There’s a new skincare routine trending right now and we’re here to tell you all about it – Skin Cycling! Skin Cycling involves using certain skincare products on specific nights of the week as part of your skincare routine.

It’s easy for people to go a little overboard on the actives and this can do more harm than good! It can damage the skin’s barrier, making it more susceptible to damage and irritation. All the advice out there can get confusing and overwhelming, this is one way to simplify things and break it down into one simple routine.

By following a ‘Skin Cycling’ routine, it can help stop product overuse and also create a regular, consistent routine. Here’s how…

Day One

It’s all about exfoliating today. This will be where you can try out those products that are all about exfoliation… most likely, a chemical exfoliant in this case, and a leave-on at that.

Exfoliating is an essential step in your skincare routine – it’s a great way to help reset the skin, removing any excess dirt and dead skin on the skin’s surface.

This step will help your next products to penetrate the skin better and therefore work better!

Alpha H
Liquid Gold with 5% Glycolic Acid

alpha h

Dermalogica
Daily Superfoliant

dermalogica

SKIN RG
Zen Glycolic Peel 11%

SKN RG

Day Two

This stage of your skin cycling journey could be where you try out a retinol. It’s important, particularly early in your skincare journey, to build up your use of actives like this so your skin can build up a tolerance to it. After cleansing, apply a retinol and follow up with a moisturiser.

Retinol is a type of retinoid, which is made from vitamin A. It goes deep beneath the epidermis (outer layer of skin) to your dermis to help neutralise free radicals. This boosts the production of elastin and collagen, creating a plumping effect to reduce the appearance fine lines and wrinkles.

Medik8
Crystal Retinal 1 Serum

Sunday Riley
Luna Sleeping Night Oil 

luna

IMAGE skincare
AGELESS total overnight retinol masque

image

Day Three and Four

Consider these your ‘rest days’. This is where you take a step back from actives and focus on the moisture. It’s the time to take care of your skin barrier and making sure your skin is suitably hydrated.

Look for ingredients like hyaluronic acid, glycerin and/or niacinamide.

You can strip your routine back as much as you want during these days. After cleansing, you might want to skip the serums all together and just apply your night cream. It’s up to you!

Then you can repeat the cycle! Make sure to pay attention to how your skin feels, how it reacts. You might find you need to give yourself more ‘rest’ days where you focus on moisture… you may want to cut the moisture down to one step and start the process again a little earlier… it’s all up to you and what your skin needs! But ultimately, this routine can help you not overdo it on the actives, all the while still gaining the benefits from them… consistency is key!

Zelens
Hyaluron Intense Hydro-Plumping Serum

zelens

COSRX
Ultimate Nourishing Rice Spa Overnight Mask

rice mask

Glow Recipe
Avocado Ceramide Recovery Serum

glow recipe

The trend of Skin Cycling was started by Dr. Bowe to combat a lot of the, frankly, bad advice out there online, to combat people overusing their skincare products.