It’s actually the first sign that you’re going to enjoy long-term benefits from your product.
You can think of skin purging as a necessary evil on the path to better skin. That’s because, once the skin purging process is over, the new cells are exposed and able to shine. Overall, this makes your complexion look brighter, clearer, smoother, and more youthful.
Skin Purging Vs. Breakouts
We never want to use products that will make our skin worse in the long term, but how can you tell if you’re going through a skin purge vs. breakout? Actually, skin purging, acne, and inflammatory breakouts are all related.
The following are three things you can keep in mind if you need to tell the difference between skin purging vs. breakouts:
Location (Where Skin Purging Occurs)
The first thing to keep in mind when trying to figure out the difference between skin purging vs breakout is the location. Since exfoliants are generally applied to the entire face, you will often experience new acne and breakouts from purging in places where you don’t normally see red bumps and blackheads.
Length of Time
The second way you can tell that you’re going through a skin purge is by the duration of the life cycle of pimples and blackheads. Regular acne breakouts start in the deepest layers of the dermis when your pores become clogged and inflamed. This leads to open or closed comedones. From start to finish, this process is often very slow and can take even longer to fully heal.
On the other hand, breakouts from skin purging come to the surface and heal quickly since the skin cell turnover is much faster. This means that pimples and blackheads lie on the surface of your skin for a much shorter amount of time than during a regular breakout.
Active Ingredients
The key difference when determining skin purging vs. breakout is the active ingredient in the skincare product. Skin purging occurs in the first few weeks after you’ve introduced retinoids or chemical exfoliants, such as alpha-hydroxy acids, and beta-hydroxy acids into your skincare routine. This is because these ingredients cause you to shed dead skin cells, along with dirt and sebum that clogs pores. We share some tips for the best oily skin routine here.
If you’ve started to see breakouts after including new active ingredients into your skincare routine, you’re likely going through a skin purge. However, if you’re using a new product with ingredients that can clog pores like an oil, moisturizer, or sunscreen, you’re most likely breaking out and not experiencing skin purging. It’s important to check with your board-certified dermatologist if you’re noticing acne, signs of an allergic reaction, or irritation to a new skincare product or treatment.
How Long Does Skin Purging Last? (Answer: About a Month)
If you don’t want to experience purging skin for the rest of your life, have no fear. Purging skin doesn’t last long, but it can vary from person to person since everyone’s skin is different. A skin purge can last anywhere from as little as four days to as many as six weeks. Realistically, the average purge lasts between four to six weeks.
Having said that, the process should not last longer than six weeks since your skin should be used to the active ingredients in your new product by that time. So, if you’re still wondering “why is my skin purging?” after six weeks, talk to a board-certified dermatologist. They may need to adjust the frequency or dosage of your skin care product.
The good news is, if you’re going through a skin purge right now, you can feel confident that it will end sooner rather than later. Stick with your new routine and you will have glowing, smooth skin in no time!
How to Treat Skin Purging
Once the skin purging process has started, the best thing you can do is continue to use your new product and wait for the acne breakouts to go away on their own. If you just can’t wait it out, there are a few tips that you can follow to minimize the severity of the purge:
- Ease Into It: Many dermatologists recommend starting out slowly. This is so your skin has time to adjust to the new product. Try only using your new product once during the first week of treatment. Once your skin has adjusted, you can ramp up the frequency until you’re using it every day or every other day.
- Use Gentle Products: While you’re waiting for your skin to get better, use a gentle cleanser and apply a moisturizer to reduce further inflammation, dry skin, and irritation.
- Avoid Picking Your Skin: You may notice that while your skin purges it will become extra sensitive. To avoid making things worse, minimize touching your skin and picking at your clogged pores. Irritating your skin can extend the length of your skin purge and leave you with permanent scarring and hyperpigmentation.
If you have gone through a purge and were left with uneven skin tone, taking an antioxidant supplement like Taut Bright can help fade acne scars, along with age spots, by inhibiting the production of melanin. The proprietary formula of these skin lightening pills, which was developed in Japan, is designed for anyone who wants to achieve naturally flawless skin. Ingredients like glutathione, L-cysteine, olive leaf extract, and vitamin C, work synergistically to control the excess production of pigmentation from within. Just 2 capsules per day can help protect your skin cells from oxidative stress, repair cell degeneration, cleanse the liver, and stimulate collagen production. With Taut Bright, healthier and happier skin is right around the corner!
Reveal Your Best Skin With Taut Collagen
There’s no better feeling than the end of a skin purge when your complexion is blemish-free. Why not take your skin from better to best with a luxurious and effective skincare product bundle that restores youthful skin and reduces skin imperfections?
Our Taut Ultimate Transformation Program was designed to deliver firmer, fuller, younger-looking, and glowing skin in just 21 days. This skin-loving bundle includes 1 box of our Taut Hydrate supplement to plump, hydrate, and smooth fine lines from deep within. Each pill contains 120mg of hyaluronic acid (which has been sourced from plants) to nourish the skin and 120mg of grape seed extract to protect your skin from free radicals at a cellular level.
For an instant pick-me-up, this program contains 1 box of our Taut Collagen Sheet Mask to deliver hydrolyzed collagen peptides straight to where you need them most. The powerful collagen essence is rich in hyaluronic acid, squalene, and vitamin C to moisturize, protect, and energize your skin. In just 15 minutes, you’ll notice a drastically more plump and glowing complexion.
The Ultimate skin care package wouldn’t be complete without 3 boxes of our signature Taut Premium Collagen Drink Advanced Formula, to support your skin’s existing collagen and boost collagen production from within. It’s been shown that collagen supplements can help improve the overall appearance of the skin by tightening sagging skin, minimizing the look of fine lines and wrinkles, and giving the skin a more radiant, healthy glow.
What sets Taut Collagen apart from other collagen supplements on the market is its formula. Our marine collagen supplement contains a powerful concentration of 13,000mg of Type I and Type III hydrolyzed collagen peptides harvested from wild-caught red snapper from the Indian Ocean. This high-quality formula makes this delicious collagen drink is one of the most effective skin-enhancing supplements on the market. The high concentration of bio-available nano-sized collagen peptides naturally triggers the wound repair response which causes the body’s own cells to speed up collagen production.
To complement the ultra-potent collagen peptides, each bottle of this liquid collagen drink also contains ingredients like elastin peptides, grape seed extract, hyaluronic acid, vitamin C, and ceramides for increased skin suppleness, hydration, and radiance.
At the end of the day, the quality of our skin goes far beyond what we put on our skin, which is why it’s essential to support our skin from the inside as well as the outside. The Ultimate Transformation Package can help you discover your skin’s full potential!
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