What is Skin Fasting?

Skin fasting is a skincare concept that refers to taking a temporary break from your standard skincare routine to improve the way your skin functions. Primarily done to give your skin some healing and rejuvenating time without the aid of external treatments or skincare products, skin fasting is hence much like a fast from your usual skincare or fasting for healthy skin. Just like fasting for your body, when one imposes certain dietary restrictions to clear and refresh the gut, skin fasting consciously minimizes the use of facial care products so that the skin can return to its most natural state, during this short term abstinence, purging any toxins along the way. Think of skin fasting as an exceptional skin detox treatment at home, for which all you need is water and a moisturizer or in some cases just water to cleanse.

At a time when most of our time is spent indoors during the Corona Virus pandemic, the concept of skin fasting is one that might work well for you to understand your skin.

How To Do Skin Fasting?

When it comes to skin fasting requisites, there are multiple ways to introduce this to your skin care routine from downscaling your routine across a number of days to simply minimizing the use of skincare products from day one of the fasting. Our Ayurveda Experts do not suggest ceasing your entire skin care routine as this might affect your skin negatively, and instead recommend opting for a one day fasting minimalist approach.

What this skin fasting process requires is abstinence from heavy chemical-based skincare and makeup products for one entire day, wherein one should only follow the basic cleansing and moisturizing regime. In some cases, it could be advisable to also do away with a cleanser for a day, and instead just cleanse the face with water and follow with a moisturizer.  Once, the fast is done, you will be able to assess the natural state of your skin and you will know exactly what skin care products to use to treat those exact concerns effectively. If you find that a day’s worth of fasting hasn’t helped you see a difference, you may choose to continue minimal fasting for a few days.

“Try to avoid heavy makeup and chemical-based products while you are staying at home, to give your skin a good break.”

After the fasting period, slowly begin to introduce natural skin care products to your skin. If you’re someone who has been using chemical infused skin care products for a long time, now might be a good time to actually reassess your choice of product, listen to your skin, and introduce Ayurvedic skincare to your regime.

How often one can do skin fasting?

While there isn’t a best time to do skin fasting, it depends on your unique skin concerns and how long you want your skin to undergo the fasting. Our experts suggest skin fasting can be done once a month, if followed as mentioned above. It should be avoided during the change of weather or under extreme weather conditions, and for those who are on prescribed skin care (topical and oral) by dermatologists, it might be wise to consult your doctor before making any abrupt changes to your skincare regime.

Who can do Skin fasting?

Anyone can do skin fasting, but you need to understand your skin type and concerns well before going for a skin fast and also right after the fasting period.

Skin fasting can be especially effective if you are prone to using too many products on your skin and are not necessarily seeing any result, but merely overloading the skin with too much product. If you feel this is the case, it might be advisable to opt for multi-tasking skincare products to streamline your skin care routine. For instance look for a facial moisturizer that contains natural SPF, age defying ingredients, as well as nourishing properties instead of using three different products at the same time for each of these treatments.

Similarly, another guideline would be to opt for skincare products that are known to work in harmony with each other, even if that means 3-4 products together. For instance, the Forest Essentials First Beauty Ritual includes a Delicate Facial Cleanser, the Rasa Activating Serum, followed by the Tejal Balancing Water and a Moisturizer of your choice. These are each prepared with Ayurvedic ingredients known to work in synergy with one another, for the most efficacious results on your skin. You may also explore more such rituals by Forest Essentials recommended by our experts and known to work the best as a regime.

If you have any pre-existing skin concern that requires special attention, or if you have active acne, facial redness, or any skin allergy, it is advisable not to abruptly stop your treatment. Additionally, those who have been prescribed a skin care course by a dermatologist, it is advisable to consult him or her before you take the decision of skin fasting.

The duration for skin fasting may also vary from one person to another, because everyone has different skin types and it might require different durations of skin fasting to achieve the optimum state of skin health.

To speak to an expert regarding skin fasting or any other skin care concerns you might be facing, chat with our Ayurveda experts by clicking on the Chat icon on the homepage.