The Minimalist’s Guide to Effective Nighttime Skincare

Dr. Sethi:
Welcome to The Skin Report. Today, we are covering what is the most optimal routine for nighttime skincare. And also I’m going to refer to a few things that you could specifically be doing based on your skin tone. And we also have a daytime routine episode, so if you haven’t listened to that, do check that out. If you enjoy listening to information about skincare, medical aesthetic treatments, beauty trends, please like, subscribe, and also ask us any questions in the comments. I’m going to go ahead and start our episode today with my co-host, Shaheera. Hey, Shaheera.

Shaheera:
Hello. Hi.

Dr. Sethi:
We did to a wonderful, and I’m biased probably, a wonderful…
Shaheera:
Yeah. [inaudible 00:00:48]. Wonderful based on our opinion. Yes.

Dr. Sethi:
You are actually a minimalist person when it comes to skincare and skin treatments. For a healthy and the best skincare routine for night, what does that look like for you? Because there are definitely things at night that you will wear or use in your skincare routine that you are not actually supposed to use at all during the day. Let’s actually start there. What is one thing you want to introduce into your skincare routine at night that you cannot and should not use during the day?

Shaheera:
I also want to start by saying that this is important. We’re talking about skincare routines because it matters and it matters because it goes into that whole concept of collagen banking. The very first thing you can do to start your collagen banking process, which again we have a whole episode on is skincare. And then second, it’s really frustrating to buy skincare products and not know what to do with them. And then you go, “Oh my God, maybe I should just even not do it.” Or you spend a lot of money on it, of course. It’s important to know what things are you’re maybe overusing, underusing and all of that.

Dr. Sethi:
Yeah. And if you’re using too much because you think your daytime routine should be so, so vastly different then your nighttime routine.

Shaheera:
Exactly, exactly. And I think that the one product that I think makes such a difference, like you were asking in your nighttime routine is retinol. Retinol has been consistently shown to increase skin cell turnover. It makes your skin behave like it did in its younger years, not in its acne years, but its younger years when it was actively making new collagen all the time. And it’ll make it behave like that no matter what age you are.

Perfect. That’s why when you compare two… Let’s say take two women, woman in her 20s, woman in her 50s. Why does the woman in her 50s have more fine lines, dark spots, and when she is in the same environment as the woman in 20s? Because in your 20s you’re making new skin and erasing those fine lines, dark spots, actively every 10 days to 14 days. In your 50s, you’re doing it every 12 weeks.

Huge difference. All those imperfections, or not say imperfections, but fine lines and dark spots are sitting on your skin for that long. Retinol is going to be the answer to that. Retinol is going to correct that. Retinol is going to make that woman in her 50s, her skin behaved like it was doing in its 20s. That’s why it’s so important.

Dr. Sethi:
The step-by-step of the skincare routine, when do you start with cleansing, naturally? Cleanse off all of that stuff from the daytime.

Shaheera:
Yes, exactly. Exactly. And if you are going to use an exfoliant, nighttime is a great time to use it. But you definitely have to cleanse at night, makeup, everything. Do a good thorough cleanse. And there are some people who like to double cleanse, which is great. If you use heavy makeup, I would actually recommend that.

Dr. Sethi:
Even if you don’t use makeup.

Shaheera:
Oh, yes.

Dr. Sethi:
Because you have all day.

Shaheera:
You have to wash your face regardless. Exactly. Even if you don’t use makeup. Then the second step, and I’m going to keep this simple because yes, you could do more steps. I personally do more. I don’t do 12. I do about five steps, and I’m done in about a minute. But if you’re more of a minimalist, that’s okay. After cleansing, next product you’re going to apply is your retinol. And retinol again, can only be applied at nighttime.

It breaks down during the day. It’ll make your skin more photosensitive, so you can use it at nighttime. You can use retinol throughout the year. Some people think you can only use it in the winter months. That’s not true, at night. And then the third step, if you need it, is if your retinol doesn’t have some sort of a moisturizing agent apply a moisturizer. The retinol in my line has lipids in it that mimic the moisture and the fat in your skin naturally.

Dr. Sethi:
So you don’t need…

Shaheera:
So you don’t need it.

Dr. Sethi:
Additional moisturizer.

Shaheera:
Exactly. Exactly. And that’s it. It’s just very simple.

Dr. Sethi:
If you wanted to use a toner, an exfoliant, the skin cycling one, a method that is still actually a really, really smart way to exfoliate your skin, whether it’s a glycolic… A toner exfoliant, a chemical exfoliant, or a mechanical, grainy exfoliant, don’t use that on the same day or night as your retinol.

Shaheera:
Yeah. There’s a little bit of a skin cycling process. Mechanical exfoliants are great, but I would not do it at the same time as I’m using my retinol. If you’re going to use your retinol at night, use your mechanical exfoliant like a scrub in the morning. And that is good enough.

Dr. Sethi:[inaudible 00:05:38] every other day?

Shaheera:
Or every other day.

Dr. Sethi:
Exfoliant one day, retinol next day, that kind of cyclical?

Shaheera:
Yes. If your skin’s on the drier side, yes. The key is that just don’t use your retinol during the day and your body has a circadian rhythm and so does your skin. Really, really remembering to do that retinol step is helping that skin renewal that is actively happening at night.

Dr. Sethi:
Can you introduce an antioxidant serum?

Shaheera:
You definitely can. You definitely can. If you were going to put in an antioxidant serum, I would put-

Dr. Sethi:
What step is it?

Shaheera:
That would be, that can actually be step number two. You would put it after the cleanser and then your retinol.

Dr. Sethi:
Your skin tone is a huge impact in how your skin has responded to the environmental elements. Is this the same routine you would use if you have a very light to medium skin tone?

Shaheera:
Yes. for skin tones, both skin tone categories are-

Dr. Sethi:
Which is really light to it’s dark.

Shaheera:
Really light to deepest, darkest skin tone should be using retinol. In lighter skin tones, they’re more prone to fine lines, wrinkles. Retinol, excellent solution. In darker skin tones, more prone to dark spots. Retinol again, excellent solution. Yes, in this case for a nighttime routine, it’s really not any different.

Dr. Sethi:
To summarize it and to simplify it’s like you want your skin to just keep renewing and self-exfoliating and renewing collagen. That’s your goal really, from day to night. You just want your skin to be clean and renew at the most optimal pace.

Shaheera:
Right. At nighttime, take advantage of your skin’s innate circadian rhythm. It’s in growth mode. Replenish it by cleansing it so that whatever you apply on it will actually go into the dermis. Put in a retinol step. That’s it. You want to go the extra effort, clean antioxidant serum, and then the retinol. And that’s ideal. And it doesn’t take very much time at all.

Dr. Sethi:
Yeah. And I’m sure if anybody has any questions, comments, any suggestions too of things that have worked for them.

Shaheera:
Absolutely. Yes.

Dr. Sethi:
They’re like, “Wow, because this worked for me,” share it.

Shaheera:
Yeah. And also please, if you put a comment in, share your skin tone type or if your skin’s dry, mature, oily, and so forth. Thank you again for joining us today. And if you enjoy learning about beauty trends, skin care and skin treatments, please like, subscribe and follow us. Ask us any questions in the show notes.