At some stage in your life, you’ve purchased a new skincare product and thought, this will fix all my problems, only to wake up a few days later and find your skin looking worse? You're not alone!

Unfortunately, this is usually the case for some skincare products containing active ingredients (benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid, we’re looking at you). Ingredients such as these are great for promoting skin cell renewal by exfoliating but not so good when they cause your skin to breakout. The average time for skin to renew on its own is twenty-eight days. In contrast, a retinoid or acid can accelerate that process, increasing skin cell turnover, which pushes congestion towards the surface of your skin. It may appear that you're breaking out, but these ingredients are actually clearing your skin of these impurities.

Okay, but what if these breakouts aren’t going away? Well, the sad truth is that the product you probably hedged your bets on isn’t working, which is why you need to recognise the difference between purging and just plain old breaking out. When your skin is purging, the healing time is faster than regular breakouts. So, if a pimple (or several) lasts longer than four weeks, it’s time to say sayōnara to that product.

Can I avoid purging? Unlikely. Most dermatologists recommend that you slowly introduce a new product into your skincare routine to give your skin time to adjust. Depending on the product, you could start with once or twice a week and slowly build up from there. But, if your skin starts to purge, unfortunately, you will have to wait it out. So, grab the remote, pop on some Netflix, and settle in because your skin will be glowing in no time!