Skinfasting: do you need to take a break from your skincare? Our skin therapist interviewed by the ANDC magazine explains it.

Just when you've put together a five-step skincare routine, TikTok and Instagram suddenly fill up with skin fasting. Suddenly, skincare breaks are said to be very important for your skin. It supposedly needs a break too. But is that really true?

If you practice skin fasting, you stop using skincare products for a certain period – not even cleanser or SPF. This would give your skin time to recover and regain its natural balance. Kind of a cold turkey for your skin, so to speak.

Skincare break
Skin therapist and owner of Skin Project Institute in Amsterdam, Hetty Notebomer, sees it come up a lot, but she is quite skeptical about the so-called skincare breaks: 'There is no evidence that the skin can become lazy, inactive, or immune to products. That has not been effectively proven.' For example, if you start applying day cream this winter, your skin won't suddenly stop producing sebum. 'Your skin can be influenced by hormones or diet, but not by using the right products. The skin just functions in a natural way. That's what it does.' There is little to 'repair' on your skin, as the skin fasting hype claims.

Used to skincare
Do you still feel like your skin is getting used to products? Let's sketch a case for you. Suppose you've started exfoliating your skin. You're happy because you see immediate results, but then it seems to diminish quickly. You conclude that your skin has gotten used to the product and recovers and nourishes less quickly. Our skin therapist doesn't buy that. 'At first, you notice a difference and feel a difference because your skin is losing dullness and congestion. Then the skin texture improves because it's getting rid of dead skin cells. That effect is then maintained. If you keep using the product, that difference just stays,' explains the skin therapist. 'But it's important that you keep using it.'

A case of myth
No pausing, just keep pushing that stuff. 'It's a good idea to switch products every now and then,' says Hetty. Adjust your routine, look at it per season: use richer creams in winter and add a vitamin C serum in summer. But please never skip that cleanser and SPF, as TikTok says. ‘Skin fasting is just really a myth.’ Clearly.