Finding your ideal skin care routine can be a long journey and a full time pursuit. When you discover that perfect harmonious balance of cleansing, exfoliating, moisturizing, toning, brightening, combined with face masks, lip masks, and serums, it can feel as personal as your unique wardrobe or what's on your music playlists. Many of us find a routine and stick adamantly to it. Once you find one that works for you it can feel scary when the results that previously were so reliable start to diminish. Even standby everyday products with prolonged use can sometimes cause irritation and lose their effectiveness.
We like to change things up and stop our pristine process from becoming an old habit with a skin cycling routine!
What Is Skin Cycling?
If you aren't experiencing the same results you are used to with your carefully curated skin symphony, it might be to switch things up and try some skin cycling products.
A skin cycle routine involves periodically switching between different skincare products or routines to address specific concerns or to simply achieve slightly different results. By alternating between your normal way of doing things and a set of skin cycling products you can prevent your skin from becoming too accustomed to a particular formula, optimizing its benefits.
Skin cycling is based on the idea of providing the skin with a variety of ingredients and benefits, avoiding stagnation, and potentially improving overall skin health and appearance. Since we can't cycle skins this is the next best thing for preventing derma-burnout.
How to Skin Cycle
If you're finding yourself considering a skin cycle routine here are some great ways to get started.
Skin Cycle Steps
Step 1: Facial Cleanser
First start things off with a cleanser, our Down to Earth Swirled Mud Cleanser is a great way to kick things off and establish a fresh and clean base. If you're starting over, bring things back to your natural, clear, you.
Although we recommend not switching up your facial cleanser, if you think you’re seeing diminishing returns alternate with our Brightside Cream Cleanser.
Step 2: Alternate Between Face Scrub and Face Mask
After cleansing, the next step is to exfoliate - but you can’t exfoliate every day without wearing out your facial skin. As such, we recommend skin cycling between face scrub and face mask.
Depending on the sensitivity of your skin, you can use a face scrub up to every other day, while a face mask should be reserved for 1-2 times a week. Never use both products on the same day.
The Best Skin Cycling Face Scrub: Zen Out of Ten Bamboo Detox Face Scrub
We love our bamboo-based Zen Out Of Ten Face Scrub. Its main active ingredients are natural exfoliants from seeds and plant fibers that clear off dead skin while delivering minerals, accelerating cell turnover, leaving you with glowing skin. Because it also can double as a quick face mask, apply and sink into tranquility while this powerful exfoliator delivers antioxidants and bio-flavonoids to the new healthy skin layer leaving your skin softer and more visible glow after one use.
The Best Skin Cycling Face Mask: No Plans Desert Rose Face Mask
Our No Plans Desert Rose Mask is a must. Enjoy a desert getaway in your own home. This natural kaolin clay face mask does double duty maintaining hydration while detoxing the skin. Its kaolin base pulls impurities and pollutants from the skin while delivering soothing minerals and all without the harsh dryness that comes with inferior clay masks. All the benefits of a natural clay spa retreat with none of the travel time. Our pink clay leaves your skin feeling smooth and soft and subtly smelling like roses.
Step 3: Alternate Serums
Skincare serums feature concentrated doses of active ingredients like vitamin C and peptides. This makes serums the most important products to rotate in your routine to prevent overexposure to specific ingredients.
Serum #1: Soulmate Brightening Treatment
Check out our Soulmate Brightening Treatment. This advanced serum is a highly effective exfoliator plus skin brightening moisturizer, thanks to an abundance of hyaluronic acid and glycolic acid. This time saver absorbs quickly, we don't want to upend your life, just your routine a little. It also has a lightweight matte finish texture and is great for normal or oily skin types.
Use our Soulmate Brightening Treatment once a day every day for 5-7 days before switching your serum.
Serum #2: Pep Rally Face Serum
Once your skin’s rendezvous with our Soulmate Brightening Treatment ends, it’s time to get back that youthful zest check out our anti-aging Pep Rally Face Serum.
This lightweight gel face serum is formulated to act quick and leave you feeling fresh, plump and protected from free radicals. The key active ingredients are MSM, which decreases the breakdown of collagen and is what holds amino acids together, and Vitamin C, which blocks pollutants that can cause fine lines and wrinkles. These two all-star ingredients work together in perfect formation. Go Team!
Step 4: Alternate Between Face Moisturizer and Anti-Aging Cream
Some people see success in using a face moisturizer with an anti-aging cream. But for many people alternating between the two products delivers the best results.
Always use your face moisturizer every morning, but come nighttime switch it up by cycling between a face moisturizer and anti-aging cream.
The Best Face Moisturizer for Skin Cycling: Daydreamer Natural Face Moisturizer
After that prep and poise, it's time to apply a finish to your new skin cycling steps. It's always a good idea to moisturize and nothing does it better than our Daydreamer Natural Face Moisturizer. The name may be wistful but this natural powerhouse blends a dreamy combo of organic oils and botanicals with plenty of hyaluronic acid, known for its ability to bind 1,000 times its weight in moisture. Yow. If you are trying skin cycling products because of dry or irritated skin this deep hydrating formula will have you feeling refreshed and balanced in no time.
The Best Anti-Aging Cream for Skin Cycling: Up the Anti Anti-Aging Cream
If you're disrupting your nightly routine for a final gambit in this cycle we're going to show all our cards as we turn back the clock and apply our Up The Anti Anti-Aging Night Cream. This anti-wrinkle cream restores and hydrates your newly cycled skin overnight. Using niacinamide, a form of Vitamin B-3 which increases the production of ceramides, elastin, and keratin, our night cream firms and smooths your skin. All while Up The Anti's peptides increase collagen production. Our friend from before, hyaluronic acid, locks in moisture so you wake up with plumper more vibrant skin. If that weren't upping the ante enough, the natural green tea scent is a perfect way to head off to slumberland. Talk about sweetening the pot!
Re-Cycle
As with any products it's good to listen to your body and how you are reacting, a skin cycling routine might be just what you need to keep your normal tried and true methods fresh. There's no hard set timeframe or pattern when using skin cycling products but proactive variations to your normal routine with skin cycling techniques can leave you feeling fresher than ever, without throwing out everything you already know and love. Make and mend the cycle, it's a compliment to what you are already doing, and if you find one (or a few) of these products improve how your skin looks or feels you can always slot it into the starting lineup of your all-star all natural skin care routine.