How Can You Tell The Difference?

Let’s talk about skin purging vs breakouts. If you’ve ever tried a new skincare product only to see a whole gang of pimples spring up on your face, what is it you’re dealing with exactly? Sometimes, that’s a good thing. Yes, really. It means the product is working its magic and getting rid of all the impurities in your skin. Soon, you won’t have to deal with pimples again.

Sometimes, that’s not a good thing. It means the product has clogged your pores. As long as you keep using it, it’s breakout galore, baby! How can you tell the difference? You don’t want to stop using a gem that can give you beautiful, glowy skin, but you can’t keep using something that gives you pimples for too long either. At least not unless you’re 100% sure those pimples are gonna disappear soon.

Here’s how to tell if your skin is purging (good) or breaking out (bad) and how to deal with both, so you can get your clear skin back ASAP:

What Is Skin Purging?

“Skin purging refers to your skin’s reaction to a specific active ingredient that triggers cell turnover,[causing] your skin to exfoliate and bring congestion to the surface,” says board-certified dermatologist Dr. Sapna Palep.

Purging is when your skin is kicking out all the gunk that was hiding into your skin. Here’s how it works:

1. Your workaholic sebaceous glands make more sebum than your skin needs.
2. This excess sebum gets stuck in the pores, trapping dead cells with it.
3. Overtime, this crappy mixture gets bigger and bigger.
4. Bacteria find the mixture and start eating it up (it’s their fave food).
5. Your immune system kicks into gear and brings the pimples to the surface to get rid of all that bad stuff.

Yep, that pimple that’s just sprung up out of nowhere was weeks in the making.

P.S. Some “skincare gurus” think purging is a fairytale made up by skincare companies to sell you stuff that doesn’t work. This scientific studies prove them wrong. Purging IS a thing.

P.P.S. Scientists refer to purging as “acne flareups”. They’re posh like that.

What Causes Skin Purging?

Any skincare products that promotes cellular turnover (i.e. help skin exfoliate itself faster) can speed up the process and bring those pimples to the surface before their time. In other words, those pimples would have appeared anyway. Purging made them show up faster. The main ingredients that cause purging are Alpha Hyxdroxy Acids (Glycolic Acid and Lactic Acid), Beta Hydroxy Acid (Salicylic Acid) and all forms of retinoids (retinol, retinaldehyde, retinoic acid…)

What Does Skin Purging Look Like?

Skin purging looks just like a breakout. Those pimples were already forming under the surface and now, they’re on top of your skin, where you can see them. “A purge is not necessarily extracting bacteria, just simply removing the inflammation that is causing your acne so that your skin can start to clear itself,” says Dr. Palep.

Can You Prevent It?

It’s not always possible to prevent skin purging completely, but you can minimise it. How? By introducing exfoliants and retinoids into your skincare routine slowly. Start with a small concentration a couple of times a week and increase both dose and frequency to every other day. If any purging happens, it won’t be so severe.

How To Treat Skin Purging

I totally get it this is not what you want to hear, but if you’re experiencing purging, you need to wait out and keep going with the products that are causing it. You’re just getting rid of all the gunk at once. If you stop, those pimples will come to the surface anyway – and last much longer. Plus, once the purge is over, breakouts will be a distant memory.

Related: How To Treat Adult Acne

Want a cost-effective skincare routine that gets rid of acne without breaking the bank? Download your free “The Ordinary Anti-Acne Skincare Routine” cheatsheet to get started today:

What Is A Breakout?

You get a breakout when one or more ingredients in the product don’t agree with your skin to the point you develop acne. This is way more likely to happen to oily or acne-prone skin. Your skin already produces too much oil and has clogged pores. When you add a product that clogs pores even more, you develop an acne breakout.

What Causes A Breakout?

A breakout happens when you’re using a comedogenic skincare product. It works like this:

• Your sebaceous glands are workhaolics and produce way more oil than your skin needs.
• This excess oil can’t flow freely out of the pores anymore. Instead, it gets stuck inside, where it gets mixed with dead skin cells, bacteria, and in this case, the offending skincare product.
• This clog gets inflamed, leading to pimples galore and an acne breakout.

