Everyone wants healthy, beautiful skin. However, tens of millions of people in the U.S. are affected by various skin conditions. Nearly 50 million people are affected by acne, 16 million are affected by rosacea, and 7.5 million people have psoriasis.
If you’re suffering from any kind of skin problem, it’s tempting to try out new skin care products, especially when recommended by a friend. The problem with trying random products is that you could be doing more damage in the process of trying to find the right product. Even natural skin care products can do damage if they’re not the correct product for you.
It’s better to figure out what you need and then try products that match your requirements. For example, many skin care companies claim using their products will give you “youthful” looking skin. Who wouldn’t want youthful looking skin? The issue is that youthful looking skin doesn’t solve the problem of dry or oily skin. If you’ve got dry skin, you need a product that will address your dry skin. In that context, looking youthful is irrelevant.
If you’re in the habit of indiscriminately trying new products on your skin, here are 4 reasons to slow down and be intentional instead:
1. Some skin care products only treat symptoms
Sometimes it’s important to treat symptoms. For example, if your skin is itchy, you’ll want to calm the itch as fast as possible. However, treating itchy symptoms doesn’t treat the underlying cause. If you’re always reaching for the latest-and-greatest remedy for symptoms, you’ll have to continue purchasing that product for a long time or perhaps forever.
When a new skin care product promises to treat your specific symptoms, find out if the product relieves those symptoms at the root or if it’s only temporary. If the product doesn’t address the root cause, keep looking for a different product.
2. Your friends may not have the same underlying problems as you
If you want softer skin and a friend tells you they tried a new lotion that made their skin feel soft, it’s only natural to want to try that product. You can trust your friend more than advertising claims, so why not?
What you may not know is your friend doesn’t suffer from dry skin and the softness they feel from the lotion isn’t the result of hydrated skin. The softness is temporary and it’s just the way the lotion feels.
If you suffer from a skin condition including dry skin or eczema, that lotion might irritate your skin. If you’re trying to moisturize dry skin, lotion is less effective than creams and ointments.
French Pharmacy recommends forgetting everything you’ve heard about skin care and discovering your skin type before trying new products.
3. You might not be able to measure promised results
With all the skin care gimmicks out there, you have to be careful not to buy into claims that can’t be proven or seen. For example, you can buy products designed to protect your skin from pollution, but there’s no reliable way to test the efficacy of these products.
The logic behind these products sounds reasonable. Skin is the largest organ in the human body and it’s crucial to monitor what we absorb through our skin. It makes sense that micro particles in the air can clog pores and penetrate deeper layers of skin and break down collagen, but these products have yet to be thoroughly scientifically tested.
If you’re focused on testing products with unverifiable claims, you’re wasting time and money that could be spent testing products that are scientifically proven to resolve your specific skin issues.
4. You could be wasting your money
Skin care products aren’t cheap. If you’re on a mission to find a solution to your problem, you’re probably willing to splurge on promising solutions. However, when a product doesn’t work and you chuck it into a drawer, you’ve wasted your hard-earned money.
It’s impossible to know ahead of time if a product is going to work. The best approach is to identify the source of your problem, so you don’t blindly throw your money at the wrong products.
Do your research first
Anytime you find a product that looks promising, do your research before you buy it. If it’s expensive, you might be able to get a free sample first. You’ll probably need to try multiple products before finding one that works, so make sure the products you try are backed by scientific results.