Whether you realise it or not, your skin is always hard at work. As your body’s largest organ, it’s constantly renewing itself—shedding old cells and making way for fresh, healthy ones. This natural process, known as skin cell turnover, is key to maintaining a smooth, radiant complexion.
But here’s the catch: as we age, this renewal process slows down. What once took 28 days can stretch to 40 or more, in our 50’s it can be every 90 days, leading to a buildup of dead skin cells, acne, a dull complexion, and visible signs of ageing like fine lines and dark spots. The good news? There are plenty of ways to support your skin’s natural renewal cycle and keep that glow going!
In this blog, we’ll break down how skin cell turnover works, what impacts it, and why it’s crucial for managing concerns like acne, wrinkles, dark spots, and hyperpigmentation.
First things first, what is Skin cell turnover?
Think of your skin as a never-ending conveyor belt. New skin cells are created in the deeper layers of your skin and gradually work their way up to the surface. Once they reach the top, they naturally shed, making way for the next wave of fresh cells. Every day, your skin faces external stressors like UV rays, wind, scrapes, bacteria, and more. Your body’s response to all these nasties is to continuously generate fresh skin cells.
This process happens behind the scenes, but it plays a big role in how your skin looks and feels. A healthy turnover cycle keeps your skin smooth, even, and youthful, while a sluggish one can lead to congestion, rough texture, dullness and more visible lines.
So, what can slow it down? A mix of things can influencer your skin cell turnover—age, hormones, diet, stress, sun exposure, and even your skincare routine. The key is knowing how to support and speed up this process in the right way.
How to support your skin turnover through skincare
If you’ve ever Googled “how to speed up skin renewal,” you’ve probably seen a few familiar skincare heroes pop up. Here’s what actually works:
Retinol
One of the go-to solutions for speeding up cell turnover is our beloved retinol. By now you’re probably familiar with the wonder product but if not, here is a quick recap.
Retinol is frequently used in anti-ageing products and acne treatments. Retinol works by stimulating your skin’s natural cell turnover process. It encourages faster production of new skin cells, which helps to exfoliate the skin, reduce the appearance of fine lines, smooth uneven skin tone, and manage acne.
We love Murad's Retinol Youth Renewal Serum. This powerful formula works in three ways: it helps smooth fine lines and wrinkles, strengthens and firms the skin, and deeply hydrates for a plumper, more youthful look. It contains a next-level form of retinol that’s effective yet gentle, a plant-based extract that improves skin elasticity, and hyaluronic acid to lock in moisture and prevent dryness.
AHAs and BHAs
There’s actually not a lot of skin-related concerns that the AHA/BHA combo can’t help to fix at this point. They work by breaking down the bonds between dead skin cells, helping to remove the top layer of dull, dead skin and revealing fresher, healthier skin beneath.
Both AHAs and BHAs promote faster cell turnover, encouraging the skin to continually renew itself and improve in texture, tone, and clarity. Additionally, by removing the layer of dead cells that can prevent other products from penetrating the skin, these acids enhance the effectiveness of serums and moisturisers, further contributing to a healthier, glowing complexion.
Have you tried Murad's AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser? - It's a must-try!
Niacinamide
Another frequent flier on the ‘how to improve’ skin listicles, niacinamide can also lend a hand in helping to improve and enhance the skin’s natural cell renewal process.
While it doesn’t work as a direct exfoliant like AHAs or retinoids, niacinamide helps boost the skin’s natural ability to repair and regenerate. It does this by improving the function of the skin’s protective barrier, which is essential for maintaining healthy hydration levels and defending against environmental damage. A stronger barrier means the skin is better equipped to shed dead cells and replace them with new, healthier ones, effectively speeding up the renewal process.
Skinsmiths Niacinamde is a go-to for strengthening your skin barrier, skin tone and texture.
Vitamin-C
Vitamin-C serves a vital function when it comes to cell turnover because it protects our skin from environmental damage caused by free radicals which can slow down cell turnover and contribute to premature ageing. By helping to prevent these harmful free radicals from coming in contact with the skin, it helps it to focus on its regeneration and repair. It’s also known to brighten the skin, which is another important role of cell renewal.
Murad's Vita-C Glycolic Brightening Serum is our favourtie for brighter, healthier-looking skin!
How to support your skin turnover through treatments
Regular in-clinic treatments at Caci are a must for maintaining healthy, radiant skin. Just like your at-home skincare routine, clinic treatments help to keep your skin functioning at its best—supporting cell turnover, targeting concerns like fine lines and pigmentation, and ensuring long-term skin health. Think of it as skincare teamwork—you take care of the daily steps, and we’ll handle the deeper treatments to keep your skin glowing!