Comedogenic ingredients are those with large molecular sizes and sticky textures. Usually, it’s thick natural butters and oils and anything with Palmitate or Myristate in the name. You can check the comedogenicity rating of skincare ingredients here.

What Does A Breakout Look Like?

It looks like pimples (heck, they’re pimples). Angry, raised red spots with a white center. You can get one or a cluster of them, depending on the severity of your acne.

Can You Prevent It?

The best way to prevent a breakout is to exfoliate regularly to keep your pores clean. Salicylic Acid is the ONLY acid up for the job. While brands will tell you every acid exfoliates your pores, only Salicylic Acid can get inside them and remove everything that’s clogging them up from within.

BEST PICKS:

• Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Framboos Glycolic Night Serum ($90.00): Don’t let the name fool you. This exfoliant has both salicylic acid to unclog pores and glycolic acid to fade away the dark spots pimples sometimes leave behind. Available at Cult Beauty, Sephora and SpaceNK.
• Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid ($29.00): The cult exfoliant from the brand, it unlclogs pores and treats blackheads and acne. The texture’s a little sticky, but if you can take that, this is one of the best salicylic acid exfoliants out there. Available at Cult Beauty, Dermstore, Net-A-Porter, Paula’s Choice, Sephora, and SpaceNK.
• The Inkey List Beta Hydroxy Acid (£9.99): A simple, no-frills salicylic acid exfoliant for people on a budget. Available at Cult Beauty and Sephora.

How To Treat Breakouts

If you experience a breakout, you need to stop using the product immediately. Your skin will NEVER get better as long as you keep using it. Then, use a spot treatment with either Benzoyl Peroxide or Sulphur to get rid of those pimples. These ingredients can kill P.Acnes, the bacteria that cause acne, helping people heal faster (Sulphur is the most effective of the two).

BEST PICKS:

• Epionce Purifying Spot Gel Blemish Clearing Tx ($42.00): The most effective spot treatment I’ve found, it massively reduced my pimple in one day and by day 3, it was gone. Available at Dermstore.
• Mario Badescu Drying Mask ($18.00): A clay mask enriched with sulfur to soak up excess oil and dry out pimples. It has cucumber extract to soothe irritations too. Available at Beauty Bay, Cult Beauty, and Ulta
• Paula’s Choice Clear Regular Strength Daily Skin Clearing Treatment with 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide ($22.00): A gentle treatment for mild acne, it’s loaded with soothing agents to calm down the irritation and counteract the side effects of Benzoyl Peroxide. Available at Dermstore and Paula’s Choice.
• La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo Dual Acne Treatment with Benzoyl Peroxide ($22.99): The brand says you can use it all over the face, but 5.5% Benzoyl Peroxide is too harsh for that. Instead, use it on active pimples and moderate acne to help it heal faster. It’s a simple formula that just works. Available at Boots, Dermstore, and Ulta.

Related: Do Comedogenicity Ingredients Really Give You Pimples?

Skin Purging VS Breakouts: How Can You Tell The Difference?

Here’s where it gets tricky. The symptoms are the same – an ugly, red family of pimples on your face – so it’s tricky to say if you’re experiencing a purge or a breakout. But, they’re not the same thing: “Breakouts represent changes related to acne, a skin condition triggered by excess oil, skin bacteria, clogged pores, and inflammation, [while] purging represents skin changes related to the start of a new product or skincare ingredients,” says board-certified dermatologist Dr. Brendan Camp. Here’s how to tell if you’re dealing with skin purging or a breakout:

1. What Type Of Product Is It?

Any skincare products with active ingredients that can speed up cellular turnover can cause purging. 

Cellular turnover is code for natural exfoliation. Any ingredient that makes your skin exfoliate faster causes more dead cells to temporarily get trapped in your pores, bringing those pimples to the surface faster than they would have appeared on their own.

