Spring Cleaning for Your Skin

Mar 18, 2026 Angela Solkesz Huidvernieuwing

Your skin has worked hard over the past few months. Cold outdoor air, dry heated indoor air, less light — these affect the skin barrier and make it harder for dead skin cells to shed. The result is skin that might look a bit duller than you're used to, or feel tighter than normal.

No cause for concern. It's simply the reality of a long winter season. And spring is precisely the time to turn that around.

What happens in your skin
during renewal

Your skin continuously renews itself. Deep in the epidermis, new cells are constantly produced, slowly migrating to the surface, maturing, and eventually flaking off. This process is called keratinization and takes an average of 28 to 40 days in young adults. After fifty, this can extend to 60 to 90 days.

This renewal process requires raw materials: particularly amino acids, the building blocks your body uses to create collagen. Collagen is the protein responsible for your skin's structure, elasticity, and firmness. Without sufficient supply of these building blocks, the process is slower and less efficient.

Scientific context

Research has not shown that spring biologically accelerates cell renewal. What is true: higher humidity, more light, and warmth improve the condition of the skin barrier. A healthy barrier supports the renewal process.

Spring Cleaning:
where do you start?

A spring cleaning for your skin is not a complicated ritual. It's about two things: gently clearing the outside of what no longer belongs, and giving the inside the right nutrition to do its job.

1. Gentle exfoliation, once a week

Use a mild chemical exfoliant such as lactic acid or an enzyme peel. These dissolve the connection between dead cells without scrubbing. Avoid harsh scrubs, especially now that your skin may be more sensitive than usual after winter. Start with once a week and gradually build up if your skin tolerates it well.

2. Hydration above all else

After exfoliation, your skin is more receptive to what you apply to it. This is the time for a good hydrating serum or cream with ingredients like hyaluronic acid or ceramides. They restore the skin barrier and retain moisture while new cells mature.

3. Collagen from within

Topical care works on the outer skin layers. For structural renewal deeper in the skin, your body needs amino acids as raw material for new collagen fibers. The Skin Code provides precisely these amino acids in a biomimetic profile that aligns with how your body produces Type I collagen.

4. Don't forget sun protection

With more light comes more UV rays. After exfoliation, your skin is extra sensitive. Use SPF daily, even on cloudy spring days. This is perhaps the most underestimated step in any skin routine.

Where people most often go wrong: too much at once. A new exfoliant, a new serum, a new supplement, and more sun — all in the same week. Your skin needs time to adjust. Add one thing at a time, wait two weeks, and see how your skin reacts.

How long does it take
before you see results?

That depends on age, skin type, and how consistent you are. But as a guideline: count on at least one full cell cycle. That's 28 to 40 days for most adults. Only after that period has a completely new layer of skin cells had the chance to mature and come to the surface.

The same applies to supplements like The Skin Code. Clinical research on the VeCollal technology on which the product is based shows that results become visible after 4 to 8 weeks of consistent use. Not a quick fix, but a structural change from within.

Give your skin the time it needs. It's already doing the work.