Skin cycling, the new must-know trend for your evening routine
A solid nighttime routine is of utmost importance for your skin. During the day, makeup, dirt and impurities build up on your skin. At night, however, your skin gets the opportunity to rest and recover. Skin cycling, a new way to create nighttime routines, is even trending on TikTok right now. Is skin cycling worth the hype? And how do you start a proper nighttime routine?
Skin cycling is essentially a four-night skin care regimen that you repeatedly cycle through to simplify your routine and potentially reduce inflammation from active ingredients. The routine typically consists of using active ingredients for two nights of the week, followed by two nights of rest – and repeating.
Cleanse once, cleanse twice
The first step of every routine is cleansing the skin to get rid of makeup and build up dirt. The ‘double cleanse’ is a method praised by the skincare community that uses two products to properly cleanse the skin. The idea is that you use an oil-based cleanser first to remove dirt and makeup, followed by a water-based cleanser to wash it all away. However, we found a solution to double cleanse in one tube: meet our balm cleanser! It takes off everything from daily dirt to waterproof makeup to sunscreen, in a gentle, non-stripping way. Add water to transform it into a milky lather that washes everything off and leaves skin feeling nourished and primed.
The cycle
In the second step of the evening skincare routine, we add one or more serums specific to your face. Consider them your skin’s daily dose of vitamins, easy to swap in and out depending on your skin’s deficiencies. You can take our test to discover which serum matches your skin best or give the skin cycling routine a try. In the skin cycling routine, this is where the products are swapped depending day-by-day:
- Exfoliation day: during the first day of the cycle, dead skin cells will be removed. Routinely’s Sunday Exfoliation Serum is perfect for this job combining multiple skincare acids to fight dull skin, prevent blemishes and even out the skin tone.
- Retinol day: the second day of the cycle, we will be promoting the renewal of skin cells. Retinol is a vitamin A known for its anti-ageing components. Routinely’s Regenerating Retinol Serum is a gentle yet effective serum to boost cell turnover and treat signs of ageing.
- Days 3 & 4 - 2 repair and recovery days: these are rest days; no added component will be added to our routine.
Every night we add the Multi Molecular Weight HA Serum to leave your skin intensely hydrated, firmer and visibly plump and Guardian Cream for moisturisation.
Finish with moisturizer
To seal in the skin-repairing power of the serum, protect your skin from outside irritants and keep it deeply moisturised and supple, the skincare routine is ended with The Guardian Cream. After this, our skin is ready to get some beauty sleep!
Should I start skin cycling?
Skin cycling is a well-regarded approach to evening routines and certainly worth a try. However, if you find it difficult to follow such a schedule, the most important thing is to remove daily dirt, make-up and sunscreen with the Balm Cleanser, add a serum of your choice and apply the Guardian Cream to seal in the skin-repairing power of the serum, protect your skin from external irritants and keep it deeply moisturized and supple. To start skin cycling with Routinely, here is the 4-day routine:
- Day 1 exfoliation: The Balm Cleanser, Sunday Exfoliating Serum, Multi Molecular Weight HA Serum, The Guardian Cream.
- Day 2 retinol: The Balm Cleanser, Regenerating Retinol Serum, Multi Molecular Weight HA Serum, The Guardian Cream.
- Day 3 and 4 repair & recovery: The Balm Cleanser, Multi Molecular Weight HA Serum, The Guardian Cream.