Not intently focused on or completely ignored, the night skincare routine is actually not dismissible in your holistic skincare routine.
While most people focus on their morning skincare routine, skincare routine at night is essential in providing rejuvenation for lost nutrients, rebuilding moisture, repairing damaged skin, and dissipating free radicals that penetrated the skin during the day.
Your nighttime routine, is actually when you heal your skin from the environmental harshness your skin faced in the day. Therefore, your holistic skincare routine is not complete without a proper nighttime routine.
Here is a guide to help you layer your skincare properly.
Night Skin Care Routine
While you are most likely in a haste in the morning, thereby rushing through your morning routine, your nighttime routine is different. The routine allows you to patiently apply necessary products to your skin (if you still have the time).
In addition, it’s a time to rebuild while you sleep. As a result, the following are how to layer products in your night skincare routine.
1. Apply Cleanser
This is the first step in any routine. For your nighttime routine, you need to cleanse and cleanse again. Double cleansing your skin helps to remove oil, grime, and dirt.
As the maxim, oil attracts oil goes, using an oil cleanser to cleanse your skin of makeup and dirt first allows the oil cleanser to seep into the skin and let its molecules attach to the oil on your face, then rinse off with water.
You can opt for a mild oil makeup cleanser to remove the first layer of makeup and dirt. Micellar water is a versatile oil cleanser that works as a makeup remover and cleanser. Or you can use an oil cleanser first.
After rinsing, apply a water-based cleanser to get the rest of the oil and dirt out. This process has proven useful in getting makeup, grime, and dirt out.
2. Exfoliate
This is an optional choice. If you have oily skin, you might have to exfoliate with chemical exfoliators or peels with AHAs or BHAs. This type is gentler on the skin.
Moreover, if you skipped exfoliating your skin in your morning routine, now is the best time to get the dirt lodged in your pores out before your skin piles up dead skin cells.
Furthermore, exfoliating at night before adding your nutrient-providing ingredients helps them penetrate the skin much faster. However, this is not a daily activity in your nighttime routine.
3. Apply Toner
Applying toner to prep your skin, provide a quick boost of skin-helping ingredients, or cleanse the skin deeper of any residues from cleansing and exfoliating. Toner provides a quick fix to your skin.
4. Apply Essence
An essence is a hydrating liquid that treats the skin. It is usually referred to as a lighter serum. Therefore, it falls between your toner and serum. However, this is optional too. You can add your face essence if you require deep hydration or skin rejuvenation.
If your skin is light and clear, you can skip the essence stage in your skin care night routine.
5. Apply Serum
This is a concentrated treatment for specific skin issues. It could reduce aging signs like wrinkles, fine lines, and age spots. It could also rejuvenate the skin and restore the bright tone of your skin. In addition, you can use your serum to reduce free radicals and sun damage to the skin.
A serum is an essential stage you cannot skip in your night routine. Your skin needs this product to provide targeted treatment. Most serums contain retinol, and hyaluronic acid to treat the skin and clear off imperfections on the skin, giving you a youthful glow.
6. Eye Cream
This is best for dry eyes. Eye creams help to hydrate the skin, and clear dark circles or crinkles around the eyes. The creamy or pasty formula also contains active ingredients like vitamins and acids to make your eye look vibrant. Furthermore, it helps to hasten the repairing of tissues while you sleep.
7. Moisturizer
This includes your usual moisturizer or night cream to hydrate and moisturize your skin. The moisturizer you use in your skin care routine at night is lighter than your day moisturizer.
However, if you have dry skin, you need an extra boost of moisture and hydration while your skin depletes the oil in repairing the skin.
8. Face Oil
Yes, face oil can be applied to your skincare night routine. However, this is for dehydrated skin. Dry skin can opt to layer its skin with a face oil to get the adequate moisture they need.
Oily skins can also use face oils but should be moderated and lightweight. In addition, the oil has to be non-comedogenic to avoid clogging your pores.
In addition, you can opt to layer your face oil before or after your moisturizer depending on the weight. That is, lighter oil goes before moisturizer, while heavier oil comes after moisturizer.
Why Do You Need a Skin Care Night Routine?
While your skin care routine in the morning protects, your nighttime routine repairs and rejuvenates. That is, a morning skincare routine is to protect the skin from harmful skin pollutants and environmental aggressors like free radicals and sun UV/UVA rays.
Meanwhile, a nighttime routine repairs the skin from free radicals and sun damage. While the skin is protected during the day, some pollutants sneak into the skin. The skin cannot be 100 percent protected. Therefore, your nighttime routine acts as a cleanup.
Consequently, you need a nighttime routine to clean up the dirt, grime, residues, and pollutants on the skin.
Furthermore, wearing makeup all day can cause some stress on the skin. Therefore, you need a skin care routine at night to rejuvenate the skin. It hydrates the skin and protects the moisture your makeup may have sapped.
Moreover, the skin is active at night, renewing skin cells and clearing dead skin cells. You need products that would stimulate faster reproduction of new cells when your skin is finding it hard to.
For maximum results in skin reproduction, treatments like retinol and vitamin C help to stimulate collagen production, which in turn, increases the rate of skin cell regeneration. As a result, your nighttime skincare routine is a way to boost regeneration to improve protection during the day.
When Should You Do Your Skin Care Night Routine?
Before you sleep. While you can take off your makeup and refresh your body with a cool bath. The ideal time you should do your skin care routine at night is just before you lay your head to rest.
However, if you are in a habit of sleeping in, get to your routine first as soon as your feet hit your threshold. This helps you keep your priorities in one direction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a difference between your day and night skin care routine?
Yes, there is. Your morning skin care routine contains products that protect and fight free radicals. Meanwhile, night skin care routines contain products that repair.
However, there are times when versatile products fit right between the two. You find yourself using the same products in your morning and night routine (except for sunscreen, which is strictly for day use).
Can you do without a night skin care routine?
Skipping your nighttime routine is not advised. You can skip some steps in your nighttime routine, if in a rush or have healthy skin. However, skipping your nighttime routine increases the effect of free radicals and sun damage.
Furthermore, your skin cell regeneration process may be affected due to clogged pores, dirt, and excess oils. This could lead to premature aging. Consequently, keeping your skin in check with a day and night routine is the best form of protection.
Can you use vitamin C in your skin care night routine?
Yes, you can. You can use vitamin C in your nighttime routine. Vitamin C serum contains antioxidants and brightening properties that help cell turnover, thereby fighting signs of aging in the skin.
You can apply a vitamin C serum to boost the rejuvenation of your skin at night.
Conclusion
A complete skin care routine in a day finishes with a night routine. Your night routine is important because it repairs and restores what was lost earlier in the day. The routine also contains active ingredients that improve skin cell regeneration, enhancing your natural youthful look.
When carrying out your routine, your skincare should contain a cleanser to remove makeup and dirt, a toner to cleanse your pores deeper, a serum that provides quick actives to hydrate the skin, and target treatment for imperfections, then moisturizers for retaining moisture in your skin while it gets to work.
If you maintain a steady cycle of your routines, not only would you improve your skin health, your skin will always have a natural and protected glow. So don’t skip your skin care night routine.
Thanks for reading.
Serum101 provides how-to guides to improve your daily skincare goals.
