Intro to Skin Cycling

If you have been on social media at all lately, and follow anyone in the beauty world, then you have probably noticed a new hot topic—skin cycling. Simply put, skin cycling is a skin care schedule to maximize the results you get from your products while also maximizing your skin’s time to rest and recover. Depending on your skin’s resilience, you may have a standard cycle, or with more sensitive skin you may have a longer cycle to allow for more rest time. The cycle starts with the basics of cleansing, and moisturizing. Using day moisturizer with SPF in the morning, and a night moisturizer with vitamins specifically suited to help your skin repair and restore while you sleep. You might also include a toner.

In a 4 day cycle, your morning routine stays the same every day. Your evening routine changes on days 1 and 2 with added steps. Nights 3 and 4 your skin recovers, then you begin again. The changes are simple; you add in exfoliation on the first night to help your skin rid itself of dead cells that build up on the surface. The second night you use a retinol treatment. On your recovery nights, you want to focus on the basics of cleansing and simple and effect hydration. Especially products that restore the skin barrier.

The best type of exfoliation to use in a skin cycling routine, is an acid-based exfoliation. If you aren’t familiar with the different types of exfoliation, a quick explanation is that there are manual exfoliation products which are gritty scrubs (some of them actually can damage your skin—more on that in a later post about exfoliation). Manual exfoliators are not as effective as their acid-based counterparts, and can cause more irritation as well. Acid-based exfoliators will be the most effective for removing dead skin cells, and are less irritating to the skin.

If you’re not sure what retinol does for your skin, the easiest way to describe it is a “cure-all” to solve all your skin problems. Retinol helps improve the texture of your skin, it reduces the appearance of pores, it reduces acne breakouts, it evens skin tone, it reduces the appearance of hyperpigmentation. You have a problem with your skin—retinol is there to help you out.

The 4 day cycle outlined above is suitable for most skin types. If your skin tends to be more sensitive, I would recommend either adding another recovery day for a 5 day cycle. Or removing the retinol from the routine and choosing instead a targeted serum that addresses your biggest concern. Using a more targeted serum may be less irritating to sensitive skin.

What I love about skin cycling is that this is a very easy routine to follow that will provide amazing results for you. If you commit to following this schedule, using high-quality products, your skin will look and feel amazing. If you want to add in extra serums, you absolutely can add more to this routine, especially hydrating and restoring serums. But if you like it simple, you can stick to the basic outline and still have your skin happy and healthy.

Choosing high quality ingredients is an important step in your skin cycling journey. I personally only use Mary Kay skin care products. They are made to exceptionally high standards and are proven to be effective. Check out their product promise here for more info.

I am so excited to start up my skin cycling routine. Be sure to keep an eye out for my before and after pics on my Instagram.