Peels
Cell turnover and peels are truly a match made in heaven. In-clinic peels use acids like glycolic, salicylic, or lactic acid to exfoliate the outer layer of skin, triggering faster cell turnover. Depending on the strength of the peel, it can target fine lines, pigmentation, acne scars, and uneven skin tone.
Caci Laser Facial
The Caci Laser Facial combines a chemical peel and the benefits of thermal laser to provide a deep cleanse, exfoliation and stimulate skin cell turnover plus our skin’s natural healing function for an overall reset leaving you with a healthy, fresh glow - with no down time needed! Perfect for dipping your toes in to laser treatments.
LED Light Therapy
Aside from filing your taxes, LED Light Therapy can help with just about anything. Think of it as a relaxing, futuristic facial that helps your skin glow from the inside out. Using different wavelengths of light, LED therapy tackles skin concerns like a multitasking superstar. Red light is the real hero when it comes to boosting collagen production and speeding up skin cell turnover. The best part is they come with literally no downtime.
To keep these good times (and good skin) going, consider investing in an at-home LED device. These are a game changer when it comes to overall skin health, and the convenience of having them in your own home is an obvious drawcard!
Microneedling
While it might sound a bit intense, it’s a lot less scary than you may think and the results speak for themselves. Microneedling involves tiny needles that create micro-injuries on the surface of the skin, which in turn signals your body to ramp up collagen and elastin production. It’s like sending your skin into overdrive mode for healing and renewal. The result? Firmer, smoother, and more youthful-looking skin.
Let Caci do the work for you with Reformaskin: Skin Health Membership!
Great skin takes consistency, and that’s exactly what Reformaskin: Skin Health Membership is designed for. With regular in-clinic treatments, we take care of the hard work—supporting your skin’s renewal cycle, targeting concerns like fine lines, acne and pigmentation, and keeping your skin glowing all year round. No more guesswork or wondering what’s right for your skin—we personalise every step to ensure you get real result. It’s the easiest way to maintain healthy, glowing skin—without the stress.
As a member, you’ll get:
- Personalised monthly skin conditioning treatments (or at a frequency that suits you)
- Access to clinically proven treatments and professional skincare tailored to your needs
- The option to add on advanced treatments like Peels, Microneedling, or Laser facials
- Expert advice from your Skin Therapist to keep your routine on track
- Exclusive savings on treatments, skincare, and rewards we call treats!
All of this is designed to support your skin’s renewal cycle and help you get real, long-term results. No more wondering what’s best for your skin—just regular, professional treatments that keep your skin smooth, bright, and healthy all year round.
Daily habits to support cell turnover
Drink plenty of water
Staying hydrated isn’t just good for your body, it’s also great for the skin. Drinking enough water helps flush out toxins, supports healthy skin cell turnover, and keeps your skin plump and glowing.
Stay out of the sun
You’re simply not going to find an article on skin health that doesn’t include a paragraph relating to sun exposure or protection in some way. That’s because, of all the skincare-related noise, this is the one that you need to pay the most attention to.
While soaking up the sun might feel great, your skin would actually probably rather you didn’t. UV rays can seriously slow down (and glow down) your skin’s cell turnover process, leading to premature aging, dark spots, and fine lines. Long-term sun exposure damages collagen and elastin, making it harder for your skin to renew itself and stay smooth and firm. The best port of call is to avoid sun exposure when you can, but the next best alternative is to make sure you’re always equipped with a hard-working SPF. Applying a broad-spectrum SPF daily not only protects your skin from harmful rays but also keeps your cell turnover on track.
Eat skin loving foods:
What you put on your plate is just as important as what you put on your face. A diet rich in vitamins, antioxidants, and healthy fats supports your skin’s natural cell turnover process. we have some fab recipes that support this here
The bottom line....
When it comes to glowing, healthy skin, there’s more to it than just the right serum or moisturiser (although those are really important too). When it comes to encouraging cell turnover. a little care goes a long way, so nurture that renewal cycle, and watch your skin reveal its true potential.
We’re here to help! Whether you’re looking for the right in-clinic treatments for your skin goals, the right skincare, or just some expert advice, our team is always happy to chat—no pressure, just honest guidance.
Book a free consultation at Caci and let’s talk about your skin goals. We’ll help you figure out what works best for you, so you can feel confident in your skin and your routine.
Find your local clinic here.
