You probably don’t need us to tell you the importance of cleansing, moisturizing, and consistently applying SPF no matter the season or weather, but skincare routines can get tricky when you add more products like serums, exfoliants, and toners. There’s most likely been a time or two when you’ve asked yourself: When should I apply each product? What’s the best skincare order? We, along with the rest of the beauty community, have found an answer in the dermatologist-approved skin cycling trend. Here’s the inside scoop on skin cycling and how you can take part with LIV + GRACE SKINCARE products:
What Is Skin Cycling?
Skin cycling, a strategic method trending on social media, calls for cycling through your PM skincare products to maximize results and minimize irritation. Instead of using upwards of five products, skin cycling keeps it on the simple side with a few easy steps.
The skin cycling method allows rest days between active ingredient products, helping your skin’s microbiome to recover and stay in tip-top shape. This is especially helpful as the overuse of acids and retinol can irritate the skin.
The classic skin cycling routine consists of a four-night schedule. Night one is exfoliation, night two is for retinol or an active brightener, and nights three and four are recovery nights, which is where you focus on hydration, balancing the microbiome and skin barrier repair.
Note: Once you finish the cycle, you can repeat the process the next week. Keep in mind, as your skin becomes used to the actives, you can use them more often and shorten the cycle.
A LIV + GRACE Inspired Skin Cycling Routine
The ‘classic skin cycle’ regimen is set up so that you use your exfoliating products before your retinol, allowing your skin to absorb it with ease. However, if you’ve never tried retinol or acids before, introduce them one at a time as it can be easy to overdo these ingredients. To make your skincare routine a little easier, Cindy O’Brien, holistic aesthetician and founder of LIV + GRACE SKINCARE, customized a skin cycling routine just for you:
Night One: Exfoliate and Brighten
Night one is exfoliation night, so get prepared to clear out your pores while sloughing away dead skin. To begin, start with the LIV + GRACE SKINCARE Pomegranate + Apple Exfoliating Gel Mask, which gently dissolves and "unglues" dry lifeless skin with effective, but never harsh, fruit enzymes to keep skin feeling hydrated and smooth.
Next, apply your Brightening Anti-Oxidant Serum (BAOS) to give the appearance of firmer, tighter, even skin, while helping to eliminate dark spots. End night one with the LIV + GRACE SKINCARE Rose + White Tea Sleep Mask to lock everything in; it feeds the skin with plant-based hyaluronic acid and many other phenomenal micronutrients to nourish the skin.
Night Two: Repair and Treat
Grab your LIV + GRACE Purify Gel Cleanser, a gentle and effective cleanser that clears pores and rinses away surface debris without drying or stripping the skin's natural barrier. Or if you prefer a creamy cleanser, you can use the Damage Control Creme Cleanser, which hydrates and works hard to give your skin more active ingredients, like vitamin C for a balanced, youthful glow.
Next, apply your favorite retinol and/or the LIV + GRACE SKINCARE Brightening Anti-Oxidant Serum (BAOS); it features skin-loving ingredients like two stable vitamin Cs and five natural skin brighteners, including licorice root extract and turmeric to keep your skin healthy. End the night by moisturizing with the light and silky LIV + GRACE SKINCARE Goat Milk Hydrator. (It leaves your skin so soft!)
You can also add an ultra-gentle AHA like the LIV + GRACE SKINCARE Rebalancing Clarifying Tonic that’s known to deliver radiance and renewal to all skin. At the heart of this essential clarifying step is a rich, plant-powered nourishment formulated to reveal healthy-looking skin that appears brighter, clearer, and tighter after each use.
Night Three and Four: Recover and Repeat
Now that your skin has been hard at work, you can ease into the recovery nights of skin cycling. Use a hyaluronic serum, like the LIV + GRACE SKINCARE Marine Peptide Hyaluronic Serum and a silky natural facial oil to stay hydrated, plump and moist while strengthening the skin barrier function and balancing the microbiome.
LIV + GRACE has two facial oils to choose from: Rescue Hydrate, which is a plant-based retinol alternative “dry oil” that soothes and nourishes with natural A, C, and E vitamins, and the Super Seed Oil that blends ten cold pressed oils (like Marula, Grapeseed, Pomegranate, Baobab, and Cranberry) to deliver omegas and phytoceramides to help the skin rejuvenate, repair, and thrive.
Then start your skin cycling routine all over again!
Skin Cycling Tips With LIV + GRACE SKINCARE
While skin cycling is pretty easy to understand as it has very few steps, there are a few things we’d like you to take note of when skin cycling with LIV + GRACE SKINCARE. The retinol (we recommend the Environ C-Quence) can be used three nights a week if your skin is strong and resilient when using active ingredients. Remember, you should only use retinols at night, unless they are retinol alternatives, like the Rescue Hydrate, which can be used day and night.
We also recommended the LIV + GRACE SKINCARE’S Vitamin C Serum which is often used in the morning to protect against environmental damage throughout the day. Plus, it can help build collagen. Some prefer using it day and night, especially if they have hyperpigmentation or dark spots. Keep in mind, if you use it both day and night, you may need to skin cycle in the evening to prevent over-sensitivity.
If you need to address pesky blemishes that pop up, but want to use ultra-clean, nontoxic ingredients only, try the LIV + GRACE Overnight Spot Treatment after your nightly products, but remember, never overuse any retinol. Make sure it’s the last item you use and only apply it on the tip of the blemish. If you’re pregnant or simply don’t want to use synthetic retinol or Retin-A, you can safely use the plant-based retinol alternative Rescue Hydrate by LIV + GRACE as a substitute.
Cheers to Skin Cycling with LIV + GRACE SKINCARE
With LIV + GRACE SKINCARE, you can use products that you know are curated with love and care because we know clean skincare is real skincare. We ban ingredients many people have never heard of and are considered hormone disruptors, carcinogens, and neurotoxins. All LIV + GRACE SKINCARE products contain the finest, most sustainably sourced, clean beauty ingredients to trigger the body’s natural healing and protective processes to elicit a youthful radiance.
So tell us – how’s skin cycling working for you?
Leave a comment