Skin cycling is a skincare trend that has taken the beauty world by storm. Essentially, it’s a method of cycling through your nightly skincare products so you wake up with flawless and glowing skin. The idea behind skin cycling is to use products in a specific way to set your skin up for success while dialing down unnecessary irritation. The principal goal of skin cycling is to deliver the benefits of active ingredients without the irritating side effects, making it incredibly effective for anyone with sensitive or reactive skin.
The skin cycling routine involves following a four day evening routine focusing on one key type of product designated for each night.
Let’s break it down step by step:
Day one: Start with a gentle cleanser, we recommend our Walk of Shine AHA Brightening Cleanser designed for effortless cleansing, skin renewal and gentle resurfacing. Containing 6% blend of natural AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) including myrtillus fruit, orange and lemon extracts, it works wonders by loosening and removing dead skin cells from the surface of the skin as well as increasing cell turnover for that glamorous glow!
Day two: Follow with a serum with hydrating ingredients including aloe vera to give you that ultimate glass skin glow. We can’t recommend our Smooth Criminal Smoothing Serum highly enough, as it also includes botanical fruit enzymes for multi-level yet gentle skin resurfacing.
Day three: Use a retinoid, we suggest our popular Vitamin Amen Ultimate A Serum that includes retinol, retinoate and bakuchiol to target fine lines and wrinkles. If you are looking to advance your skincare regime, give this serum a go as it addresses premature skin aging, sun damage and hyperpigmentation.
Day four: This is recovery night, so use skincare products such as our Care Factor Reparing Serum that addresses redness, sensitivity and enhances overall skinhealth. Containing anti-redness technology to inhibit facial flushing, as well as scientifically proven calming Peptide complex to help repair and enhance your skin’s barrier function to help restore your skin’s integrity and skin glow.
Recovery nights are essential to the skin cycling routine as they allow your skin to rest and recover from the active ingredients used on the other nights.
Skin cycling is a flexible framework that can be personalised to suit your skin type. If you are experiencing sensitivity and irritation, you can increase your recovery nights. However, if you find the skincare routine works for you and it’s well-adjusted to your skincare routine, you can increase the number of active ingredient nights.
Skin cycling can show brilliant results because it can be adapted to suit different skin types, ages and environmental factors. At its core, the rotation and balancing of active ingredients and moisturiser help keep the skin barrier intact. Also, anything that promotes gentle skincare practices is a win for your skin!
Skin cycling can be really effective because it gives your face a chance to heal in between treatments. Although exfoliating serums and retinols are highly effective, they can be too harsh if used excessively or on the wrong skin types. Skin cycling allows you to stagger using these active ingredients so that it’s both effective and gentle on your skin.
The concept of skin cycling is intuitive. Your muscles need recovery days, your mind needs recovery days, so it makes sense that your skin also benefits from recovery days. Think about it, if you are trying to build strength in a particular muscle group, say your leg muscles, you don’t just load those muscles every day. You give them time to recover and rebuild. This same principle applies to your skin!
Skin cycling also encourages you to use products in a strategic way to compliment one another. The reason why it’s become a viral trend on Tiktok is because you are using products that work together to achieve your skincare goals. Say for example, if you are using a retinoid, you might want to pair it with a hydrating serum to help counteract any dryness or irritation. One hydrating serum you should seriously consider is our Let it B hydrating serum that restores skin health and radiance. The same goes for exfoliating serums, which can be paired with a gentle cleanser to help soothe and calm the skin. Our favourite cleanser is our Gently Gently Balancing Cleanser that can be used all over the face and eyes as it soothes and perfectly cleanses your skin, whilst working to minimise redness and remove make-up and impurities.
One of the most significant benefits of skin cycling is that it helps to streamline your skincare routine in a way that’s both effective and easy to follow. The world of skincare has become overly complicated, and skin cycling helps to simplify things. It solves one of the most common mistakes people make when it comes to their skin, which is using too many products at once.
Skin cycling is a thoughtful approach to your PM skincare routine that encourages you to use products in a specific way to set your skin up for success while dialing down unnecessary irritation. It is a flexible framework that can be customised for different skin types and is a win-win for anyone looking for a gentle yet effective skincare routine. So, if you're looking to try something new, give skin cycling a try and see the difference it can make for your skin.
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