My Benjamin Button Skincare Routine
A decade-plus of trial and error distilled into the products I actually use every day.
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A good skincare routine is something I came to care about earlier than I would have liked. I had terrible skin in middle school, bad enough that I went on Accutane at thirteen, and I found out that clearing my skin completely changed how I felt about myself. This taught me pretty young that feeling good about your skin isn't necessarily superficial. There is a special kind of confidence that comes from not thinking about your face at all.
Since then, my skin and I have been through just about every phase together. I've cycled through the best and the worst of skincare trends (from the Clarisonic cleansing brush to the Aztec clay mask) and eventually watched my concerns shift from breakouts to sunspots, hyperpigmentation and the first signs of aging. Over the past three years, I've gone particularly deep on skincare by becoming a total skincare scholar (read: overindexing on skincare TikTok) and experimenting with pretty much every product on the market.
The biggest thing I've learned is that good skincare doesn't need to involve twelve steps. For me, the winning formula has been finding the right actives + lots of support for my skin barrier + consistency. A facial once a month without a consistent daily skincare regimen in between is like seeing a personal trainer once a month and never working out on your own. The boring, everyday repetition is what actually makes the difference over time.
One very important caveat before we get into it: I'm not a dermatologist. Skin is incredibly individual, and this is simply the routine I've landed on after years (decades) of figuring out what works for mine. If you're using prescription products or dealing with a specific skin condition, talk to an actual professional. Now, onto the routine.
Step 1: A Gentle Cleanser
If there is one lesson I've carried with me since my acne-prone teenage years, it's that clean skin does not need to mean stripped skin. When you're breaking out, it's tempting to reach for the most aggressive cleanser you can find and essentially try to scrub the acne off your face. I've learned to take the opposite approach.
I want a cleanser that removes makeup, sunscreen, oil and the general grime of the day without leaving my face tight or dry. This one from Avène is gentle but mildly foaming, so I still get that satisfying clean-skin feeling. I use it morning and night and consider it the neutral starting point that lets everything else in my routine do its job.
Step 2: A Hydrating Toner
I started using toners a few years ago after discovering Korean skincare and, at first discovery, the obsession ran so deep that I think I’ve tried approximately all of them. I've tried layering multiple toners, fancy toners, cheap toners, active toners, etc. and eventually concluded that, for this particular step, simpler is better.
The goal is ultimately a base layer of hydration that makes my skin feel plump and helps everything I apply afterward absorb smoothly and evenly. Right now I love Anua's Rice 70 Glow Milky Toner. It's affordable, hydrating, and contains ceramides, which I appreciate in a routine where I'm otherwise asking quite a lot of my skin barrier.
Step 3: Morning Actives
This is where the witchcraft begins. I alternate between two different morning routines rather than piling everything onto my face at once.
My philosophy with actives is more is NOT more. I avoid stacking the next two products with every other potent ingredient in my cabinet just because I technically can. My skin looks much better when I give active ingredients room to work without constantly pushing my barrier to its breaking point.
Step 3A: Morning Salicylic Acid
I rotate my two morning actives roughly every other day, and, on salicylic-acid mornings, I use this toner before my hydrating toner and let it dry completely before moving on.
Salicylic acid is an oil-soluble exfoliant, which makes it particularly useful for oily, acne-prone or congested skin. I find it helps keep my pores clear and my skin smooth without needing a separate physical exfoliant.
Step 3B: Morning Vitamin C
On the mornings I'm not using salicylic acid, I use vitamin C. Hyperpigmentation and sun damage have become much bigger concerns for me as I've gotten older, and vitamin C has become one of my go-to daytime ingredients for keeping my skin bright and even.
I've tried several formulas, including the cult-favorite SkinCeuticals version, but Medik8 Super C Ferulic is the one in my routine right now. I think of it as the brightening half of my morning active rotation: salicylic acid when I'm focusing on pores and congestion, vitamin C when I'm focusing on pigmentation and overall luminosity.
Step 4: Moisturizer
After whichever morning active I've chosen comes moisturizer, and this is one category where I actively don't want my product doing too much. Medik8 Total Moisture is simple, fragrance-free, and combines easily with the rest of my routine.
It's rich enough that my skin feels properly moisturized, but it settles down rather than leaving me greasy or overly dewy. Makeup layers well over it, and on no-makeup days it leaves just enough of a healthy glow. Sometimes a moisturizer's greatest quality is just being really good at moisturizing.
Step 5: SPF. Every. Single. Day.
If you're going to spend money on actives to address aging and hyperpigmentation then skip sunscreen, we're taking one step forward and two steps backward. Living in Texas has made me militant about SPF. The Texas sun is no joke, and building SPF into my morning routine means I don't have to think about whether I've "put on sunscreen" that day. It's simply skincare.
It took me longer to find a daily SPF I actually liked than any other product in this routine. Sunscreens can be greasy, heavy, pore-clogging, and chalky, and there’s a heated debate out there about chemical vs. physical/mineral. The truth is, the best SPF is ultimately the one you will willingly put on your face every single morning. For me, that's EltaMD UV Clear SPF 46. I use the tinted version, which doesn't provide real coverage so much as subtly even everything out, which is especially nice on no-makeup/light-makeup days.
Step 6: My Favorite Lip Balm
For daytime, I'm currently obsessed with Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm in Cherry. It actually feels hydrating but looks like a gloss, and the sheer red tint works perfectly with my coloring. It's enough to add a little something on a completely bare-faced day but works just as well with full makeup. I like to think it’s skincare, but cute.
