If you’re committed to having healthy skin, chances are you’re spending a little bit more on skincare products than the average pharmacy shopper. But if you’re still finding that your skincare routine isn’t living up to its promise, give these 5 tips a try before you place the blame on your products.

If you’re applying your lotions and potions on skin that is dry and flaky, you’re compromising the ability of your products to effectively penetrate skin. Fortunately exfoliating makes it easy to get rid of those dead skin cells, allowing your skincare products to really be absorbed more thoroughly. A word of caution, however- make sure you’re not exfoliating every single day, as this will cause irritation to the skin. We love IMAGE’s skincare Iluma Exfoliating Powder ($31) which has a gentle exfoliating formula made with papaya and coconut enzymes and gives your skin a nice glow as an added bonus!

When your skin is damp, it helps drive products 10 times deeper into the skin! So make that steamy shower work for you by applying your skincare products post-shower, when your pores are still open and receptive to whatever you apply.

If you feel like your skincare routine and/or product isn’t working for you, don’t toss it out the window. Instead, try tweaking your routine by adding a product or two, and alternating it every few days to see what happens. With hydrating products, you should see a difference in your skin immediately. However, most other skincare products require at least 3-5 weeks for you to start seeing a difference. It’s important to note also that sometimes these differences may be subtle, so don’t get discourage if it’s day 10 and you’re still not seeing the type of results you’d like.

You didn’t think we’d end this post without telling you the huge difference getting a treatment from a skincare professional can make, right? This is specially true if you’re trying to treat skincare concerns like brown spots and wrinkles, which usually require a lengthy period of time of using specific products to see a difference. If you’d like to see results in a shorter period of time, go see a professional for more advanced treatments like peels, photofacials, or even dysport injections. You’d be surprised how much of a difference one single treatment can make for the health of your skin!