In the short term, this makes your face erupt in pimples. In the long term, it helps keep those pores clear so you won’t have to deal with them again anytime soon. So what active ingredients can speed up cellular turnover? Here’s the full list:

• Benzoyl peroxide
• Chemical peels
• Hydroxy Acids (glycolic, gluconolactone, lactic, lactobionic, malic, mandelic and salicylic)
• Lasers
• Microdermabrasion
• Retinoids (adapalene, isotretinoin, retinol, retinyl palmitate, tazarotene, tretinoin)
• Scrubs (Clarisonic, Foreo, enzyme exfoliants etc)

If your skincare product does NOT contain any of these, it’s definitely a breakout. Toss it!

If your skincare product DOES contain any of these, it may be a purge.I say may because there’s always the chance something else in the product is clogging your pores or irritating your skin even as these actives exfoliate it. To figure out whether you’re really dealing with a purge, you need to ask a couple more questions:

Related: What’s The Best Exfoliant For Your Skin Type?

2. How Long Is The Purge?

A purge is short. “In general, [skin purges] last a few weeks before subsiding,” Dr. Brendan Camp says. “It’s important to note that skin purging may not begin at the start of using a new product; it may take a few days or weeks before you spot skin changes related to purging.”

Dr Palep continues: “The life cycle of the acne (that occurs during a purge) is faster than a regular breakout. It will heal much quicker than in a typical breakout,” says Dr. Palep. “If you start a new product known for purging, but the breakouts are lasting longer than four to six weeks, then it may signal the product is not working for you or actually making things worse.”

There you have it. If the pimples are lasting more than 6 weeks, it’s a breakout so toss that product away, pronto!

3. Where Are You Breaking Out?

Your skin gives you another clue: location, location, location.

A purge brings to the surface pimples that would have appeared anyway. That’s why it happens on your most problematic spots. If you usually breakout on your chin and, after using a product with actives that can speed up cellular turnover your chin erupts in pimples, it’s likely a purge.

But if those pimples appear on areas where you NEVER breakout, it’s clear there’s something in the product your skin can’t stand. Throw it away.

Let’s Recap! It’s A Purge If:

• Your skincare product can exfoliate skin
• The pimples are gone within a month
• The pimples appear on your usual breakout spots

If this is the case, keep using the product. It needs to get worse before it gets better.

It’s A Breakout If:

• Your skincare products don’t contain anything that can speed up cellular turnover
• Your pimples hang around for more than a month
• Your pimples appear in places where you don’t usually breakout

If this is the case, stop using the product immediately. Your skin won’t get better if you keep annoying it.

Can You Minimize Purging?

So, you want to start using a skincare product that may cause purging but are worried they’ll make your face erupt in pimples. Isn’t there a way to minimise the purge, if not avoid it completely?

Yes, my smart friend, there is: you need to take the short path. It’s like when you’re starting a new exercise regime. You can’t put your running shoes on and do a marathon. You need to start slowly. One day you walk around your neighbourhood. The next, you make that walk a mile longer. After a couple of weeks, you start running for a mile. Then, two. Then, three. You get the point.

It’s the same with skincare. Start small. Instead of going in from the beginning with 10% Glycolic Acid, start with 5%. Instead than using it every day, start with twice a week. Start small and work your way up. You’ll reap their benefits more slowly but won’t have to deal with too many pimples at once. Isn’t that worth the trade off?

The Bottom Line

Purging IS a thing. Certain skincare products need to make your skin worse before they make it better. But most of the time,  they’ll only give you a breakout. Learn to tell the difference so you ditch the culprit without suffering in vain for weeks.

About Gio

Hi, I’m Gio. I’m a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is skin coach and writer on a mission to help you achieve your best skin day ever – every day. I bust skincare myths and debunk marketing jargon to help you figure out what’s worth the splurge and what’s best left on the shelf – using science, not hype. I also offer skincare consultations to help you create the best skincare routine for your unique needs.