What Is Purging - And How Do You Know If It's Happening?

Starting a new active ingredient and watching your skin break out worse than before is a disorienting experience. For a lot of people, it's the point where they give up and decide the treatment isn't working. Sometimes that's the right call. But often, what's happening is purging - and stopping early means abandoning the treatment just before it would have started to work.

Here's how to tell the difference.

What Purging Actually Is

Purging happens when an ingredient accelerates cell turnover - the process by which new skin cells push up to the surface and old ones shed. When this process speeds up significantly, congestion that was sitting inside follicles beneath the surface gets pushed out faster than it would have naturally. The result is a temporary increase in breakouts as that backlog clears.

It's not new acne being caused by the treatment. It's existing acne being revealed faster than it would have shown up on its own. The difference matters because the outcome is different: purging runs its course and the skin clears; a genuine reaction continues or worsens.

Which ingredients cause purging

Only ingredients that increase cell turnover cause genuine purging. This means retinoids (tretinoin, adapalene) and chemical exfoliants (AHAs like glycolic acid, BHAs like salicylic acid). If you're using one of these and your skin breaks out in the first few weeks, purging is a real possibility.

Benzoyl peroxide does not cause true purging. It doesn't significantly accelerate cell turnover. If your skin breaks out more after starting benzoyl peroxide, that's more likely to be irritation or an existing bacterial load surfacing, not purging.

Purging vs. a Bad Reaction - How To Tell

Where it's happening. Purging tends to occur in areas where you have already broken out. If spots are appearing in entirely new areas, that's more likely a reaction to the product.

What the spots look like. Purging typically produces spots that look like your normal breakouts - same type, same depth. If you're getting an unusual rash, hives, or a type of spot you don't normally get, that's a reaction.

How long it lasts. Purging typically peaks around week two to three and settles by week four to six. If your skin is still significantly worse after six weeks, something else is going on.

Whether you can tolerate the product. Purging is compatible with being able to use the product - your skin is adjusting, not rejecting. A true reaction often comes with itching, burning, or sensitivity that makes the product uncomfortable to use.

What To Do During a Purging Phase

Don't stop. The purging phase is the hardest part of starting a retinoid and the most common point of dropout. If your skin fits the pattern above - same areas, same spot type, started within the first couple of weeks, tolerable to use - you're most likely purging, and the clear skin is on the other side of it.

You can slow it down. If the purging is severe, applying every other night instead of nightly gives your skin more recovery time between doses. The sandwich method (moisturiser, then retinoid, then moisturiser) reduces the intensity of the reaction. Both slow things down without abandoning the treatment.

If you're unsure, flag it through the app. Your clinician can look at what you're describing and give you a clearer read on whether what you're experiencing is purging or something that warrants changing your formula.

The Bottom Line

• Purging is a temporary increase in breakouts caused by accelerated cell turnover pushing existing congestion to the surface faster than usual
• Only ingredients that increase cell turnover cause purging - mainly retinoids and chemical exfoliants
• Purging happens in your normal breakout areas, looks like your normal spots, peaks at weeks 2-3, and settles by weeks 4-6
• A reaction is different: new areas, unusual spot types, getting worse rather than peaking and settling, uncomfortable to use