In this article:
What causes skin to react to products?
Why is my skin suddenly reacting to my skin care?
What does a reaction to skin care look like?
How do you tell if a skin care product is irritating your skin?
Here’s what to do when you have a reaction to skin care
What isn't causing your skin reaction
What to do if you have a reaction to a skin care product?
How do you make skin reactions go away?
How long does it take for your skin to get used to a product?
Does this sound familiar: You’re excited to try a new skin care product you’ve heard wonderful things about. It goes on beautifully and feels great—but then the next morning, or a few days later, or even weeks later, the problems start showing up.
People can have varying negative skin reactions to skin care products that range from red or dark patches to swollen eyes, or a tight, dry feeling (1). You may even see bumps in the mirror that look like puberty has started all over again. The inevitable question is, what happened?
We’ll explain just what happened, why skin reacted and how you can stop and prevent negative reactions in the future.
What causes skin to react to products?
Sometimes, using a new product or a new mix of products can cause skin to have a negative reaction—even if the products are well formulated. You may even wonder if you did something wrong, or if the product itself is faulty.
There are six primary reasons why skin reacts negatively to a new product or a new skin care routine:
- The product(s) was poorly formulated with harsh or proven-irritating ingredients that caused the negative reaction, possibly disrupting skin's microbiome. Ingredients we warn about such as alcohol (SD or denatured), fragrance (synthetic or natural), or numerous fragrant plant extracts show up in countless products. The reaction can happen immediately, or it can develop over time. Sometimes, when several fragranced products are used, the skin reaches a critical tipping point and reacts strongly. That’s one reason why using several products with “just a little” fragrance can overwhelm skin.
- An allergy to a specific ingredient or combination of ingredients in the formula is often to blame (2). This has nothing to do with the quality of a cosmetic; rather, it’s a personal reaction to an ingredient or a mix of ingredients. It's like being allergic to cats, a problem many people have, but it’s certainly not the fault of the cat and it doesn’t make cats bad.
- Using the wrong product for your skin type. For example, using oil-absorbing products when you have dry, flaky skin can make your skin even drier and cause red, scaly patches. If you have oily skin, using thick, emollient or waxy products can cause skin to develop more bumps and clogged pores.
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Applying too many products with potent ingredients at the same time. When it comes to anti-ageing products, some people think that if a little is good, then more must be better. So, they start using three types of exfoliants at the same time, followed by a serum with a high percentage of vitamin C and then a high-concentration retinol moisturiser followed by a skin brightening product.
Even for the most durable skin types, applying these products all at once is overkill. It’s not that they don’t all have a place in a skin care routine, but instead of slathering them on all at once, they can be alternated between your morning and evening skin care routines or applied on alternate days. And no one needs to apply three exfoliants at the same time. - Using abrasive scrubs or stiff-bristled cleansing brushes. These can cause extremely negative reactions such as micro-cracks in skin’s surface that chip away at its barrier, making skin more vulnerable to anything else you put on it.
- The final reason is the most difficult to assess: Some people just happen to have reactive and overly sensitive skin to just about anything they put on their face and neck. For them, the more products they use, the greater the risk of a reaction, and especially so if the product contains even a small amount of problematic or bioactive ingredients.
Why is my skin suddenly reacting to my skin care?
Sometimes, it doesn’t take a new product or routine for redness, flaking and the like to occur. A reaction to skin care products can happen even when using the same tried-and-true routine staples you've used for months or years. We know this can be frustrating; who wants to part with their favourite serum or treatment?
Skin reacts to often-utilised skin care products for the same reasons it reacts to new products. Perhaps it’s finally reached its fragrance tipping point, or your skin's become drier or oilier and no longer responds to a certain type of product. Whatever it is, use our checklist above to get to the root of the problem.
What does a reaction to skin care look like?
Spotting an unwanted reaction to skin care products is easy. Take stock of your skin, does it look or feel different than it usually does?
Look for:
- Redness (on lighter skin tones) or purple, gray or darkened spots (on deeper skin tones)
- Bumps
- Burning
- Stinging
- Itching
- Dryness and flaking
If you’re experiencing the above and recently changed up your skin care or cosmetics products, chances are you might be experiencing a reaction.
How do you tell if a skin care product is irritating your skin?
Like any good detective, solving the mystery of why your skin reacted to a product (or products) requires examining multiple possibilities to identify the most likely culprit (4). Taking the time to do this means you'll be less likely to go through a "my-skin's-gone-haywire" episode again.
Here’s what to do when you have a reaction to skin care:
First and foremost, you should avoid problematic skin care ingredients that are known to cause sensitivity. Using only well-formulated products is essential. If you need help assessing and identifying which ingredients within your products, or the products you’re interested in, can trigger irritation, input its ingredient list into our Beautypedia Skin Care Ingredient Checker. This tool quickly ranks ingredients from best to worst based on analysis of peer-reviewed research. It can speedily help you identify which skin care products can cause reactions so you can skip the redness and maintain healthy skin.
