The Truth About Skin-Care Fasting

Skin-care fasting, i.e. stop using skincare products, is a popular beauty method these days. Some people have claimed skin-care fasting helped with their skin conditions, while some said it made their skin worse.

The truth is, there are so many misunderstandings and misleading claims about skin-care fasting floating around, and it is definitely not for everyone. So let's clear all your doubts, and help you decide whether skin-care fasting is for you, and if so, how you should do it.

What is Skin-Care Fasting?

In short, skin-care fasting is a beauty method that aims to bring out the self-hydrating, barrier and cell-renewal functions that the skin originally has by refraining from using skincare and makeup products.

Our skin has a naturally built-in function of hydrating itself, whilst the skin barrier helps retain water and block out irritants, bacteria, and pollution. When the self-hydrating function is impeded, the skin becomes drier; on the other hand, when the skin barrier is damaged, it causes a decrease in the skin’s ability in retaining water and resisting bacteria. Not only does this result in dryness and tightness, it will also aggravate allergy, acne, or rosacea, eczema and other inflammation issues.

Whilst, although the speed and efficiency of cell renewal does decrease with age, our skin does continuously renew itself naturally, whereby skin cells move from the bottom of the epidermis up to the surface, after which they die and shed to reveal the next layer of fresh, healthier skin cells underneath. These fresh skin cells would then eventually die and shed too to give way to even newer skin cells. If this cycle is impeded by use the wrong skincare products, then issues like texture, dryness, acne and inflammation may arise.

Under certain circumstances (we will go into that later), skin-care fasting can help improve these three functions.

What skin-care fasting cannot do, is improve and prevent aging conditions, such as wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, sagging, loss of elasticity, etc.

How Does Skin-Care Fasting Help with The Skin's Self-Hydrating, Barrier and Cell-Renewal Functions?

First and the most important reason, is that many people unknowingly use skincare products that are unsuitable for them, badly formulated, or contain active ingredients too high in concentration, or they may be changing skincare products way too often. By giving the skin a break from them, skin conditions would naturally improve.

Secondly, a lot of people apply skincare and makeup products the wrong way. This creates friction against the skin, resulting in a damaged skin barrier. Refraining from using skincare and makeup products means less friction against the skin, and thus the skin barrier has a chance to repair itself. (We just talked about friction-less skincare recently, you can check it out here: Why is Friction-Less Skincare the Way to Beautiful, Youthful Skin .)

Thirdly, many people believe that in order to moisturize the skin, they need a thick moisturizer. However, this actually impedes both the skin's renewal process and self-hydrating function. 

Heavy moisturizers impedes the skin's natural cell renewal cycle by keeping the unwanted, dead cells stuck to the skin surface, instead of letting them shed naturally. This can make the skin look dull and textured, and may even appear as lines that aren’t even actually there. Here’s what worse. According to renowned dermatologist Zein Obagi’s book “The Art of Skin Health”, the accumulation of dead skin cells at the top signals the epidermis to stop creating new cells as quickly, the mother cells deep in the epidermis will stop dividing and creating new cells, which ultimately slows down the entire cell regeneration and renewal process.

In fact, a lot of people confuse this layer of dead skin with dry skin. When was the last time you bought a moisturizer, piled it on, washed it off after cleansing, and felt that the roughness and tightness were still there, so you went and bought an even heavier moisturizer?

Worse yet, this layer of accumulated dead skin cells would trap oils and dirt inside the skin, clog pores, create an oxygen-free environment that acne bacteria love, and kill off ‘friendly’ bacteria that keep skin healthy. The result? Blackheads, whiteheads, clogged pores, acne, inflammations, and sensitivity.

In addition, according to renowned cosmetic dermatologist Rachael Eckel, besides those with eczema and rosacea, only 15 percent of the population have genetically dry skin that requires moisturizer——telltale signs being invisible pores, no acne and dry body skin. For the rest, there is really no need to use a heavy moisturizer twice a day, 365 days a year.

The skin has a naturally built-in function of hydrating itself. When heavy moisturizers are continuously applied to the skin, the cells in the epidermis would send a signal to the cells in the dermis telling them there is enough hydration so there is no need for more, instead of asking them to move hydration up to the skin surface. Gradually, the cells in the dermis would become lazy, go dormant, and ultimately stop regulating its own hydration level, resulting in drier and less elastic skin.

Thus, when thick moisturizers are removed from the skincare routine and lighter-textured moisturizers are used, the skin's renewal process and self-hydrating function can normalize, which in turn improve many skin conditions. (We have talked about this in detail previously, for details: Is Moisturizer A Must In A Skincare Routine?)

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Who Should Do Skin-Care Fasting?

