LIFESTYLE NEWS
Is Your Skin Purging Or Are You Breaking Out? Here's How To Tell
By LESLIE LEON
Trying out a brand new skincare product sounds fun until you wake up the following day and have acne. You start to question whether the product is working, so these are the key differences to tell whether you're just purging or the product is breaking you out.
Daniel Belkin, M.D., explains purging will be centralized in the area where you applied your new product, whereas breaking out will be in areas beyond the applied area. Purging typically occurs in the beginning when you use products like retinol or exfoliators, and purging lasts a few days to a week, unlike breakouts that last a couple of weeks.
Purging is a good thing since it means your product is working. Purging happens when your new product speeds up the acne process and gets rid of dead skin cells to make room for new healthy cells, so be patient with your new product as the purging stage will eventually pass.