When Should You Be Changing Up Your Beauty Routine?

Have you had the same beauty regiment for the past 10 years?  Or do you change it up every day?  You can actually get away with using a lot of the same products for a long time.  At the same time, there are some "optimal" times when you should change it up.  Why?

The facts:
 
The truth is that your skin won't get used to the ingredients that you're using for the most part.  For example, if you've been using a vitamin C moisturizer in the evenings for the past few years, your skin won't get "immuned" to the vitamin C to the point that the effectiveness of it diminishes.  It's similar to ingesting vitamins and minerals - eating an apple every day won't necessarily make an apple less healthy for you after a while.  Your skin simply uses the nutrients from your skincare products to assist in cellular processes. 

While your skin doesn't get used to ingredients, it does respond to environmental stimuli and can therefore adapt to some of the products that you're using.  Mostly, your skin adapts in terms of moisture and sebum (oil production).  If you deprive your skin (and your lips) of moisture, your skin will eventually respond in the long-term by producing more oil to keep

skin elastic.  Similarly, if you overmoisturize, your skin will respond by producing less oil, since you're doing the job of keep skin moisturized.  The overproduction of oil can lead to breakouts, while the underproduction of oil can lead to the development of a dry skin type.  Thus, make sure that you are moisturizing your face just the right amount...in the morning and at night only.  To prevent overmoisturizing, start with a light moisturizer like the Kiehl's Ultra Facial Oil-Free Gel Cream ($27 in department stores).  If that does the trick and seems to keep your skin soft for the rest of the day then great!  If not, try a more heavy duty product like the Philosophy Hope in Jar Night ($50 at Sephora).  For the daytime, try the Juice Beauty SPF 30 Oil-Free Moisturizer ($29 at Ulta), or the thicker Juice Beauty Green Apple SPF 15 Moisturizer ($38 at Ulta).  Of course, you may have to adjust

this routine depending on how dry/moist it is outside, but for the most part, this should be enough moisture for your face.  The skin on your body isn't as delicate as your face, you should be fine using a light body moisturizer a few times per week.  Additionally, the same rules apply to cleansing.  If you wash your face too many times per day, you will strip your skin of good oils, causing you to overproduce oil.  Limit face washing to night time, and mornings (unless you have super dry or sensitive skin).

What does that mean?  Well, you don't need to be changing up your products frequently to keep them effective.  However, you should be changing up your beauty routine during the following times:

• Seasonally:  When the weather is hotter and/or more humid, your skin needs less moisturizer, since there is more moisture in the air.  And don't forget that it tends to be
  
  sunnier when it's hotter, so boost your level of sun protection.  Wearing a moisturizer with mineral SPF of at least 30 like the Algenist Ultra Lightweight UV Defense Fluid SPF 50 ($38 at Sephora) on a daily basis is your best defense against sun-induced aging and melanoma.
• As you age:  Your skin changes with time.  You develop sun spots and wrinkles, collagen production slows, cells don't regenerate as efficiently, and your skin gets drier.  On the bright side, your skin gets less shiny and acne-prone.  So gradually, you will be transitioning from oil-free products that mattify shine, minimize pores, and medicate pimples to products that provide more intense hydration, brighten, firm, and increase elasticity.  You can wait to see what your more specific aging needs are (dark spots? wrinkles?) as the signs come, or simply switch it up from your 20's to your 30's to your 40's...
• To treat any skin conditions:  This is pretty much common sense.  But sometimes during dry weather, using new products, or randomly, your skin can develop allergies, become irritated, or develop conditions like eczema.  In these cases, you probably have to switch to gentler, hypoallergenic products geared toward sensitive skin.

What changes to your routine have you made recently, and why?