Many experts will tell you that ingredients like retinol and acids are great for improving the tone, texture, and quality of your complexion.

However, with these powerful formulas, it can be easy to overdo it and cause irritation – especially when you’re going straight in with a high-concentration product.

To bring these ingredients to everyone, regardless of how sensitive your skin is, some experts are suggesting a new approach – microdosing.

This new approach to active ingredients is supposedly the key to building up a tolerance and making it easier to see results from these powerhouse ingredients.

What is microdosing?

Microdosing – which is a term normally used when referencing drugs – is all about using very small amounts of active ingredients on a daily basis.

Rather than applying a high concentration of an active ingredient to your skin every few days, with microdosing you just use a very small concentration but more regularly.

This is supposed to help enable greater toleration of the ingredients while keeping your skin’s barrier intact – revealing a glowing, healthy complexion.

What products should I microdose?

Any products that you’ve found too harsh on your skin, or that have previously caused irritation – not an allergic reaction – are great products to microdose.

Things like vitamin C, azelaic acid, retinol, glycolic or salicylic acid etc.

What are the benefits of microdosing skincare?

There are many benefits of microdosing skincare, including:

• Building up tolerance at a slower rate to improve efficacy
• You don’t have to worry about irritation or sensitivity
• Using products daily makes you less likely to forget to apply them
• Keeps your skin’s barrier strong and healthy
• Good for introducing new treatments into your routine

Microdosing is especially great for those who suffer from sensitive skin and often find that they experience irritation when introducing new products into their routines.

It’s also a good method of applying skincare for those with darker skin tones who are more prone to post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation.

What are the disadvantages of microdosing?

However, it’s important to note that when you do start microdosing, you might have to adjust your expectations when it comes to the results of the ingredients you’re using.

Although microdosing is effective, it may take longer to notice any changes in your skin than it would if you were using the full concentrations of the ingredients.

It’s a case of slow and steady, which will provide you with excellent results in the future, but you may just have to be a bit more patient with them.