How to Tell if Skincare Isn’t Working: Clear Signs + Solutions

Every skincare routine change can feel simultaneously exciting and a little nerve-wracking. What if this is the product that will finally fix all of your skin concerns? What if it doesn’t do anything? What if it’ll make things worse? Whether you’ve been following a routine for a couple of months or you’re about to start something new, you need to know how to tell if your skincare routine isn’t working. 

This post will help you determine if your skincare routine is effective and provides solutions to address common concerns. We even include a handy chart to let you know how long it commonly takes for different skin concerns to improve. 

Key signs your skincare routine isn’t working 

If your skin hasn’t improved at all with a new routine, chances are your skincare isn’t working. Consider whether you’re seeing negative changes or no changes at all, and whether you’re even using products that have the potential to do anything. 

1. Negative changes

Irritation, pain, itchiness, or lasting redness are considered the key signs that your skincare routine is actively harming your skin. 

If you experience any of these signs of irritation, you need to go back to the drawing board. You need to identify which ingredient or product is causing your issues and implement a patch-testing regimen from here on out.  

Visible flakiness and dryness or a tight sensation can signal that your skincare routine isn’t well-calibrated. They don’t necessarily mean that your skincare isn’t working, but they mean that you’re either over-using your skincare products, drying out your skin with overly aggressive masks, cleansers, or toners, or not moisturizing effectively. 

That said, skin purging, a type of initial breakout that fades after a few weeks, isn’t necessarily a negative change. 

2. No changes in months

Different skin concerns can respond to new skincare and topical treatments differently. Some are faster to clear away than others, but you can generally expect to see some results in line with your skin’s natural 40-56-day lifecycle. 

If you’ve been following the same skincare routine for over two months and haven’t seen any improvement to your main skin concerns, that can be a sign that your routine isn’t doing its job. 

Notably, if your skin is already in good condition, the effects of skincare may be more subtle. If you have generally smooth skin, minimal wrinkles, and no breakouts or discoloration… Your skincare won’t do much, and that’s perfectly fine. 

3. You’re not using any actives 

A dead simple, basic skincare routine with cleansing, moisturizing, and sunscreen will go a long way toward preserving the health of your skin. That said, it’s not going to drive significant change. 

If you’re looking for a skin transformation, whether to combat signs of aging or to improve the look of acne-prone skin, you will need a routine that includes some actives. There is an ongoing debate about what does and doesn’t count as active in the cosmetic context, as brands use the term inconsistently.

That said, at Protocol, we define actives as ingredients with a profound impact on the skin, largely through exfoliation or renewal. They include retinoids, chemical exfoliants like glycolic acid or salicylic acid, and the ascorbic acid form of vitamin C. 

Some ingredients, like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide, and most plant extracts, do offer real skin benefits, but they tend to be mild and preventative. While they’re incredible additions to your skincare routine, they rarely create significant change on their own. 

4. Your actives are inactive

Another factor worth considering is whether your actives are truly active. 

The most common reason why ingredients like vitamin C or retinol might not be working is that the formulas never actually contained active versions of these ingredients. Formulas with sodium ascorbyl phosphate instead of ascorbic acid or retinyl palmitate instead of retinol or retinaldehyde are doomed to fail since those forms of vitamin C and vitamin A have very minimal skin impact. 

Even with active forms of these ingredients, any exposure to sun, heat, or oxygen can lead to ingredient degradation. If the products aren’t bottled in a way that preserves their efficacy, they can lose all of their potency even before they reach your home. 

This is why all Protocol Lab formulas are packaged in a process developed by NASA engineers, to completely protect the precious, skin-transforming ingredients we use. This is how we ensure they can actively renew the skin from start to finish. 

Managing your skincare expectations 

There’s a lot that skincare can do, but there’s also a lot it can’t. From makeup and lighting to Photoshop and social media filters, we’re inundated with images of flawless skin that doesn’t exist in real life. Some texture, visible pores, a little redness, the occasional pimple - your skin at its best could still have these. 

The goal of a good skincare routine should be to optimize the way your skin behaves and feels. Your skin should feel good, without tenderness or pain, and renew itself consistently and evenly. 

Keep in mind that seeing changes takes time. Each skin cell has a life cycle of just under two months, so you’ll need to wait about that long to start seeing progressive change. Nothing happens overnight, and a week or two is not enough time to evaluate results. 

Concerns that don’t respond to topical skincare quickly

Some skin concerns, like dryness and dehydration, respond to cosmetic treatments within a few weeks, especially if they largely impact the epidermis (i.e., the top layer of the skin). However, the following concerns may not respond to topical skincare, or might need upwards of 6 months of consistency to show even subtle improvement: 

• Dark circles with a purple tint are often caused by circulation issues, nutritional deficiencies, allergies, and having thinner skin

• Deep acne scars often require deeper, clinical treatments

• Post-inflammatory erythema (i.e., red post-acne marks)

• Significant loss of firmness that occurs with age or following weight loss

How long should you wait to see skincare results?

Depending on your skin concern, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to see results. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to change up your skincare routine prematurely. With that in mind, here’s how long you should wait to see results based on the most common skin concerns. 

Here are the effects of 60 days of consistent use of Enzyme-Active Retinol (right). 

Results are: 19% reduction in hyperpigmentation, 23% improvement in pore appearance, and 19% reduction in fine lines.

FAQ

How do you know if your skincare isn't working?

To summarize, if you have skin concerns that can be improved with skin care, you should start seeing noticeable improvements within a few weeks or up to a few months. If you don’t see any changes to your skin quality within that timeframe or you see negative changes like irritation or redness, your skincare isn’t working. 

How do I know if I'm using the wrong skin care products?

The surest sign that you’re using the wrong skincare is if it leaves your skin feeling tight, causes stinging, or leads to redness, flakiness, or other signs of dermatitis. Additionally, make sure to learn your skin type and build a routine that caters to your unique needs and concerns. 

How do you know if new skincare is breaking you out?

If you notice an increase in breakouts from products that don’t have skin-renewing effects, your new skincare might be breaking you out. Acne-causing products usually take a week to make themselves known. If you’re using skincare with exfoliating or skin-renewing effects, you might be experiencing skin purging, an initial breakout as clogged pores rise to the surface before things get better again.  

Developing a skincare routine that works

If you’ve come to the conclusion that your skincare routine isn’t working, it’s time to re-evaluate. Here are a few quick tips that’ll help you develop a skincare routine perfectly calibrated to your needs, to drive real change: 

• Drop any irritating products, especially if they don’t contain any actives that can resurface or renew the skin. 

• If you were experiencing irritation from actives, you may want to re-introduce them later on but less frequently (a few times a week instead of daily). 

• Make sure to have clear and reasonable expectations, and identify the concerns you’d like to improve. 

• Introduce evidence-based skincare products that can actually improve your skin, whether it’s retinoids to target signs of aging, blemishes or skin texture issues, vitamin C to encourage brighter skin, and AHAs to help encourage exfoliation and purify the skin. 

At Protocol Lab, we developed a skincare line with a very simple goal: Products that build an easy-to-follow, minimalist routine that drives as much change in skin quality as possible. Our clients see visible skin improvement soon after starting their routines and achieve significantly healthier-looking skin within a few months. 

The results speak for themselves. Are you ready for a skincare routine that’s truly transformative? Try our scientifically advanced skincare line and get noticeable improvements in 2-4 weeks.