There is no one-size fit all with any skincare products and methods. Some people's skin do improve with skin-care fasting, whilst some skin simply do not agree with it. In fact, even if you see improvements doing skin-care fasting, remember it has its limits and is not a cure all.

| Those Who Can Try Skincare-Fasting

• Those in their 10s and early 20s.
• Those with normal skin, oily skin, and combination skin.
• Those with light to moderate acne conditions.

| Those Who Should Not Try Skincare-Fasting (or Should Only Do a Soft Approach)

• Those who are in their 30s and above.
• Those with dry and sensitive skin.
• Those who have eczema, rosacea, and other inflammatory skin conditions.
• Those who have aging concerns, such as wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, sagging skin, loss of elasticity etc.
• Those whose mental state is easily affected by their skin condition (improvements from skincare fasting may take time, and for some, may even make existing conditions worse, so if you are the kind that will feel gloomy all day when a new pimple pops up, or can't stand skin feeling slightly tight and dry at first, then skincare-fasting is not for you).

Best Ways for Skin-Care Fasting

First of all, do not skin-care fast:

• When the weather is dry (i.e. summer is better than winter);
• When your daily life rhythm is disturbed;
• When you are not sleeping well and enough;
• When your stress level is high;
• When you are eating an unbalanced diet;
• After you have been in the sun.

The reason is that all the above are considered to be factors that can cause skin problems, in other words, when the skin needs extra help and nutrients. Skin-care fasting should therefore only be done when you're not experiencing the above.

If you want to try skin-care fasting, instead of suddenly quitting everything, which can also shock the skin, try to:

For those in their 10s and early 20s

• Gently cleanse no matter what. And do not believe in those that advise not to use makeup removers. Water cannot effectively wash away oils, dirt, and pollutants, and water-based cleansers and soap cannot remove makeup, sebum, and oil-soluble impurities, thus not using a cleanser or not using a makeup remover if you do put on makeup is the fast-track to acne, clogged and enlarged pores, and even inflammations. If your skin feels tight or dry after cleansing, the reason is you're using a wrong cleanser, such as foaming or stripping cleanser, or soap (even handmade ones are too alkaline). After cleansing, lightly pat the skin dry with a super soft towel, and do not rub.

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• Stop using paper masks, and skip skincare products after cleansing at night or both am and pm on weekends when you don't plan to go out. Do however still use SPF in the mornings, and a cleansing mask once or twice a week.

• When there are no adverse signs, then in the mornings, try to minimize the routine down to a light moisturizer (with plenty of antioxidants) after cleansing.

• Consider doing this for one week as a cycle, and one cycle per month.

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For those who have aging concerns

• Gently cleanse no matter what. And do not believe in those that advice not to use makeup removers. Water cannot effectively wash away oils, dirt, and pollutants, and water-based cleansers or soap cannot remove makeup, sebum, and oil-soluble impurities, thus not using a cleanser or not using a makeup remover if you do put on makeup is the fast-track to acne, clogged and enlarged pores, and even inflammations. If your skin feels tight or dry after cleansing, the reason is you're using a wrong cleanser, such as foaming or stripping cleanser, or soap (even handmade ones are too alkaline). After cleansing, lightly pat the skin dry with a super soft towel, and do not rub.

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acid(wash) Lactic Acid Brightening Cleanser  <- Click to shop

• Stop using paper masks, and keep it simple with just a multi-purpose toner or serum plus light moisturizer or face oil, or simply use a sleeping mask, after cleansing at night twice a week.

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Sculpture + A Overnight Enrichment Cream  <- Click to shop

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At first, your skin may feel slightly tight and dry, but as your skin's self-hydrating function resets, and barrier strengthens, you may feel you don't need thick moisturizers anymore.

Remember, skin resetting takes time, and things may get worse before they get better. So don't expect instant result, or get upset and give up as soon as a pimple pops up or the skin feels slightly tight or dry. However, if issues linger and exacerbate, then skin-care fasting may not be for you.

What Should be Avoided Whether or Not You're Skin-Care Fasting?

• Physical scrubs
  
  Besides removing dead skin cells on the skin surface, scrubs also slough away healthy skin cells, and may cause micro-tears and wounds, thereby creating an opening for bacteria. Therefore for exfoliation, acids are much safer, gentler, and better than scrubs if used correctly.

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• Frequent use of paper mask
  
  If you keep adding too much water to the skin, the stratum corneum will become brittle due water overflow, and the lamellar structure that controls barrier function will also become unstable, which will in turn damage the barrier function and may lead to sensitivity and inflammation. It is way better to use multi-purpose cream mask instead.

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The London Mask <- Click to shop

• Thick moisturizers
  
  As mentioned above, thick moisturizers can impede the skin's cell renewal and self-hydrating, resulting in drier, rougher, less elasticity skin that is prone to acne, blackheads, whiteheads, sensitivity and inflammation. Instead, always use a light-textured moisturizer

 Product Recommendation
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All Day Radiance Light Concentration Cream  <- Click to shop

• Friction
  
  Friction against the skin, including washing, scrubbing, touching, or massaging the face with force, rubbing towels on your face, sleeping sideways on pillow cases that are not soft enough, using make up brushes or tools that are not soft enough, or put on makeup with force, etc., can contribute to issues such as dryness, dehydration, roughness, fine lines, irritation, sensitivity, inflammation, dullness, pigmentation, wrinkles, sagging and loss of elasticity, thus should be avoided at all cost.

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