Skincare Routine Order: Morning & Night

Regardless of skin type, it’s essential to look after your skin every day. Your skin requires different products at different points throughout the day, which is why a tailored morning and night skincare routine is important. Finding the ideal daily skincare routine at home is crucial for achieving and maintaining healthy-looking and feeling skin. All CeraVe products contain three essential ceramides and hyaluronic acid, which are important ingredients for supporting and protecting the skin’s moisture barrier.

A daily facial routine that meets your skin’s needs both morning and evening will help you see the best results.

Morning Skincare Routine

Your morning skincare routine should focus on protection. Your skin can be exposed to numerous elements throughout the day including sun exposure, pollution, environmental changes, and sweat. Starting your morning facial care routine with products that protect and strengthen your skin will help you achieve soft, well-hydrated skin.

Daily morning skincare steps:

1. Begin your morning skincare routine by washing your face and body with a gentle cleanser that cleans and refreshes the skin. The CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser is ideal for morning skincare routines as it cleanses without stripping the skin.

2. Once the skin is cleansed, apply a serum containing hyaluronic acid, an ingredient that retains moisture to help rehydrate skin. The CeraVe Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum can be used daily for intense hydration.

3. The next step in your morning skincare routine is a moisturiser. The CeraVe Moisturising Lotion is hypoallergenic and suitable for dry to very dry skin types. It can be used on both the face and body. Containing broad-spectrum SPF15, the CeraVe AM Facial Moisturising Lotion with SPF15 is a lightweight facial moisturiser that helps provide broad spectrum protection against harmful UVA and UVB rays. For higher levels of protection, follow with a high SPF, broad-spectrum sunscreen of SPF 30 or more.

Night-time Skincare Routine

A night-time skincare routine should consist of products that nourish and rejuvenate. Choose hydrating products that offer best results when left on the skin for longer periods, since at night your skin has time to thoroughly absorb ingredients.

Daily night skincare steps:

1. Remove makeup and any harmful irritants that may have come in contact with your skin throughout the day. Cleansing your face and body with products that contain hyaluronic acid will leave your skin feeling fresh while still moisturised. The CeraVe Foaming Facial Cleanser washes away any dirt and oil built up through the day without disrupting the skin’s protective moisture barrier.

2. The next product in your evening skincare routine should be a hydrating serum such as CeraVe Hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Serum. You can use this as part of either your morning or night-time skin care routine.

3. Nourish skin with products that hydrate and maintain moisture. MVE (Multivesicular Emulsion) Technology is a CeraVe delivery system which releases key ingredients over time to provide 24-hour hydration. CeraVe moisturisers that utilise MVE Technology include the CeraVe PM Facial Moisturising Lotion, with a rich, non-greasy formula that won’t clog pores, and the CeraVe Moisturising Cream, suitable for dry to very dry skin on the body.

4. Apply an eye cream to reduce the appearance of dark circles. Eye cream can also help brighten and minimise signs of ageing around the delicate eye contour area. The CeraVe Eye Repair Cream has been developed with dermatologists and is ophthalmologist-tested.

Enhancements to your Skincare Routine

Beyond the basic steps of cleansing moisturising (and in the morning, a broad-spectrum sunscreen), you may want to incorporate active ingredients that take account of your skin type or address specific skin concerns. Here are a few of the best-known ones that may be worth considering including in your morning and/or night-time routines:

Ingredients to include in your Morning Skincare Routine

1. Vitamin C: A powerful antioxidant, vitamin C helps protect skin from oxidative stress caused by external aggressors such as environmental pollutants and UV radiation. It also helps brighten skin, reduce hyperpigmentation, and stimulate collagen production.

2. Hyaluronic Acid: Known for its hydrating and comforting properties, hyaluronic acid is found naturally throughout the body and especially in the skin. Able to hold up to 1000 times its weight in water, it's an excellent option for retaining moisture within the skin, keeping it hydrated and plump-looking to reduce the visible appearance of fine lines and wrinkles throughout the day.

3. Niacinamide (Vitamin B3): This versatile ingredient has all kinds of benefits, especially for mild acne-prone skin and in anti-ageing skincare routines:

   • Its potent antioxidant properties reduce the visible effects of environmental aggressors for more radiant skin.
   • It helps build essential skin lipids such as ceramides to strengthen the skin's moisture barrier and reduce dehydration.
   • It promotes collagen production to visibly reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and improve skin elasticity.
   • It helps regulate excess oil production.
   • It helps reduce dark spots and other pigmentation concerns.
   • It helps visibly reduce areas of redness.

4. Peptides: Peptides are compounds consisting of two or more linked amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. In topical skincare formulations, peptides provide anti-ageing benefits, strengthening the skin moisture barrier and improving skin elasticity, helping the skin look firm and youthful. They're often used when the complete protein would be too large to penetrate the skin.

5. Ceramides: Ceramides are lipids; a class of fatty, waxy, or oily compounds that are insoluble in water. They're found naturally and abundantly in the skin. In the outermost section of the epidermis, ceramides promote optimal skin barrier function, helping to lock in moisture and protect against external environmental aggressors. If you think of the outer layers of skin as a brick wall, where the skin cells are the bricks, then ceramides act like the 'mortar' in between, filling and sealing the gaps between cells to create a protective barrier.

Active Ingredients to Boost Your Evening Skincare Routine

1. Retinol: A vitamin A derivative and antioxidant renowned for its anti-ageing properties, retinol stimulates production of the skin proteins elastin and collagen. This helps reduce the visible appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Retinol is effective at promoting skin cell turnover to help reduce clogged pores, (making it beneficial for mild acne-prone skin) and also reduces the appearance of dark spots and hyperpigmentation. Best used as part of your evening skin care routine because retinol causes increased sun sensitivity.

2. Hyaluronic Acid: While also great for daytime use, hyaluronic acid is excellent at night for its intense hydration properties, helping to keep skin plump and hydrated.

3. Peptides: As above, these small chains of amino acids aid in repairing skin damage, building collagen, and improving skin texture and firmness.

4. Ceramides: Essential for reinforcing the skin moisture barrier while you sleep, ceramides help retain moisture.

5. Niacinamide (Vitamin B3): Niacinamide can help improve skin texture, skin tone, and moisture barrier function. See above for details.

6. Alpha Hydroxy Acids (AHAs) and Beta Hydroxy Acids (BHAs): Ingredients such as glycolic acid, lactic acid (both AHAs), and salicylic acid (a BHA) are effective at exfoliating dead skin cells to unclog pores and promote skin cell renewal. Best used as part of evening skin care routines because they can increase sun sensitivity.

7. Glycerin and Squalane: Squalane is a hydrogenated form of squalene. It's a highly effective emollient and natural antioxidant, helping restore the lipid moisture barrier to prevent moisture loss and improve skin elasticity and texture.

   Glycerin (a.k.a. glycerol) is a humectant, used to hydrate and maintain moisture balance in dry or dehydrated skin. In doing so, it helps to plump the skin, reducing the visible appearance of fine lines and helping maintain the moisture barrier that protects skin from external aggressors. Its gentle nature also makes it suitable for sensitive skin, providing a soothing effect while enhancing skin hydration.