I’ve found after talking with my sister, friends and coworkers that most women are confused about their daily routine. It can be very confusing to know what to layer first, what to use at night, when to exfoliate, when to apply sunscreen, and on and on. So I wanted to share my routine and what works for me and perhaps clear up some of the confusion.

First, let’s start with the morning routine. Until the past few years, I always washed my face with a cleanser in the morning. But the past few years I only splash my face with cold water and dab (stop rubbing ladies) my skin dry in the morning. I’ve found that I don’t need to cleanse my face after a night’s sleep (unless I’ve worked out in the morning). I follow my cold water splash with a swipe of a cotton ball containing witch hazel (my toner of choice). I follow that with my daily moisturizer, eye cream and a broad spectrum SPF. Below shows the steps for easy viewing (again, I skip my morning cleanse and use a cold water splash).

The night time routine is where it gets more complicated. My first step is to remove my eye make-up and then I cleanse my face (use upward circles to get into those pores). I always follow that with my witch hazel toner. Now if I’m currently using a retinoid, I will wait 20 minutes before applying a dime-sized retinoid all over my face & neck and I follow that with a serum and then a night time moisturizer (remember…thin products followed by thicker products is what we’re going for here) and lastly my eye cream. If it’s summertime and I’m spending a lot of time in the sun, I will stop my Retin-A and either apply a serum & moisturizer after cleansing or I’ll do a treatment mask or microneedle before my serum and moisturizer. I know some professionals that recommend putting your product on and then microneedling. I don’t think either way is wrong. So I suggest you have a nightly routine and every other night incorporate a treatment, mask or microneedle.

Honestly, listen to your skin. If you are breaking out, don’t microneedle and irritate it further. If your skin is dry and flaking, put on a hydrating moisturizer.

Let me know about your skincare routine and what you find works best for you.

~Skincare Warrior

Warrior tip: Want an affordable make-up remover and facial cleanser…coconut oil. The uses for coconut oil are endless…in the bath, on your cuticles, on those dry heels after the shower when skin is still moist, on split ends, on dry patches or eczema, or mix some into your body moisturizer!