Next, be certain the products are a good match for your skin type. Oil-absorbing or matte-finish ingredients will be a disaster on dry skin, while emollient, thick moisturisers will be a problem for someone with oily skin or combination skin with oily areas.
If you tend to have highly reactive skin, be cautious about products with high concentrations of ingredients like niacinamide, retinol, vitamin C, BHA (salicylic acid) or AHA (alpha hydroxy acids like glycolic or lactic acid). While these ingredients are brilliant for skin, when you have sensitive skin, you want to start by using products with lower concentrations and alternate the days you use them. If all goes well for a period of weeks, then you can test a higher strength of each ingredient, but only introduce one new product at a time.
Sunscreens can be suspect if they contain synthetic sunscreen ingredients. That doesn’t make synthetic sunscreen ingredients bad, but they can be more sensitising, especially if the SPF in question also contains fragrance. The best option in this case would be to use a sunscreen that only lists titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide as active ingredients. Skin reactions to sunscreen are more common in those with sensitive skin.
Even basic, well-formulated skin care products like cleansers, toners, serums or moisturisers can trigger negative reactions for some people. This usually starts when you introduce a new product into your existing skin care routine or when you begin using a new group of products. If the reaction is mild, stop using one of the products and see what happens. If that doesn't help, stop using another one of the new products and see what happens after a day or two. If that doesn't resolve the problem, then go back to the previous routine that didn't cause your skin to react.
Sadly, when you reach this point, the hunt for products that won't cause a reaction starts anew—unless you want to keep using your former products, assuming they're well formulated. It helps to keep a notebook to jot down which products your skin reacted to so you spot common denominator ingredients that may be causing it.
What isn't causing your skin reaction
Some people think silicone ingredients (examples would be cyclopentasiloxane or dimethicone) in skin care products can cause negative reactions but it isn’t true. In fact, just the opposite is true: Silicones are a group of uniquely gentle ingredients that form a permeable shield, soothe skin and can provide exceptional moisturising properties.
Lots of people also think synthetic or manufactured cosmetic ingredients are bad for skin but that isn’t the case. There are good and bad natural and synthetic ingredients. An ingredient being natural doesn’t automatically make it better, safer or gentler for skin. An example: Essential oils are natural and plant-derived, but often wreak havoc on skin!
What to do if you have a reaction to a skin care product?
Having a negative reaction to a new skin care product doesn't mean the product is badly formulated. Of course, there are badly formulated skin care products that can cause all sorts of reactions, but frequently the bumps, redness and other symptoms are due to a personal reaction to an ingredient or a combination of ingredients.
Remember to think like a detective so you can—as quickly as possible—determine what’s causing the reaction. This is tricky because it's not always as easy as pointing the finger at the new product you just started using. It might be the product, or it might be how that new product interacts with other products you're using—especially if they contain common sensitisers like fragrance.
Think of how adding one ingredient to a recipe can completely change its taste, and it's easy to understand how adding a new product to an existing skin care routine may cause trouble (or be very helpful) for your skin.
Regrettably, the answer isn’t easy because reactions to skin care products have a broad range of causes. Thankfully, there are solutions, too; it just takes some detective work to figure it out.
How do you make skin reactions go away?
Doing that detective work we mentioned will go a long way to help skin calm back down after having a negative reaction to a skin care product – after all, removing the cause of the irritation means the irritation stops.
Avoid potent active ingredients (such as high percentage exfoliants and retinoids) while your skin is resetting itself. It’s also a good idea to use the gentlest products possible in all steps of your skin care routine. Seeking out known soothing ingredients such as licorice extract, bisabolol, allantoin, prebiotics (to support skin’s microbiome) and willow bark can also help your skin get back to normal more quickly.
An easy cheat to help soothe skin quickly? Our CALM line, which focuses on soothing ingredients to minimise redness and sensitivity while boosting the barrier to prevent further sensitisation plus help reduce signs of ageing.
How long does it take for your skin to get used to a product?
Most well-formulated skin care products shouldn’t cause a reaction at all, meaning that if you have selected one that is gentle and fragrance free, there should be no time needed for your skin to acclimate to it.
It is true that ingredients such as retinol can take some time to get used to, so if you haven’t used that ingredient before start slowly – say, once a week – then gradually build up skin’s tolerance. Applying any active ingredient with a higher percentage too frequently is generally not recommended – it’s all about making sure you give your skin a chance to get used to it. Once you’re satisfied that a certain frequency or strength is working well for you, experiment with increasing it – but, if that causes a reaction, reduce it back to where you started for best results.
Learn more about skin care tips.
References for this information:
- International Journal of Cosmetic Science, April 2016, pages 120-127
- Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, November 2010, pages 789-798
- Clinical Dermatology, May-June 2011, pages 311-315
- British Journal of Dermatology, August 2008, pages 267-273
- Skin Pharmacology and Physiology, July 2008, pages 191-120
