There will always be trends that come and go in the world of health and wellness. Most just aren’t worth the hype, but to us, the past year has presented one new trend that we can fully embrace. Meet “skinimalism,” the Marie Kondo philosophy of getting rid of excess from your life, but applied to your skin care routine. There’s something to be said for simplicity; it allows only for what truly serves us, for what brings us joy, and for what actually works. Is your five-plus step skin care routine made up of a cabinet full of products not bringing you noticeable results or is it hurting your budget? Might we suggest it’s time to “skinimize” your routine.
Back to the Basics
It’s easy to be persuaded into buying the new “must-haves’’ or all star ingredient skin care products. We’re constantly bombarded with Instagram or Facebook ads, influencers, and buzzy marketing terms that promise to address all of our skin “imperfections.” Many skin care professionals and dermatologists will tell you that simplicity is key when it comes to caring for your body’s largest organ. Painful, itchy, or red skin irritations that show up on our skin are many times self-imposed. The culprit? Too many products and ingredients.
Don’t feel any shame or beat yourself up - we’re all human and can easily be lured in by promises of perfect, poreless skin. But if you’re feeling overwhelmed by your current skincare routine and not seeing the results you’re hoping for, we’re here to help you skim down and get back to a simple, effective skin care routine.
Build a basic, effective routine
The goal of this skincare routine is to maintain balance, hydration and overall clarity of your skin. Plus, you might even enjoy the exercise of tossing out what no longer serves you and your skin!
We’ve pulled together some simple steps to help you get started on your “shelfie” clean up.
With clean hands, touch your skin. Is it dry, tight, oily, or rough? Look in the mirror. Do you notice redness, blackheads, or shininess? Take notes of how your skin feels, what you see and then take time to write down what your goals are. We’ll come back to this!
Assess your current products. Is anything expired? Toss it! Follow packaging instructions for best practices on how to discard the expired product and recycle its packaging.
Group together all remaining products by step. Cleansers, toners, facial oils, serums, moisturizers, masks, etc. Revisit your skin assessment from step one and begin to go through each group of products to remove the excess. For example, if you noted that your skin feels and looks oily and you noticed blackheads when looking in the mirror, assess your products and look for those that will help you reach your goal of maintaining decongested pores, balanced oil production, and breakout free skin. Remove any products that are targeted for dry or aging skin, or anything that is too harsh (think alcohol-based products or harsh exfoliants). It’s also important to remove anything you’ve used in the past that has either caused noticeable irritation or hasn’t produced any results - they are simply not suited for you.
Can you narrow each category down to one product? As a general guideline when it comes to a skinimalist routine, keep each category of skin care at one product; one cleanser, one toner, one facial oil or serum, and one moisturizer. When it comes to treatment masks, if you have two that you love, keep them both and alternate their use. You don’t need to be too strict on yourself to start out, but might we suggest one product that’s a multi-tasker and delivers multiple results!
Start Your Skinimal Routine!
Cleanse. Skip the suds in the morning and do a simple rinse with warm (not hot) water. Save your cleanser for the PM. Take a step to be extra minimal and opt for a low-waste bar cleanser.
Tone. After cleansing in the AM and PM, gently pat skin dry. Either mist skin generously or wet an organic cotton pad with your favorite toner and pat across your skin.
Nourish. This step might’ve been the hardest for you to narrow down on, but once you find your favorite facial oil or serum, apply twice daily and take notice of how your skin feels and looks. In a truly minimal routine, adopt the practice of looking for one multidimensional product that delivers antioxidant protection, hydration, skin clarifying properties and deep cellular nutrition.
Moisturize. If you’ve opted for a hydrating facial oil above in step four, you may find that this is one step you can remove. If you need that extra layer of moisture, apply a cream twice daily that aims to deliver smoother, balanced and nurtured skin.
Protect. Apply sun protection!
Optional - Treat. Masking is too fun to not indulge in occasionally, and can help you reach your skin goals more easily. If you’ve narrowed down your masks to just one, follow product instructions for suggested use. Looking for one mask that does it all? Opt for our nutritive, hydrating, and gently exfoliating Hibiscus Mask & Scrub and use 2-3 times weekly.
Pro tip: If you’re rotating between two masks, be sure to try each mask solo for at least two weeks and take close notice of results and how your skin reacts. This will help you gauge which works best, or how they work differently. You’ll also be able to assess if either causes any irritation.