Building a Simple Skincare Routine You Can Stick To

The routine most people keep is the one short enough to do when they are tired. That turns out to line up well with what dermatologists recommend as a baseline: cleanse, moisturize, protect from the sun. Everything else in a skincare aisle is optional.

Below is that baseline arranged as a morning and an evening, with notes on choosing each product and on making the habit hold. It is everyday cosmetic care. If you have a skin condition or a concern that is not settling, a dermatologist’s advice outranks any general routine.

The frame: three steps in the morning, two at night

The American Academy of Dermatology describes the order of a routine in four lines: wash with a gentle cleanser, apply any medication or treatment, apply moisturizer and/or sunscreen, then makeup if you wear it. The same page adds a caution that shapes this whole article: using too many products may irritate the skin.

Morning

1. Cleanse

Use a gentle, non-abrasive cleanser without alcohol, lukewarm water and your fingertips. Those details come from the AAD’s face-washing guidance, which also says to skip washcloths and sponges for this, not to scrub, and to pat dry with a soft towel.

The AAD suggests washing in the morning, at night and after heavy sweating, and no more than twice a day otherwise.

2. Moisturize

Apply moisturizer while skin is still slightly damp. The AAD explains that this helps trap water in the skin. Which texture to buy depends on your skin, and that is covered in the next section.

3. Sunscreen

This is the step with the clearest specification. The AAD’s advice is a sunscreen that offers broad-spectrum protection, SPF 30 or higher and water resistance, applied before going outdoors to all skin that clothing does not cover. For the face, it suggests at least a teaspoon, and it notes that sunscreen takes about 15 minutes to absorb.

If you will be outdoors, reapply every two hours and after swimming or sweating. A moisturizer that contains broad-spectrum SPF 30 or higher can combine steps two and three on ordinary days.

Makeup, if you wear it, goes on after sunscreen. There is a short version of this morning in getting your skin ready for makeup.

Evening

1. Cleanse

The evening wash takes off the day: sunscreen, makeup, sweat. If you wear makeup, remove it before bed every night. The method varies with what you are wearing, and a practical guide to cleansing after makeup goes through it.

2. Moisturize

The same moisturizer as the morning is fine. Some people prefer something thicker at night because it has hours to sit undisturbed; that is a matter of comfort.

If a doctor or dermatologist has given you a treatment to use, the AAD’s order places it straight after cleansing and before moisturizer, unless you have been told otherwise.

The routine most people keep is the one short enough to do when they are tired.

Choosing the three products

You are choosing a cleanser, a moisturizer and a sunscreen. The AAD’s general advice is to use products formulated for your skin type.

Cleanser

“Gentle” is the word to look for. Skin that feels tight and squeaky after washing is a sign the cleanser is more than you want for daily use.

Moisturizer

The AAD’s guide to picking a moisturizer sorts them by thickness: gels are the lightest, then lotions, then creams, with ointments the thickest and most moisturizing.

• Skin that feels dry: a cream or an ointment.
• Skin that gets oily: a gel, or possibly no moisturizer on the oiliest areas.
• Both at once: moisturize the dry areas and go light on the forehead, nose and chin.
• Breakout-prone skin: look for “non-comedogenic,” “oil-free” or “won’t clog pores” on the label.

The AAD advises avoiding fragrance in moisturizers because it can irritate dry skin, so fragrance-free is the cautious default. To make sense of the back of the bottle, see how to read a moisturizer label.

Sunscreen

Check for three things on the label: “broad spectrum,” SPF 30 or above, and water resistance. Beyond that, the right one is the one you find pleasant enough to use every day.

Making it stick

Routines usually fail on logistics, not motivation. A few small arrangements help.

• Keep the three products out and together. A product in a drawer is a product you forget.
• Attach it to brushing your teeth. You already do that twice a day at the right times and at the right sink.
• Have a minimum version. On the worst evenings: remove makeup, wash, moisturizer, bed. Ninety seconds done is better than ten minutes skipped.
• Buy a second sunscreen for where you actually are in the morning, such as a bag or a desk, if you tend to leave home without it.
• Leave it alone for a while. Changing products every week makes it impossible to tell what is doing what.

Adding a fourth product

Once the three steps are automatic, you may want to add something for a particular aim. Three guidelines keep that from undoing the simplicity.

One at a time. If you add two products together and your skin objects, you will not know which one was responsible.

Test it first. The AAD describes a home test on a small patch of skin over seven to ten days before using a new product more widely. The full process is in introducing a new skincare product.

Expect some ingredients to tingle. The AAD notes that retinol and glycolic acid can irritate at first, particularly on sensitive skin, and that this is usually temporary. If a product burns, stings persistently or causes a rash, stop using it.

What this routine does not include

No toner, essence, eye cream, mask or scrub. None of them is harmful by definition, and you may enjoy using some. They are simply not part of the foundation. If the cleanser, moisturizer and sunscreen are in place and happening daily, the essentials are covered, and anything added on top is a choice.