The shift between conventional cosmetics and natural: the rebound effect

Do you know the rebound effect? These are the side effects you may experience when you decide to switch from conventional cosmetics to natural cosmetics. It can take various forms and manifest at different times in different people, but it remains transient. The rebound effect should in no way deter you from switching to organic cosmetics. Here's why.

The switch to natural cosmetics and the rebound effect.

Industrial cosmetics are mainly composed of synthetic ingredients:

~ between 75 and 90% of excipients: water and mineral oils;

~ 0.1 to 2% of active ingredients: substances of natural or synthetic origin;

~ additives: emulsifiers, surfactants, preservatives, antioxidants, natural or synthetic fragrances, natural or synthetic dyes.

Mineral oils and synthetic products from petrochemicals tend to suffocate your skin. They clog its pores and prevent the natural production of sebum which is essential for the proper functioning of our skin naturally. This thin invisible and occlusive film that the oils create on the surface of the skin protects it from the external elements, but prevents it from breathing and naturally defending itself.

When you use conventional cosmetics, you create a vicious cycle: your skin is somehow suffocated by mineral oils, but cannot do without them since it is no longer able to generate its own defenses.

You now understand that your skin is deprived when you withdraw it of protective mineral oils by switching to organic products that do not contain them. However, you should not worry about it, because it does not take long for nature to regain its rights. You must therefore be patient, for a few days or a few weeks, before your skin regains a healthy functioning mode.

Remember, it is worth the risk, because you will definitely stop treating your skin chemically. The switch to natural, once acted, gives you a skin of the face and the body in much better health.

Concretely, the rebound effect is a sign that your skin is recovering its biological function: it regulates itself, gets rid of toxins from synthetic products, before relearning to produce its sebum and return to a natural cycle.

How is the rebound effect happened?

Not everyone is rebounding and you may be one of the lucky ones who aren't going through this transition. Otherwise, the rebound effect can appear quickly, as soon as you switch from one cream to another, or with a little delay, after a week or two.

You may feel a simple tightness that betrays the dryness of the skin from the lack of sebum. On the contrary, your skin may produce too much sebum to compensate for the absence of oils, in which case it will appear a little too oily.

The most sensitive people go through other uncomfortable and unsightly effects, but always not at all serious: redness, irritation and pimples.

How long does the rebound effect last?

The rebound effect lasts for a few days to a few weeks. The length of time depends on your skin type and its ability to acclimatize to its new treatment, your history (duration and density of use of conventional products), as well as your lifestyle, diet and stress level.

The average duration of the rebound effect does not exceed four weeks, as you have to take into account the regeneration of the skin. Indeed, our skin is constantly changing. The horny layer of the skin - the surface in contact with the outside - takes 28 days to renew itself.

To put it simply, you can assume that your skin has completely changed in the space of a month. This "new" skin will know only the good treatments of organic products and will be fully satisfied with them.

This is the reason why you don't have to worry about the rebound effect and why you have to persevere. Once the effect wears off, your skin will be naturally glowing!