Making the switch to natural beauty: What changes to expect
The transition to natural products seems like it would be easy enough. You switch your products for natural alternatives and bask in the glory of overwhelming success, right? Not so much. Transitioning to natural products comes with its own benefits in a timeframe that’s not expected and often changes that take individuals by surprise. Knowing what to expect makes a difference between sticking with the new products or bailing after a few days or weeks.
The reality is, your skin is used to responding to synthetic materials. For years. All of a sudden you strip it of the comfort it knows and add in plant-based creations instead. This comes with an adjustment period. Some good, some awkward—but knowing what to expect helps you get past the awkward phase in the middle.
Week one: The adjustment period
The first few days of transition are a bit weird. Conventional products are filled with silicones and synthetic polymers that lie on top of the skin/hair and provide an immediate smoothing response. Natural products, instead, work from the inside out; they benefit your skin and hair’s actual condition rather than allow for a topical cover up.
This means it feels different right off the bat. Hair doesn’t feel as “slippery” without the added silicones. Skin isn’t immediately smoothed, thanks to filler-like substances. This doesn’t mean the products aren’t working—they’re working from a fundamentally different place.
Ingredient quality is key in this transition. For example, at Max Green Alchemy, the products boast blends derived from plants that naturally lend themselves to beauty in a more supportive way than gunked up alternatives. Therefore, if people use low-quality natural alternatives, they may experience an adjustment period more greatly than need be if they had used a higher quality product designed better for quality calibration. Natural products that are good work wonders within transition.
In addition, some people experience a “detox period.” This is where it’s incorrectly termed; detoxing doesn’t come into play. Instead, skin adjusts to what’s no longer available—and provided it doesn’t suffer too much along the way—it now needs a bit of rebalancing. For some this comes easy. For others, it doesn’t—but all in all, slight breakouts may occur as oil production switches gears and skin finds its equilibrium; this is normal.
Understanding the purge (if there is one)
Not everyone gets a purge—but it’s a commonality worth noting. When skin has been coated in layers of synthetic ingredients/packaging and stripped all of a sudden, pores (now freed from buildup by the absence of fill) begin to work as intended. This means they’re clearing out holes that have never existed without their level of buildup before because they retained synthetics for so long. This looks like mild breakouts or excess oiliness.
The key word here is temporarily. It’s common for this adjustment to come within the first two weeks and clear rather quickly if it does. If this adjustment lingers longer—beyond month—with constant breakouts, it’s no longer a purge—it indicates there’s something wrong with the new product and it’s time to reevaluate.
Weeks two-four: Finding balance
This is where people begin to enjoy the benefits. Skin becomes less reactive during this time, meaning that redness might go down that flared after washing one’s face; that tight feeling might lessen after cleansing.
Hair typically struggles more through switch than skin. Having used shampoo with natural ingredients, the scalp needs help in oil production; years of synthetic detergent exposure has limited its ability to self-regulate how much oil is made; sometimes it takes longer to balance. This means oily hair for some before achieving equilibrium; for others, it’s too many days without lather.
A little patience goes a long way here. It’s hard not to succumb to conventional products once more when something feels off, but chances are that if discomfort remains beyond an initial three-to-four-weeks, it’s time to bow out of natural alternatives.
What improves first
Texture improvement trumps visual improvement any day of the week early on. Skin feels softer and more comfortable, less tight; calmer and healthier (of course) than anything synthetic can offer as filler. Natural products imparted into hair may not make it look so different yet—but chances are that it feels healthier beneath roots filled with synthetic resistance.
Sensitivity decreases relatively quickly as well—most people have acclimated themselves to tolerating low-level inflammation created by unconventional alternatives; removing that irritant so quickly lends itself to quick gain. Redness calms down; that itchiness or uncomfortable component dissipates.
Actual visible improvements come slower—changing hues, fine lines decreasing, new shine taking hold—these take six-to-eight weeks minimum as they consider skin’s health as valued through stabilization due to natural alternatives; anything quick without degradation is temporary cosmetic appeal.
The long game
Over a couple months, those who stay with natural alternatives find themselves longing for the previous option less and less. Their skin truly behaves differently—with less reactivity, less random explosive occurrences and subsequent lags more of a healthy baseline.
The “glow” people get from natural products is never something that dramatic; natural products help skin appear like healthier skin should—with better texture, better evenness and reduction in inflammation—with more time for consideration—hair grows in healthier and all conditions/subsequent help with body processes eliminate excess issues from ever first being implemented on trial terms.
When nothing gets better
Here’s the ugly truth: sometimes things don’t improve; natural doesn’t always yield better for your specific skin type. Sometimes people find no improvements after long transitions with no benefit whatsoever.
This can happen for two reasons.
First, you’re reacting to something natural; sensitive types and irritant levels are also common with respect to plant extracts. Essential oils especially come into play during interactions with natural substances and levels whose importance may trump their application.
Second, it wasn’t right for your skin—as an approach; natural products differ sharply in terms of quality and formulations made better for one person’s skin may do nothing for another’s.
What works
The best way to yield results comes with minimal expectations—give products at least eight weeks to see if they’re right for you or not; watch how your skin feels versus just how it appears; realize that ingredients need time because they’re truly working from the inside out to gauge effective changes versus superficially filling them in.
For those desperate enough about conventional products or frustrations with sensitive alternatives, giving natural offerings a try presents benefits worth at least getting through initial transitional discomfort for what’s commonly found on the other side thereafter.
