Even with our unwavering commitment to using the finest natural ingredients to make effective products for your skin, there's still a risk the skin can react to the product, which is why conducting a patch test before use is critical.
Any reaction isn't predicated on the quality of the product. Instead, the skin could be reacting to one ingredient you may be sensitive to or reacting to the product's potency.
When conducting a patch test, it's important to note two possible reactions: irritant contact dermatitis and allergic contact dermatitis.
To determine if you could experience allergic contact dermatitis, your skin needs repeated exposure to the product to produce a reaction.
Irritant contact dermatitis, however, happens quicker after exposure.
Testing for both is the best way to ensure you have a pleasant experience using our products.
Ideally, you want to add one new product to your routine at a time to test how the product interacts with your skin.
Irritant Contact Dermatitis Patch Test
Since irritant contact dermatitis happens almost immediately, you can conduct the patch test within 24 hours.
Be sure you have cleaned the area you're applying the product to before you apply. We suggest cleaning the area the same way you would when using any of your skincare products.
Apply a small amount of product to the side of your neck, behind your ear or on your inner arm, as these are all sensitive and discrete areas. You can cover the application with a band-aid.
Now, wait 24 hours before removing the band-aid to see if you have any adverse reactions. You should be looking for redness, swelling, dryness, itching, peeling, blistering, or burning.
If any of these reactions occur, stop using the product.
Allergic Contact Dermatitis Patch Test
While an irritant contact dermatitis patch test only takes 24 hours to ascertain if your skin is irritated by anything in the product, determining if you may be allergic to any ingredient requires repeated exposure.
Be sure you have cleaned the area you're applying the product to before you apply. We suggest cleaning the area the same way you would when using any of your skincare products.
Apply a small amount of product to the side of your neck, behind your ear or on your inner arm, as these are both sensitive and discrete areas. You can cover the application with a band-aid.
Wait 24 hours and remove the band-aid. If your skin has developed a reaction at this point, there's no need to continue.
If it hasn't, repeat this process. You will need to do this four times in total.
When you remove the band-aid on the fifth day, and your skin has not developed any adverse reaction, you add the product to your routine.
Although it may seem like trying to reinvent your skincare routine and repeating all this can seem tedious, doing a few days of due diligence is certainly preferred to spending a few weeks trying to reverse the unsightly effects of having a reaction on a prominent body part.
https://dermnetnz.org/topics/irritant-contact-dermatitis
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532866/
https://www.allergy.org.au/patients/skin-allergy/contact-dermatitis
https://www.allergyuk.org/resources/allergy-to-cosmetics/
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000869.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Nka_l4-vcY