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What Can I Expect After Starting A New Skincare Routine?  Is it Normal to Break Out After a Facial?



There are typically three types of breakouts that can occur after starting a new product, but that's not actually all there is to it.   Read on to understand why your acne can possibly get a little worse before it gets better after starting an improved skincare routine.



A comedogenic reaction is caused by certain types of substances getting stuck molecule by molecule inside the opening of pores, so that your own oil and dead skin cells eventually get backed up behind these plugs causing impactions leading to larger blackheads.  These blackheads can either become remain open, or become closed-in and build up like colorless bumps, or they can get inflamed and grow into large inflamed or infected pimples.  A comedogenic reaction generally takes 3-6 months to show up as a breakout.  


An acnegenic reaction happens when the lining of your pores react with inflamed sensitivity which results in a red pimple, usually of small to medium size.  If your skin starts breaking out within a week after starting a product, it's possible there's an ingredient or two your skin just doesn't like.  This is the reason the Eval by Email® service starts out with samples rather than getting people to buy everything outright without testing for possible reactions.  As many questions as possible are asked so that the most appropriate products will be chosen, but reactions are almost impossible to predict.  


Then there are allergic reactions, which can happen within a day or two, but sometimes can take a little more.  This is the reason the Eval by Email® form asks about allergies of every kind.  Being aware, and informing Daniela, of past allergic reactions to products, as well as anything else, is very important, but even seasonal allergies can effect the way certain products can effect your skin.



Getting Worse Before it Gets Better; The "Ugly Duckling" Phase of Acne Clearing - aka, There is NO Such Thing as Purging!


The most common source of breakouts after starting an improved skincare routine, especially if it starts about a week or two later, is the fact of products simply being better for your skin; after starting a better skincare routine, dormant acne can now finish their growth cycles as follicles and their contents become softened, and oil can now flow more freely from inside pores out.  Breakouts that had been brewing inside pores, but stopped developing due to dehydration and clogging, will come out before they are gotten rid of completely.  This will subside as the skin normalizes.  It should be noted that this does not happen to most people, so one cannot assume it will happen to them and be put off embarking on the Eval by Email® process.


You may also notice that your skin will seem more oily.  As the skin softens up and becomes more hydrated, the pores flow more easily and the effect is what seems to be an increase in oil.  This eventually resolves itself as well.  More importantly, since the pores are starting to flow better, pores that have been sensitive in the past are now being bothered by this new flow of oil, which can result in a temporary inflamed breakout.  This will also resolve itself.


Generally people first see the larger blemishes go, and more numerous, smaller ones take their place.  Then the smaller ones start to go, leaving closed and open comedones (blackheads) in their place.  The blackheads and colorless bumps are the last to go and are the most difficult to get rid of.  In some people all this takes up to six months, in others it can take as much as a year.  Keep in mind, however, t-zone blackheads are normal and can be diminished in color and possibly size but are never gotten rid of completely.  They are an important part of how the skin works!  For more information on this issue, please see the entry about this on Daniela's AcneWhisperer Blog.


As for breakouts after facials, there are three possible causes for this:  

The facialist used products of low quality, or maybe even past their expiration dates, or more commonly, used products that are simply not right for your skin type.  With Daniela's extensive analysis process and with 4-6 weeks of using products chosen for your own acne issues before your first facial, this does not happen.


Unforeseen allergic reactions, which Daniela tries very hard to avoid through inquiry and analysis, but which can't always be prevented.


An extraction session to remove blackheads and whiteheads that is too aggressive or had gone on for too long.  This is the most common reason for a breakout after a facial.  

Anything which can be referred to as “the skin purging” after a facial will have the same sources as described above, with pore linings reacting to new oil flow, or the “waking up” of dormant acne.  There is no such things as pores "releasing toxins” as a reason for an after-facial breakout.  The skin simply does not work this way.


So, what to do ?  Use this nifty spot treatment pen as a nightly spot treatment, after tapping very gently with ice for 30 seconds each on brand new blemishes as they come up.  This is a technqie called “Ice Therapy”.