Your skin is complex and intelligent – and even humble about it
From you awaken and until you hit the pillow once again, your skin goes through different phases. For the sake of overview, we can divide the two processes into what we’ll call protective mode and regenerating mode.
Your skin is in protective mode during the day, where it fends off the effects of sun damage, pollution, and other external threatening factors.
When you’re sound asleep, your skin shifts into regenerating mode, a process in which it intensely repairs and renews itself to improve damage and reveal a fresher layer of skin.
All of this happens while you aren’t feeling as much as a tingle – isn’t it impressive?
Though these processes are completely natural and, for example, the regenerating state will happen whether you’re asleep or not, this knowledge can help you determine what products to incorporate into your AM versus PM routine. And we’ll gladly help you out on that!
AM, PM... Where to start and finish
While some products can help support your skin’s protective properties, others can help speed up the skin’s natural renewal process. Therefore, it can make perfect sense to take a minute to ponder about what products should be prioritized when. Our suggestions are:
Your AM routine
... should awaken your skin and prepare your skin’s barrier for the day. Therefore, we recommend that you enrich your AM routine with products packed with protective properties that can help keep your skin strong and resilient.
Now, what products you choose should ultimately depend on your skin type. But just to make things a tad easier, we collected some of our favorite AM-products with protective abilities:
- Daily Hydra Cream contains strong antioxidant properties to protect against environmental factors, including pollution and free radicals, while the addition of aloe vera, cucumber water, and hyaluronic acid intensely hydrates to awaken and refresh the skin.
- Niacinamide Lifting Mist is especially beloved for the powerful properties of 5% concentrated niacinamide, which effectively strengthens the skin’s barrier function while the hydrating spritz provides a boost of nourishment. Formulated for use whenever needed, but we especially love it in our morning routine.
- Vitamin E Serum is a nutrient-rich facial serum containing a concentrated dose of natural vitamin E, which helps defend against free radicals from air pollution as well as sun exposure – among numerous other benefits (but don’t get us started).
- SPF. You didn’t think we’d forgotten, did you? SPF is alpha omega when it comes to protecting your skin efficiently. Whether we’re talking baking sun or cloudy days, pop on a layer of nourishing sunscreen to prevent skin damage and leave your skin covered – literally.
Your PM routine
... should focus more on winding down your skin and help boost its renewal processes. Just as with your AM routine, your PM routine should be tailored to your specific skin type and its concerns. Some of the products that help our skin through the night is:
- Daily Foaming Cleanser helps effectively wash away the day and prepares us for a good night’s sleep. 100% natural cleansing agents make the magic happen, leaving us with a clean canvas and ready to take on the day that follows. Pair it with our oil-based, make-up-removing Cleansing Balm as the first step for an extra nourishing double cleansing.
- Skin Perfectors (SeboClear and 2% BHA) are formulated with active ingredients that help increase the skin’s natural cell turnover process while evening out skin texture and tone to leave a smooth and glowy appearance.
- Vitamin A Treatment Cream helps balance, rejuvenate, and optimize the skin thanks to a careful composition of powerful ingredients, including the multipurpose vitamin A that helps speed up cell regeneration, boost cell renewal and the skin’s collagen production. Please note that if you choose to use this wonderful moisturizer, using a Skin Perfector as well shouldn’t be necessary. Also, we recommend to pair it with a hydrating moisturizer for ultimate skin satisfaction.
- Complex Eye Cream to care for the delicate eye area. With line-smoothing and tightening AGH and calming organic cucumber, this is the perfect dose of nourishment to reduce puffiness and wrinkles.
- Vitamin Face Oil provides a lightweight yet intensely nourishing layer of moisturizing argan oil that helps relieve, smooth, and relax the skin. And as hydration is the key to healthy skin, this product is a musthave for every enriching PM routine.
Mixing and matching – is it allowed?
The beautiful (and, honestly, sometimes mildly confusing) thing about skincare is that there’re no one-size-fits-all solutions. In the end, it all comes down to your individual skin type and your personal preferences. What works for you might not necessarily work for others – and that’s more than okay.
Sometimes, you’ll wake up and feel the need for a deep cleanse for your skin, and maybe you’ll discover that face oils and daily exfoliations work better in your morning regimen.
What you should take away from this is first and foremost that your skincare products have a purpose, and you can help enhance that purpose, achieving even more effective results.
