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Skincare Cycling Tips

Skincare cycling is the process by which you alternate your routine in a set or varied cadence. For example, you may have A and B routines that you perform every other day, or 7 routines that you assign to each day of the week.

Benefits of this practice (in my opinion and experience) are reduced skin irritation, increased variety of ingredients to target different concerns and a lower chance of your body acclimating to a product (therefore reducing it’s efficacy).

Some products contain ingredients that may counteract or react with other ingredients. Using my skin as an example, pairing Retinol with vitamin C caused irritation. If I used retinol everyday in my routine, I may never be able to use vitamin C. By rotating products, I can realize benefits of both ingredients on different days via separate routines.

Below are a few ideas of how to incorporate cycling into your skincare routine.

Options

1) Create “canned” routines

A pre-set regimen using any number of products that make a practical + safe routine
You’ll need a minimum of two routines, but can have as many as you’d like
With this option, you can pre-schedule routines for a week or month — or select routines on a daily basis
Our skincare bundle can help you create your unique routines

2) Rotate products in pre-set cadences

For example, “use exfoliator every 3 days” or “use exfoliator every Mon, Wed + Fri”
This option has more flexibility than a canned routine, and depending on the method you assign for recurrence, may result in a unique regimen each day
For example if you assign the following schedule, over 2 weeks you end up with 9 different routines

3) Random selection

With this method, you’ll choose your routine each day based on your assessment of skin needs (e.g., focus on hydration) or what you’d like to achieve that day (e.g., target dark spots)
This option has the most flexibility as you can pick and choose any combination of products any given day which yields a high number of “routines”
I suggest documenting routines that worked particularly well or were not enjoyable (caused irritation, too greasy, etc.) to incorporate or mitigate those specific combinations moving forward

Tips

The most imperative step for ANY of these methods is do appropriate research for the products in your collection. As stated earlier, not all ingredients play well together so it is critical to understand what you’re using together and potential reactions. Be thorough as some ingredients can be paired together after a certain amount of time (e.g., x product can be applied after y product has set in for z minutes).
Find a few go-to reliable resources for this information to utilize when you have new products or want to incorporate a new routine. Mine include Violet Grey and Cassandra Bankson.
Limit the # of products in your inventory. It can be enticing to stock up on trendy and new products, but products do have expirations and it can be hard to use everything before they are past their “use by” date.
Incorporate a facial steamer to channel the ambiance of a facial at home and to amplify product benefits.

Example + HOW TO

STEP 1: Research your products

I love The Ordinary products for their basic ingredients that target specific needs.
Because of the potency of the ingredients, pairing products & creating a routine can be challenging, but their website has a ton of useful information for reference.

STEP 2: Create canned routines

Mix & match your products in a way that makes sense for your skincare goals, skin type, etc.
Create enough combinations that enables you to use as many products as you’d like in a given duration (e.g., I want to use 90% of my products at least once every week)
Create new routines when you
- Complete a product (+ don’t repurchase it)
- Add new products to your inventory
- Have a reaction to a product or routine
- Want to switch things up (perhaps an altered routine will have a greater impact on your skin health)

STEP 3: Display your routine card(s) for the day

View a digital copy on your phone (use an Octobuddy for a hands-free reference)
Reference a digital copy on your iPad or laptop
Pin a printed version on a cork board
Clip a printed version on an easel or whiteboard
Tape a printed version to a mirror or prop on your counter

STEP 4: Store your extra cards in one of the following locations

Depending on your skincare cycling method, it may be helpful to keep a calendar of your planned routines. Additionally, if you have multiple routines, stack your cards in order of when they’ll occur for easy reference.

For example, if I had 7 routines (one per day) that I would repeat every week in the same order, I might hole punch the corner of each printed routine card and secure with a ribbon so I can simply flip to the next card after I complete my daily routine.