I bet every single person who wears makeup every day has gone to bed with makeup on at least once in their life. It’s understandable, when you come home after a long day feeling exhausted, skipping your nighttime skincare routine seems like a good idea. Unfortunately, this is one of the biggest mistakes anyone can make.
The main reason is that your skin goes into recovery mode while you sleep and heals itself from the damage it has suffered during the day. To ensure you avoid making such mistakes and learn the best nighttime skincare routine practices and recommended products, I have put together this guide. So, let’s dive in!
Why is it important to take care of your skin before going to bed?
Throughout the day, your skin is exposed to environmental elements and pollutants like dirt, oil, pollution, sun, and wind. These aggressors build up on your skin and clog your pores. And if you wear makeup, feel free to add another item to the list of things that stay on your face all day.
When you go to sleep, your skin has a chance to repair, rejuvenate, and relax by actively producing new skin cells. If your pores are clogged, your skin doesn’t have a chance to breathe and do its nightly repair process. Therefore, it’s extremely important to cleanse your face before bed so it’s free of dirt, dust, and other impurities. By developing a nighttime skincare routine, you can help your skin in its repair process. And, of course, wake up with a fresh canvas for your skin cells to work on the next day.
Morning and Evening Skin Care: Understanding the Difference
Morning skincare focuses on protecting your skin from a variety of environmental aggressors. For example, if you apply sunscreen in the morning (and you really should), you protect your skin from sunburn and help reduce your risk of skin cancer. But evening skincare focuses on letting your skin relax and repair itself.
Skin can absorb nutrients better at night, so it’s the perfect time to use rich, nourishing skincare products that might otherwise feel heavy or greasy during the day.
What time of night should I do my skincare routine?
Generally, there is no scientific answer to this question. As long as you do it before bed, it is fine. But as a skincare expert and enthusiast, I can say that doing your skincare routine steps in the evening, 2-3 hours before bed, is a good time. If you use makeup in your daily routine, then I would also recommend removing it when you are at home and do not really need it. This will give your skin more time to regenerate and relax.
In what order should I apply my nightly skincare routine?
Regardless of your skin type, here are some simple nighttime skincare routine steps you can start implementing into your everyday life.
Phase 1: Cleansing
If you wear makeup, start by removing it thoroughly with a gentle yet effective cleanser, such as cleansing milk. If you wear waterproof makeup, be sure to use oil-based cleansers. Next, it’s important to wash your face with foam or gel cleansers.
Fase 2: Tonico
Toning is an essential step in your nighttime skincare routine that people often overlook. Toners help balance your skin’s pH levels and reduce the appearance of large pores. This step is especially helpful if you have oily skin. For dry skin, hydrating toners will be your best bet.
Phase 3: Serum
If you want to take your skincare routine to the next level, incorporate a facial serum into your nightly ritual as well. It’s best to look for products that contain active ingredients like glycolic acid, hyaluronic acid, retinol, or others. Additionally, I recommend choosing serums that address skin concerns (like dark spots) or increase the water content of your skin for a super hydrated, plump appearance.
Phase 4: Eye contour cream
This is another step that many people are guilty of ignoring or skipping. Unfortunately, face cream is not enough to also moisturize the eye area. The skin around our eyes is extremely thin and fragile and is the first to show signs of aging. To protect this area, you need to use an eye cream at night as well to help refresh and brighten it. You will be thankful for it in your 50s!
Phase 5: Hydration
This is the final step: using a nourishing face cream or moisturizer to lock in all the benefits of previous skincare products and hydrate your skin. I recommend choosing a night moisturizer that helps combat dullness, hydrates, and stimulates cell regeneration overnight.
Bonus: Masks, exfoliants and patches
At night, when you feel exhausted and need more pampering than usual, treat your skin to a hydrating sheet mask and/or eye patches. I wouldn’t recommend doing this more than 2 times a week and you’ll get better results if you exfoliate, apply serum, and then apply sheet mask. Don’t forget to follow your usual nighttime skincare routine afterward.
Respira SkinCare Products for your nighttime skincare routine
Phase 1 – Cleanser: advise Gentle Cleasing Foam or Purifying Facial Mousse. For heavier makeup and a 2-step cleanse, I recommend Gentle Cleasing Milk + Clarifying Gel.
For normal to dry skin: Hydrating Toner, enriched with hydrating agents, for oily skin: Purifying Toner, enriched with salicylic acid.
For daily skin care routine, advise Double Hydration Boost Gel rich in hyaluronic acid or Anti-Age Peptide Serum.
For your nighttime skincare routine with retinol, advise Natural retinol-Alternative Oil Serum (2-3 times a week). To remove dead skin cells and help them regenerate, it is also worth trying AHA Peeling Concentrate 2-3 times a week.
Depending on what your eye area needs most, I recommend Brightening Eye Cream (helps reduce bags and dark circles), Smoothing eye cream (helps minimize fine lines) or Eye Cream (soothes the skin and gives it comfort during the night).
One of our 2 cutting-edge night creams:
Ceramide Hydrating Night Cream: A hydrating formula that provides complete skin rejuvenation while you sleep. Ceramides help support your natural skin barrier and give your skin a healthy, glowing appearance in the morning.
Collagen Anti Age Night Cream: A soft-textured night cream formulated to reduce the signs of aging to reveal fuller, firmer skin. It works overnight to support collagen and reveal smoother, softer skin.
Cleanser and night cream are a must for a simple nighttime skincare routine. Pamper your skin with at least these 2 essentials, especially after a long and tiring day. Your skin will feel refreshed in the morning, ready to energize you for the day ahead.
Hopefully now you have a better understanding of how important a nighttime skincare routine is, if you haven’t already, you will start implementing it. Remember, healthy skin is not something that happens overnight, but it definitely starts with the right care in the morning and evening.
Author: Martina
