Does your skin become immune to skin care products?

You start using a new serum and fall in love with it at first sight. The formula works wonders on your discerning skin and gives your complexion an amazing glow. Obsessed, you use it religiously for a few months, only to find that when you flip through your calendar, your skin looks less glowing and less special. Are you grumpy, or have you developed an immunity to skincare products?

It's possible that some of the ingredients in your skincare products become weaker over time through transients, which refers to eventual resistance to a specific medication." When this happens, the body can alter signaling pathways at the molecular level so that the product is no longer effective."

That's why your product seems to stop working.

But wait! Don't throw away your entire beauty arsenal just yet. Rapid reactions are very uncommon in skin care products in general, and are usually only seen with topical steroids in conditions such as psoriasis and eczema. There are many factors that can explain why a product may appear to be less than effective.

When using a product, you always get the strongest response right away. This means that even though the product is still working, the visible effects have diminished and may be more difficult to detect.

What's more, if you're someone who changes skincare products continuously, you may be using a mix of ingredients that don't work well together. For example, benzoyl peroxide oxidizes vitamin C, so [these ingredients] shouldn't be used together. Vitamin C and retinoids are best used separately (in the morning and at night), as they can be irritating when used together.

Your environment may also be the culprit.

As the seasons change and your skin dries out, your hard-working serums and lotions become more complex and harder to penetrate into dead skin cells. This can be due to changes in your external environment such as your increasing exposure to cigarette smoke, household chemicals which contribute to this, and even sunlight which can increase free radical damage to your skin. This forces your product to do double duty and make it seem less reactive.

And some ingredients are special cases, such as retinol. Most people think that retinol becomes less effective over time, but your skin becomes more tolerant of this ingredient. The product is still working; you just aren't experiencing any adverse reactions.

That's when you should change your regimen.

Listen to your skin tone. While the product will not change, your skin will. Therefore, the products you need to use will need to change over time.

As the seasons change, you may want to switch up your skin care products. This includes switching from serums to lotions or from lotions to creams during the dry winter months.

When you add a new ingredient, you must be cognizant of the combination of harmful products.

It is wise to differentiate between strong ingredients by using them in the morning and afternoon, in addition to alternating ingredients daily. This way, you can benefit from all the positive activities without worrying that they will cancel each other out. And don't worry about the dreaded buildup effect of using too much at once.

There are ways to make sure your products are more effective over a longer period of time.

1. You should exfoliate once or twice a week to slough off layers of dead skin cells and allow the active ingredients to penetrate deeper. For best results, remove makeup and cleanse thoroughly before applying anything.

2. It is also important to fight free radical damage, which slows skin cell turnover and leads to dry, dull skin and increased fine lines and wrinkles. Use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher throughout the year.

3. Keep in mind that some ingredients can gradually become less effective due to instability (i.e., opening and closing the cap daily), so avoid leaving the bottle in a humid bathroom. Over time, the active ingredients may separate or break down, depending on how the product is stored. Therefore, storing your skin care products is also crucial. The most scientifically effective way to store your skincare products is to keep them in a mini makeup fridge, as the beauty fridge will constantly provide a suitable and stable anti-bacterial storage environment for your skincare products, thus maximizing the activity of their active ingredients.

Most importantly, don't play the skincare bartender.

If you have questions about your routine, be sure to consult a dermatologist - who can simplify your skincare routine with a personalized approach to best suit your needs.

To learn more about skincare, visit: cooseon.com.