When your skin care routine stops working!
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOUR SKIN-CARE PRODUCTS STOP WORKING?
Are you frustrated because the products you've used for years suddenly seem to stop working? Just when you thought you had your skin-care routine figured out, your skin throws you a curveball that may require going back to the drawing board—or perhaps just a small tweak will make a big difference!
Find out what's going on and how you can turn the tide when skin-care products seem to stop working.
Why Do Skin-Care Products Stop Working?
Even the best skin-care products may seem to fall short after a while. There are many potential reasons for this, but often it's that your skin type is no longer what it was when you began using the products. For no apparent reason, dry skin can become oily or oily skin can become dry or combination. Sometimes rosaceacreeps up on you or a type of dermatitis such as eczema causes problems. Most worrisome to most of us is the inevitable development of wrinkles and brown spots from those years of sun damage.
Your products may also seem to stop working because you're not seeing the dramatic results of the first few weeks or months. That's to be expected (it shouldn't be blamed on the products) because with ongoing use, the changes won't be as dramatic as they once were. Instead, your skin is in a healthy maintenance mode.
Why Your Skin Type Can Change
Unforeseen changes in skin type actually are quite understandable given the many factors that influence skin type, such as sun damage and skin disorders that crop up with age. For example, more than 50% of those with lighter skin tones will develop the skin disorder rosacea between the ages of 30 and 60. Another factor is menopause, which almost inevitably causes changes, such as never-before-seen breakouts and oily skin for those over the age of 40, and for others a change from oily skin to dry skin (often mislabeled as "mature skin").
Sun damage is cumulative, acquired over many years, and leads to many of the unpleasant skin changes we often associate with age, when in fact they are not about age at all. Over time, sun damage can cause enlarged pores, uneven skin tone, dull skin, and, of course, wrinkles. So, while age is not a skin type, the mere passage of time brings about changes, changes that will show up differently on different people.
Climate Change Affects Skin
Moving to a new location with a different climate can also create changes in your skin type, changes you never thought possible. We hear from women all over the world who are dealing with climate-induced skin changes. Whether moving from a dry, arid environment to one with high humidity, or from a tropical climate to a cool climate, these drastic changes can send your skin into a tailspin, causing even the most reliable products to seemingly backfire.
Skin-Care Confusion
To add to the confusion—it could be a combination of the issues mentioned above that make the products you once loved impractical. What's the solution? It might be necessary to only partially revise your skin-care routine, or you may need to change it completely, to address the changes taking place with your skin type. Knowing what products to start (and stop) using when your skin-care routine needs to change can give you back the skin you were once happy with before things went awry.
Despite the confusing out-of-nowhere changes in your skin type, whatever the reasons, simple changes to your skin-care routine may be all you need to get your skin back to normal. Of course, there are times when your skin-care routine may need a complete overhaul, but it's always best to start with small steps. Don't assume that everything you're using is to blame because that might lead you to remove some of the truly beneficial products from your routine—a mistake that can make your skin's topsy-turvy state even worse. Be patient, experiment via a process of elimination, follow our tips above, and your skin will soon be back in beautiful balance!
