How Long Do Skincare Products Take To Work?

Instant results from skincare is what we all crave for. But is it too much to expect incredible skin straight out of the gate? In most cases, yes. However, with consistent use and a little side of patience, the benefits of skincare can be skin-changingly good. Here’s when to expect to see the best results from the products in your routine… 

When it comes to your skincare routine consistency and patience are key. How so? Because active ingredients aren’t miracle workers but require time to meet their potential. Here’s the lowdown on exactly how long to wait for your skincare to do its job.

Skincare is a wonderful thing. It helps counteract your skin’s inherently weak areas while targeting annoying woes that periodically affect your complexion (breakouts, begone!) or the visible signs of aging when they inevitably come up and bite you on the booty.

But as fabulous as skincare can be, it cannot perform overnight miracles. No matter how many promises a product makes on its packaging it can’t forever erase your wrinkles the moment you apply it. Neither will it make your pimples disappear in five minutes flat. Sorry, it just won’t. And the thing is, you know that, we know that and everyone else knows that… but still, there’s always that small glimmer of hope isn’t there? It’s called human nature.

Of course, there’s a whole other world of cosmetic treatments available for those who want instant gratification from their beauty regime. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with hyaluronic fillers, Botox and the like, but if your knees turn to Jello at the thought of needles going anywhere near your face, and you prefer to work more in harmony with your skin, incredible skincare is the best way to go.

So what should you expect from the various products in your routine, most specifically the ones containing active ingredients that are targeted to improve concerns like fine lines, wrinkles, pigmentation and acne breakouts?

To fully comprehend how, and why, skincare takes time to work to its maximum potential, you need to understand a few things about your skin. So here goes nothing…

The Structure & Life Cycle Of Your Skin

OK, first things first. As your body’s largest organ, the skin is made up of three main layers – the hypodermis which sits at the very bottom, the dermis which is in the middle and the epidermis which is the uppermost section and the one you can see. Each of these layers has its own very important function like protecting you from infection, allowing you to feel pain, regulating body temperature and cushioning your muscles and bones from injury. We won’t go into the full details right now, but know this: just one inch of your skin contains around 650 sweat glands; more than 1,000 nerve endings and 19 million skin cells. Yes, there’s a lot going on in there.

In order to maintain these important functions, your skin must constantly renew itself. Again, we won’t bore you with science, but new cells are repeatedly created and then pushed up to the surface where they die and eventually slough away. You know that gross fact about dust in your home containing somewhere between 20 and 50 percent of dead skin cells? Well, this is why. According to research, you shed around 500 million skin cells every day. They gotta go somewhere, right?

The life cycle of each skin cell varies as you age but for an average, healthy adult it takes about four to six weeks for a cell to be created and shed – longer as you get older thanks to  the process becoming inevitably sluggish. 

And this life cycle is super important when it comes to skincare. 

How Skincare Works With Your Skin

Picture the scene: your epidermis (the part of the skin you can see) is basically made up of layer upon layer of dead skin cells, just waiting to nudge their way to the surface and shed. This means that the first time you apply your prized facial serum, yes you’re going to target cells below the surface, but the kicker is you won’t see those cells until at least four weeks later, once they reveal themselves at the surface. After this initial period, visible results will continue to improve (with the right skincare formulation of course!) but you must be patient at the beginning. Get it now?

Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. Products like cleansers, toners and face masks work primarily on the top layers of your skin to help cleanse, balance and tone the stuff you can see. Then there are moisturizers which can offer both short-term and long-term benefits. However, any product that contains active ingredients like retinol, vitamin C and niacinamide is designed to work at a cellular level so its effects will take at least four weeks to appear, sometimes up to 12 weeks to really show you the best results. We live by the rule that a facial serum should offer you visible benefits after three months of regular use. And if it hasn’t? Then maybe it’s not the right one for you. 

Some serums, however, go one step further than playing the long game only, offering your skin immediate satisfaction as well as the slightly more prolonged benefits of clinically-proven, active ingredients. Our Vitamin C Serum with Vitamin E + Hyaluronic Acid, for example, contains all the slow-burning, active ingredients you need for brightening, balancing and evening out your skin tone over time. But it’s so much more than that because it also comes packed with aloe vera and hyaluronic acid to hydrate right off the bat, as well as jojoba oil to nourish and moisturize at a surface level.

So if you’re looking for a little instant skin love, as well as incredible benefits that, sure, take longer but, boy do they last, we highly recommend trying one of our Essential or Advanced Serums. Whether you want to get to grips with redness and breakouts (hi there Tea Tree Pro Serum) or are hoping to fight fine lines and dehydration (here’s looking at you Hydrate & Renewal Serum) we’ve got your back.