At Night: The Routine Changes
My evening routine starts exactly the same way: gentle cleanser, followed by my hydrating toner. Then comes the product that has probably made the single biggest difference in my skin…
My Holy Grail: Tretinoin
I am a tretinoin stan. I've been using it for three years, and if I had to attribute the biggest change in my skin to a single product, this would be it. My skin is smoother and brighter, my pigmentation has improved, and I genuinely think my skin looks younger now than it did a few years ago.
That said, tretinoin is emphatically not a race. I started at 0.025% and took more than two years to move up to 0.05%. I’ve found that it’s actually more effective to use a lower strength consistently than constantly destroy my skin barrier trying to tolerate something stronger, so if prescription tretinoin isn't right for you, over-the-counter retinoids are also great (Naturium makes a very affordable Retinaldehyde-based cream that I’ve used in the past and love).
Consistency has been the magic for me more than ever with retinoids. Once my skin acclimated enough that tretinoin became a normal part of my routine rather than an assault to my face, that's when I really started seeing the magic.
When My Skin Needs a Tretinoin Break: Exfoliant
I don't alternate these evenly with tretinoin. Tretinoin is my default. But if my skin needs a night off, I'll occasionally swap in a Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peel instead.
I actually used these long before tretinoin entered my routine, and they're still one of my favorite products for instant smoothness and glow. Each treatment has two steps: an exfoliating pad followed by a neutralizing treatment. I never use them on the same night as tretinoin, and you shouldn’t either if you want to keep the top layer of your skin intact. These are my occasional reset, not another active to pile on top.
My Holy-Grail Night Cream
I included Cicalfate+ in my August Favorites, and I stand by every word. This is the final layer I put over my evening routine, especially when I'm using tretinoin, and my skin loves it.
It's unapologetically thick and leaves a slight white cast going on, but I'm going to sleep, so no one needs to see me. By morning, the white cream has disappeared and my skin feels bouncy and moisturized. The formula includes zinc, which is a great healing ingredient, and for me it’s the perfect final layer in a routine that otherwise includes some fairly hardworking actives.
The First Eye Cream I've Actually Used Consistently
Eye cream and I have historically had a difficult relationship. I either forget to use it, hate the texture, or wake up feeling like half of it has migrated directly into my eyeballs.
This is the first one I've ever actually stuck with. I've used it for two or three years now and have noticed a real difference in the fine lines around my eyes. It contains retinal (a retinoid) so I keep that in mind alongside the other actives in my routine, but it’s gentle and my skin personally tolerates it well. It's also relatively inexpensive and one tube lasts forever because you need such a tiny amount.
Before Bed: The Lip Mask
I've heard all the discourse about whether the LANEIGE sleeping mask is actually miraculous. I don't really care. I've used it for years, I slather on a thick layer before bed, and I wake up with hydrated lips. Tried, true, staying on the nightstand.
The Extras
These aren't technically necessary to the routine, but they're things I rotate through frequently enough that they'll probably always live permanently in my bathroom.
LED Red-Light Mask
Don’t hate me for this one. Yes, it's expensive. Yes, you look like a Star Wars villain wearing it. And yes, I love it.
I've had my LED mask for about three years now and have gone through phases of religious use and total neglect. Anecdotally, I notice that my skin looks brighter and more vibrant during the stretches when I'm consistent with red light. But the unexpected reason I've grown so attached to it has almost nothing to do with skincare.
I put it on for twenty to thirty minutes after my evening shower, before the rest of my routine, and I use the time to lounge in bed and read, scroll TikTok, or watch Friends. It creates this forced little buffer between the go-go-go part of my day and sleep. I can't accomplish much while strapped into a glowing red face mask, which is exactly the point. Whether it's the red light or the ritual, I emerge calmer than I went in.
Sheet Masks Are for Fun
I don't expect a sheet mask to reverse my wrinkles. That's what the boring daily routine is for. Sheet masks, to me, are self-care.
I love these inexpensive OOTD masks because I can keep a stack on hand without feeling precious about them. They're particularly good for travel. I'll throw a few into my suitcase and use one after a flight or while getting ready for a wedding, when my skin feels dehydrated and I want twenty minutes to myself in a hotel robe. Sometimes skincare is allowed to just feel soothing.
Gua Sha / Facial Massage for Lymphatic Drainage
I've used a gua sha on and off for five or six years now, and when I'm consistent about it, I notice a pronounced difference in how puffy my face looks. Facial massage can temporarily help move fluid and reduce puffiness, which is why you can look noticeably more sculpted immediately afterward.
The important part is technique and consistency, not owning a hand-carved slab of rare Italian marble. Find a good tutorial, use enough slip that you aren't tugging at your skin, and learn the proper motions. The actual tool can be incredibly basic. I linked mine because it's the one I own, not because I believe it possesses magical properties.
The Real Secret Is the Routine
If there's a theme here, it's that, over time, I've become much less interested in collecting skincare products and much more interested in building a routine my skin can actually tolerate every day. Cleanse gently. Hydrate. Use a few effective actives thoughtfully. Moisturize generously. Wear sunscreen. Repeat.
My skin isn't perfect, and my routine will continue to evolve for the rest of my life. But after skincare feeling like an experiment for most of my life, this is the combination I've finally stopped tinkering with. At the end of the day, I’ll leave you with the least exciting skincare secret of all: products matter, but finding a routine that works well enough that you can stop searching for the next magical skin-fix matters even more.
