Developing a perfect night time skin care routine can be the secret sauce that turns around your skin’s appearance. The components of a perfect night time skin care routine are simple and tweakable for individual needs. Sticking to a consistent nighttime skincare routine will get your skin improving and looking its best everyday. The nighttime skincare routine is important because the skin is part of our body’s filtration and excretion system. The integumentary system (the skin), secretes oils that include toxins. The body does this efficiently during our sleep cycle. During the night, the organs of the body rest and repair, assimilating nutrients into the body’s system. As part of this activity, the skin systems also remove the waste products and toxins we have breathed and absorbed from our environment. Skin secretes these substances as part of an excretory process:

• Carbon Dioxide
• Sweat
• Water
• Waste products (such as excess sodium chloride and urea, uric acid)

With this in mind, facilitating healthy secretion during our nighttime is the task for your pre-sleep beauty routine. The key to all of the information shared here is consistency. With the right routine for you and consistency your skin will feel hydrated, smooth, toned and glowing. Over time, you will notice that a night time skin care routine will be a positive key component in your appearance in looking healthier as you age through the years.

What kinds of self care activities can be included in your routine?

A nighttime skincare routine can be an opportunity to incorporate self care practices to calm down from the day and evening’s activities. Self care practices can be part of a routine dedicated to resetting your mind, body, and spirit before you tuck in for the evening. Relaxation techniques to reframe the day and end it on a positive note:

• Nurture your mind, body, and spirit with inviting feelings of abundance into your evenings. Take the time to wind down with nourishing oils and creams to improve your skin.
• Turn off your phone, tv, computer, or tablet before you begin your nighttime routine. This shifts your attention inward and helps you be mindful of the small luxury that your routine gives you.
• Moisturizing the body with oil is a grounding and supportive practice. Benefits of softening the body’s skin and improving appearance overtime (just like your facial skin).
• After your skincare night time rituals, add some gentle or restorative yoga. The gentle stretching calms the nervous system and alerts the body that it is time to rest.
• Journaling before bed aligns your day with your values. Reminding yourself of what you are grateful for is a lovely beginning to settle in for a peaceful night’s rest.
• Facial yoga, massage, and using tools like gua sha can be a soothing practice to the facial skin during the evening that invites relaxation.
• Meditating before bed can be a highlight to your day! Holding space for yourself to let go of random thoughts that come into the mind.
• Mantras can be a wonderful way to realign your day with your personal intentions. Before you fall asleep, repeat an aligning mantra like: “I love myself”, “I am grateful for my routine”, or whatever your mantra is in the current moment.

Nighttime Skincare Steps

Not sure what is the correct order to layer products? We’ve got you. Follow the steps below to ensure maximum results from your nightly routine.

Step 1: Remove makeup with a cleansing oil or balm.

Ensure a gentle pressure as you wipe away the make up, especially around the eyes. Try to use a gentle hand and wipe off the oil and makeup from the center of the face up and out. Gently tap around the eyes with subtle circular motions. Use cotton around the eyes. This practice is great for all skin types. Look for the following high quality skincare oils in products that you purchase. You can also use the pure high quality oil food-grade oils like these:

Oily & Sensitive skin

Jojoba oil is a nurturing effective oil for both acne and sensitive skin, as it is an anti-microbial and anti-fungal ingredient. It is also non-comedogenic and hypoallergenic. It reduces fine lines and wrinkles, minimizes scars and soothes skin conditions like acne, psoriasis, and eczema.

Normal skin

Olive oil offers deep moisturizing benefits, is an anti-inflammatory and possesses vitamins A, D, E, and K, some of which have been found to benefit skin support.

Dry skin

Avocado oil is also a more moisturizing oil and offers vitamin E, an antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory ingredient, and has been found to accelerate skin healing. Avocado oil may be beneficial for oily skin. Try a patch test before committing to use.

Step 2: Cleanse.

Depending upon your skin type, use a cleanser that is cleaning for oily skin (not around the eyes), emollient for dry skin, and gentle for sensitive and normal skin types. Foam up the cleanser in your hands, go thoroughly over your face, and then rinse off with tepid water. Use a clean washcloth if desired.

Step 3: Tone.

Balance the skin with a toning hydrating mist. This practice has been used for thousands of years since the middle ages, as rose water was used to beautify women’s skin, as a perfume. Now we know that it includes anti-oxidants, is anti-aging, may heal cuts and scars, and improves the mood.

Step 4: Eye serum or cream.

Onto fresh toner-moistened skin, apply eye serum or cream. With your ring finger, gently tap the eye cream around the eye until absorbed and feels slightly tacky. Following this format allows the formulation to be applied onto your eyelid area without obstructing the absorption with serums and facial oils that you will add next.

Step 5: Hydrate.

Hydrate with serum, facial oil or moisturiser of your choice. Apply a dime-sized amount of your favorite product to your face. Some excellent choices could be a lightweight formula of hyaluronic acid serum or an emollient face oil like rosehip, neem, or sea buckthorn to the face. You can apply both serum and oil. In this case, apply serum first, then face oil. This is the perfect time to introduce some calming facial massage. Don't forget to apply to your neck and decollété too.

Step 6: Moisturize.

Apply moisturizer to the face, neck, and decollété. As you’re applying, try to keep the motion following the lymphatic system’s natural flow of draining from top to bottom. It will prime the body to rest and restore during the night’s sleep.