Don't Skip Moisturizer After Cleansing While you do want to give your face a good cleaning, you don't want to overly strip the skin of essential oils or cause dryness, notes Zeichner. After washing, he recommends locking in hydration with a light moisturizer.
Dry your face.
Although this step is often neglected, it's important to dry your face, leaving it free of any excess water or product. Besides, the feeling of a clean, soft towel on your face feels great right before you hop into bed.
A popular Korean skincare tip advises applying moisturizer within 3 seconds of washing your face. Damp skin is more likely to absorb topical ingredients than dry skin. High levels of hydration can still occur up to one minute after washing your face.
Night is an essential time to renew your mind—and your skin. Adding a lotion before bed creates softer, more hydrated, and better-looking skin the next day. It also helps seal in moisture and repairs the skin barrier that's compromised by dry air and harsh cleansers.
Most people make a habit of letting their skin breathe by washing off their makeup and/or the residue from the day before bed, which may be enough “breathing” to give most complexions the break they need. If you're not washing your face before you go to sleep, it's time to start!
Not moisturizing will slowly dry your skin out and make it look flaky. This will only get worse in the winter. In fact, if you run a nail across dry skin, you'll end up scratching it easily since you're rapidly losing water. What's worse is that these scratches could be permanent.
When to Pat: Almost your entire skincare regimen — toners, essences, serums, moisturizers, and eye creams included — should be patted into the skin, since liquids, creams, lotions, and gel-based offerings absorb best with this technique.
It's best to apply moisturizer to damp skin, as this helps to lock in moisture. You can even give your skin a quick spritz of water before applying the moisturizer, advises board-certified dermatologist Debra Jaliman, MD. Don't press hard or rub. Apply in an upward motion to help create a subtle lifting effect.
"Letting [your skin] air-dry or physically drying will do just that," he says. "It desiccates the top layer of the skin, making it rigid, and can prevent proper skin [cell] turnover, which results in peeling," he explains.
Cleansing the face properly before bed gets the “canvas” ready for the nighttime products. Follow a gentle face wash with a good moisturizer. Nighttime is a great time to use active ingredients (such as antioxidants or retinols) on the skin because the products are allowed to be efficiently absorbed.
The verdict? "Air drying your skin is a nice option to be gentle to your skin if your skin is sensitive, but it's certainly not necessary or all that beneficial," says Dr. Nazarian. So as long as your skin's somewhat moist post-cleansing, and you're not scrubbing your face with a dirty, stinky towel, you'll be alright.
“You should wash your face in the morning for various reasons,” she says. “Bacteria can accumulate throughout the night and, also, you should prime your skin by cleansing it for your morning skincare routine, not to mention to remove your nighttime creams and serums used the night before.”
Aesthetic dermatologists have observed that habitual, daily moisturising over a prolonged period can actually age the skin. This induced ageing occurs because the same fibroblast cells which produce GAGs (the skin's moisturiser) also produce collagen and elastin, which help maintain the skin's elasticity.
Skipping the moisturiser can also help to support the skin through the natural ageing process as they inhibit the production of Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), one of our skin's natural moisturisers.
Some signs you may be over-moisturizing are clogged pores, blackheads, bumpy skin and excess oil.
While almost everyone knows that around seven to eight hours of sleep is essential for healthy skin, the time of sleep also matters. The best time to sleep for healthy skin is between 9 PM to 11 PM. If you wake up early, hit the bed by around 9-9.30 PM.
It's not always possible or fun, but hitting the sheets before midnight can do wonders for your skin. According to a 2014 study, our circadian rhythms affect skin repair and function. Translation: your skin actually knows what time it is.
Skin makes new collagen when you sleep, which prevents sagging. “That's part of the repair process,” says Patricia Wexler, MD, a dermatologist in New York. More collagen means skin is plumper and less likely to wrinkle. Only getting 5 hours a night can lead to twice as many fine lines as sleeping 7 would.
Exfoliate two or three times a week
While over-exfoliating (every day) can lead to skin irritation, dryness and accelerated signs of aging, exfoliating two to three times per week (or just once if your skin is sensitive) can help keep pores from becoming clogged and leave the skin feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.
The answer is yes — and no. While some people may stand to benefit from both daytime and nighttime moisturizers, it may not be a necessary step for everyone. Whether or not you need a night cream really depends on what you're looking for in a moisturizer and your overall skincare needs.