Our Founder’s Guide to AM and PM Skin Care
As a business owner and a mom of three young children, balance is often out of the question.
But one thing’s for sure: I’ve got my morning and evening skin care routines down! Prioritizing these daily rituals helps me handle life’s competing demands with more ease and confidence.
They’re effective yet easy to use, and I hope they encourage you to carve out a few moments for yourself, too.
Morning routine
On mornings that I exercise, I wash my face with Gentle Rinse and apply Youth Serum before my favorite Yoga Sculpt class at CorePower Yoga. After class, I start my usual morning skin care routine.
Step 1: Cleanser
I have combination skin, so I alternate between our cleansers depending on my skin’s mood. Power Wash is great for all skin types, especially oily and acne-prone, and Gentle Rinse is best for dry, sensitive to normal skin.
Step 2: Crystal Clear
After cleansing and patting my face dry, I swipe a Crystal Clear clarifying pad over my face, making sure to give an extra swipe in the T-zone, where my skin tends to be more oily. Before moving onto serums, I give my skin a minute to fully absorb all the goodness of Crystal Clear — the combination of salicylic acid, glycolic acid and lactic acid gently exfoliates, absorbs excess oil and unclogs pores.
Step 3: Youth Serum
Next, I dispense one dropper of Youth Serum into my hands. Using upward strokes, I massage it onto my face, neck and décolletage to hydrate and plump. You’ll notice that I always use Youth Serum in the AM and PM immediately after cleansing and toning — this is why we call it one of our hero products!
Step 4: Glow Factor
As soon as my Youth Serum has absorbed, I put one dropper of Glow Factor vitamin C serum into my hand and smooth it onto my face with upward strokes. This brightens skin tone, promotes collagen production and protects my skin against free radical damage, too.
Step 5: Eye Sculpt
Next, I gently pat our Eye Sculpt around the eye area. It helps brighten dark circles, de-puffs under the eyes and hydrates, too. On the mornings my eyes need a little extra love, I’ll wear our reusable Eye Patches over Eye Sculpt to encourage deeper product absorption.
Step 6: High Beam
During times when I need more brightening (especially during summer months when UV radiation and heat flare my melasma), I apply High Beam, our lightweight, brightening moisturizer.
Step 7: Sunscreen
The last (and most important) step in any morning skin care routine is always SPF. In warmer, more humid summer months, I prefer Sheer Defense SPF for its lightweight consistency and subtle tint. In colder, drier winter months, I swap for 100% Mineral Tinted SPF — it’s a slightly heavier formula and great for extra moisture. Both offer hydration with hyaluronic acid, have a tint to cover imperfections and protect from sun exposure (which can lead to lines, wrinkles, pigment and general skin aging).
Evening routine
If I exercise in the evening, I gently cleanse before class with Gentle Rinse and hydrate with Youth Serum. After my workout, I’ll continue with my nighttime routine.
Step 1: Cleanser
When prepping for bed, I cleanse with Power Wash or Gentle Rinse to remove any makeup, skin care and debris from the day before my face hits the pillow.
Step 2: Youth Serum
Step 3: Eye Sculpt
Step 4: Night Watch or azelaic acid
Following Eye Sculpt, I apply either my retinoid or azelaic acid product (both of these are chemical exfoliants). For my retinoid, I use Night Watch retinol drops — I only use 4-6 drops at a time.
For azelaic acid, I apply our in-house azelaic acid prescription (check out Epionce Lytic Tx if you’re not local to our clinics and cannot receive our prescription products). I only apply my retinoid two to three times a week and alternate it with azelaic acid. There’s no need to over-exfoliate with these products!
Step 5: Face Whip
Following retinoids with a moisturizer helps calm potential redness, sensitivity or peeling. I love our Face Whip for a ceramide-rich, fluffy moisturizer. Be sure to bring it down to your neck!
2-3x weekly: Clay Time
A few times per week, I use our Clay Time polishing charcoal mask to exfoliate. I leave it in the shower or by the bath, put it on a few minutes before I step in and gently polish it off.
We get a lot of questions about which order to apply products. A good rule of thumb is to apply from thinnest to thickest consistency. Be sure to let each product fully absorb into your skin before moving onto the next, too!
