Hello Gorgeous!
I know, I know, I know…we all want instant gratification when it comes to skincare. But I gotta tell ya, instant results are hard to come by. Personally, I play the long-game. Meaning I want my skin to have permanent improvement by producing a cellular change. So, I know you’re not going to want to hear this but….it takes time. Our skin takes roughly 4-6 weeks to turn-over. When we are using serums and retinols that penetrate the deeper layers of our skin, it takes time for those healthy new skin cells to make their way to the surface. As I’ve mentioned before, medical-grade Vitamin C and RetinA are the winners in the skincare game. These products change our cells’ behavior and those results do not change if we were to stop using the product for a few weeks.
There are some skincare products that provide quick results but those results are temporary because they only treat the superficial or uppermost level of the skin. For example, using the right cleanser and/or moisturizer for your skin type will quickly improve skin. Hyaluronic acid is another great product that provides an instant boost by providing hydration to plump the skin and decrease wrinkles. Caffeine in eye creams will give a temporary boost to under eye circulation and decrease puffiness. These are all important products but you have to use them daily to achieve the desired effect. If you skip a day, your skin will revert back to its previous state.
Some products take even longer to work, particularly those that are dealing with hyperpigmentation (brown spots/sun damage) or acne. Sun damage is deep and it’s usually been many years in the making. Typically, the gold standard in treating pigment is prescription strength (4%) hydroquinone which will help lighten those brown spots. But I’ll be honest, it can take a loooooong time to see a change. Everyone has varying levels of damage, so it’s difficult to predict; but it can 3-12 months before achieving the desired skin lightened effect. Acne is a whole other beast! Depending upon the severity, it can also take a long time to get under control. Usually, correction products for acne will initially make acne worse as it pulls the bacteria to the surface by accelerating cellular turnover. This is hard to deal with for a lot of people but it’s important to trust the process.
There are so many skincare products out there and they all make bold promises. Products that promise instant results may indeed give you great (albeit temporary) results. And I think that’s fantastic! Consider those products as the “icing on the cake” products. However, your foundation products should be creating permanent change and those take time to work. So even though we want instant results, give new products (especially medical-grade) 10-12 weeks to see if they’re really working.
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