Benefits of Skin Fasting

Are you considering skin fasting to solve your skin problems? If yes, you might already have a clue on why some people are rushing to try out this minimalist trend. Alternatively, if you are not sure what this new skin care trend entails, you may want to stick around for a breakdown.

The world is a busy place right now. Albeit for all the wrong reasons. As such, you might find yourself tweaking your skin care routine to make sure you keep your skin and overall health in check. This also allows you to do some things that matter to everyone else like self-quarantine, staying home and checking in on your friends and family on the same.

If this is your current situation, there is no reason to worry too much. As a matter of fact, this could be the break your complexion needs. By now, your timeline is already filling up with beauty trends that promise a new way of taking care of your skin. However, none of these trends holds more merit than temporarily fasting on your skin care products, also known as skin fasting.

To understand the benefits of skin fasting or how it helps you, we must first understand the logic and science behind a trend that intrigues even dermatologists.

What is Skin Fasting?

Skin fasting is described as a routine of avoiding daily skincare products with the aim of strengthening the skin’s natural protective barrier. Simply put, skin fasting involves skipping your entire skincare routine. This means no serums, no creams, toners, face peel, and facial masks, exfoliants or lotions. The aim is to let the skin normalize its natural oil production and repair itself.

So are there benefits of skin fasting or is it just a fad that will fade away in time? Well, let’s take a deeper look at some pros and cons.

The Pros

#1. Helps Determine Your Ideal Skincare Routine

One department where skin fasting wins is helping you determine the skincare routine for you. By going back to default, you are able to predict what your skin might be lacking and accurately set a way forward. For instance, if your skincare regimen includes a range of products but you are unsure what is causing reactions like dryness, irritation or pimples, skin fasting can help.

If the reactions stop with skin fasting, then you know you have caught the culprit. Afterwards, the process can help you rethink your beauty routine.

#2. Helps Prevent the Unnecessary & Overuse of Products

Sometimes, you could be overusing a product or using it the wrong way. That happens when trying to mask an underlying problem by using a different product or over-relying on a single product to solve your problems. For starters, excessive use of skincare or beauty products can do more harm than good. Overuse can affect your skin’s ability to rejuvenate itself. Consequently, these poor skin conditions can result in the formation of wrinkles, premature aging and, dark spots. Hence, skin fasting is seen as an ideal way to heal. This is after stopping the use of multiple products which gives the skin time to breathe and function naturally.

During this process, you might notice the skin adapts to the lack of products. For example, without moisturizers and hydrators, the skin will naturally secrete natural oils and moisturize itself.

The Cons

#1. Skin Fasting May Worsen Skin Conditions

Regardless of the benefits of skin fasting, the process is not for everyone. Just like your body, the skin also needs its daily nutrients in order to heal and function normally. For people who suffer from skin conditions like eczema or acne especially, nutrients are a must. More importantly, people with acne can suffer further if they skip their normal day or night time routine. Additionally, people with dry skin never do too well with skin fasting.

When people with dry skin skip skincare products, they tend to notice more dryness or suffer breakouts. Even worse, skin fasting means skipping on sunscreen as it falls in the skin care product category. This leaves the skin vulnerable to sun exposure without proper protection.

What Are We Fasting From, And Is Skin Fasting for Everyone?

Like we mentioned above, cases of negative reactions like irritation and dryness, can be eased by avoiding products with active ingredients. This is necessary when trying to allow the skin to heal. Some ingredients like retinol, BHAs, AHAs and more surprisingly vitamin C, can be potent for different skin types. If you feel your skin is better off without these ingredients, simply cut them off from your routine gradually until your skin returns to normalcy. Once your skin goes back to baseline, you can introduce them back to your routine slowly one at a time.

Although skin fasting requires you to drop all products, dermatologists are strongly against skipping on sunscreen. SPF (Sun Protection Factor), is the protective barrier that stops the sun’s harmful UV rays from causing harm to your skin. Also, people with acne prone skin don’t have the liberty to skip on active ingredients that can help prevent and treat acne.

The Verdict on Skin Fasting

Although we could all be hunkering at home for the foreseeable future, that is no indication to stop using products that are deemed ‘non-negotiables’. The first product on that list is sunscreen because sun protection is a must. Even while indoors, UV rays are able to penetrate windows and enter your home, leaving your skin vulnerable to some unwanted effects including dryness and dullness.

Finally, any product that helps you prevent a condition, or stops an existing one like acne, is a must have in your skin care basket. Skin fasting may be beneficial to some, but can be a trigger for everything that could go wrong in someone’s skin care regimen. As such, you should be able to choose what trends on your social media timelines are worth trying, versus ones that should get you scrolling away.