Get a handle on hydration and protection
To the chagrin of marketers and social media influencers, when it comes to skin care, we only need three things, according to dermatologists: a cleanser, a moisturizer, and SPF. Yes, just a single cleanser—not an oil-based cleanser in tandem with a water-based one. (Lower your shoulders, dear reader. I’ll explain in a bit.)
For SPF, the apple of every dermatologist’s eye, the rule of thumb is to use two fingers’ length applied directly to the face, according to David Kim, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City, and reapplying every two hours if you’re outdoors.
Finding the best moisturizer is a choose-your-own-adventure scenario that’s based on your skin’s particular needs. For oily skin, Dr. Kim recommends a simple, hydrating serum in the morning and a light moisturizer at night, suggesting glycerin and colloidal oats as standout, nonirritating ingredients for most skin types. For drier skin, a richer moisturizer with ceramides is his go-to advice.
Proper cleansing is mandatory
Back to cleansers: If you’re not wearing a surplus of water-insoluble products, like waterproof makeup or heavy occlusives, a standard (that is to say: unmedicated and without actives), non-stripping cleanser will suffice. It’s really a matter of how you use your cleanser.
“Massage in circular motions, usually three to five times per area,” says Morayo Adisa, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Chicago. “That way, you are working the cleanser in, and it’s having enough time to dissolve the dirt, makeup, and grime.” Give your cleanser the time it needs to work, and don’t forget every area of your face—forehead, eyelids (including your eyelashes), eyebrows, cheeks, and the creases around your nose.
When and how often should I wash, you ask? According to Amy Wechsler, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City, those early-morning face washes are optional. “If you’ve gone to bed with clean skin, taken the dirt of the day off—makeup, sweat, the invisible pollution—and everything, including your pillowcase, is clean, then you wake up with clean skin,” she says.
Look for powerhouse formulations
We’re working smarter, not harder here. That means using ingredients efficiently and intentionally instead of throwing an entire medicine cabinet of lotions and potions at your skin.
Dendy Engelman, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City, recommends looking for multitasking products that include a blend of standout ingredients, like ceramides, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, and antioxidants. “That’s a good way to have a lot of your active [ingredients] in one step,” she says. “It doesn’t have to be that you apply your vitamin C, then your hyaluronic acid, then your ceramide, and then your emollient.”
Make your sunscreen work
This might be more polarizing than the double-cleanse erasure, but, depending on your skin-care concerns and needs, a single SPF product can tackle seemingly disparate steps. For example, those with oily-to-combo skin may find in warmer months that their sunscreen is hydrating enough, pushing a standalone moisturizer to the back of the proverbial shelf.
“I think that mineral sunscreens are more moisturizing than the chemical ones, at least the US versions,” says Dr. Wechsler. “If someone wants to use their sunscreen as a moisturizer, it should be mostly a zinc oxide- or zinc oxide plus titanium dioxide-based sunscreen, because those molecules [can be] inherently moisturizing.” Of course, Dr. Wechsler says this could be a bit of trial and error based on specific formulations, but notes she has seen her patients use this hack.
Danny Guo, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, calls this seeking “the best bang-for-your-buck products that combine multiple actives into the same product.” He highlights the Celimax Pore+ Dark Spot Brightening Care Sunscreen as a standout example, saying, “It has ingredients for pigmentation, like tranexamic acid and niacinamide, so you can skip your pigmentation product in the morning if you just use this sunscreen.”
