Your Ultimate Morning and Nighttime Skin Care Routines

"Follow our helpful step-by-step to determine which products to use morning, and which ones to use at night."

You don’t wear the same clothes in the morning and at night, you probably don’t eat the same foods, and, similarly, you shouldn’t be following the exact same skin care routine, either. Your skin needs different things in the AM and PM, and, as such, requires different products and a targeted technique and approach. In the morning, you’re basically gearing up for a whole onslaught of things that are essentially going to attack your skin—the sun, pollution, smoke, even the stress of your day. That means morning skin care should be all about defense and protection. On the flip side, the evening is a time for your skin to reset and repair itself after a long day. There’s a good reason why they call it beauty sleep: “When your body is resting, your skin is able to undergo processes that it can’t do during the day, namely restoring itself,” explains Jeff Rosevear, founding scientist and Head of Product Development for Skinsei.

Basically, while you’re snoozing and resting, your skin is at its most active. This means your night time skin care routine is when you should focus on reparative products and treatments, when you skin can maximize those and undo any damage that was done during the day. Consider the below your basic morning and night skin care routine cheat sheet.

Rise and shine! A morning skin care routine doesn’t have to be super complicated, so yes, you can go ahead and hit snooze one more time. Here’s what you have to do:
 
Step One: Cleansing
It may not be the advice your mama gave you, but a morning wash isn’t always a necessary part of your face cleaning routine. Yes, if you have oily skin, or used heavier products overnight, you may feel better starting with a clean slate. But if your skin is normal to dry or if you want something very mild, feel free to go ahead use a micellar water as first step.
 
Step Two: Treatment
Slathering on a serum takes seconds and is one of the best products in your arsenal for getting the most bang for your buck. That means yes, it’s worth doing on even the busiest of mornings. Why, you ask? Lighter than moisturizers, serums are chock full of ingredients that can help address any and every complexion concern, be that fine lines, acne, dryness, you name it. Plus, many also contain antioxidants to help neutralize free radicals caused by sun, pollution—all of the things your skin is about to be exposed to as soon as you walk out the door. Granted, there are about 19385012 million serum formulations out there (OK, maybe we’re exaggerating a little bit, but not by much). That’s where the very helpful Skinsei holistic diagnostic tool comes in, taking into account all kinds of factors to help determine which serum, and other products for that matter, are going to be best for your specific skin wants and needs.

Step Three: Moisturize
Hydration is essential for ensuring your skin is functioning properly, not to mention that, cosmetically speaking, makeup isn’t going to look cute when applied on dry skin. The exact type of moisturizer you should use varies depending on your skin type and how dry it is (oh, hi, Skinsei skin diagnostic), but as a general rule, the morning can be a good time to use lighter weight gel or lotion-like moisturizers, which feel refreshing and absorb quickly, making them a great pre-makeup option.
 
Step Four: Sunscreen
Repeat after us: I will wear sunscreen every single day. There’s simply no excusive, since aging UVA rays are the same strength year-round, can penetrate through glass, and are present even on a cloudy day. Find a broad-spectrum formula (it can be your moisturizer) with at least an SPF 30 and make sure to apply at least a nickel-size amount across your entire face (don’t forget your neck and ears, too) before leaving the house. Seriously, if it’s light enough that you can see your hand in front of your face, there are damaging rays present and you need that screen.

Congratulations, you made it through the day! Now it’s time to prep your skin for some serious beauty sleep with this night time skin care routine.
 
Step One: Cleanse
Sorry, but unlike in the morning, a night time cleanse is a hardcore non-negotiable. Even if you didn’t wear makeup, it’s imperative to remove the sunscreen, oil, dirt, and pollution that inevitably got all over your skin during the day. Not only do you want to wash it off in order to avoid clogged pores and potential pimples, but starting with clean skin is going to help ensure the products you apply afterward will work more effectively, and, after all, that’s the whole point of your PM skin care plan.
 
Step Two: Treat
Back to that serum. Since this is the time that your skin is best able to maximize and utilize all of those potent ingredients, be sure to use one at night, too. You can go ahead and apply the same formula as you did in the morning, or you can use a different one—that’s where that Skinsei diagnostic and personalized regimen comes up huge. But regardless, serum it up. By the way, keep in mind that you don’t have to do all this immediately before you go to bed. Personally, we like completing our night time skin care routine right when we get home. This gives all of the products more time to soak into our skin and ensures they don’t just rub off on our pillowcase the second we crawl into bed.

Step Three: Moisturize
Lock in those good-for-your skin ingredients with the best nighttime moisturizer for you. Unlike the morning, when you’re likely putting on makeup or going to be touching your face, now’s a good time to perhaps opt for thicker formulas, like creams or balms. The Skinsei Overnighter Balm Moisturizer is one of our favorite bedtime go-tos; it moisturizes immediately and long-term, and has vitamins and prebiotics to calm and help repair the skin.