SWITCH YOUR SKIN INTO GEAR WITH SKIN CYCLING

How can switching up your skin care routine help the health and appearance of your skin? The TikTok trend of skin cycling took off after New York-based dermatologist and IG user Dr. Whitney Bowe wrote a blog post about the potential benefits of “cycling through your nightly skin-care products to drive the best results”. By creating space in your routine to allow the skin barrier to recover, she found, skin can both feel and look healthier.

This is something dermatologists have long advocated through the rotation of skin care products, but Dr. Bowe gave it a name — and a really easy-to-follow process. Many of her clients, she found, “were taking a kitchen sink approach to their skin care, mixing and matching ingredients that simply don’t play well together”. She also noticed a focus on “ingredient-specific products […] with a ‘more is better’ obsession”.  

When it comes to skin care, sometimes keeping it simple is best, so Dr. Bowe’s skin cycling is built around a four-night cycle, which you need to repeat. The whole process, therefore, take eight days.

Night 1 — Exfoliation  

Go for chemical exfoliants like serums as opposed to rough physical scrubs, which can feel harsher on the skin.  

Night 2 — Retinoids 

This might be a tricky step for some. Many retinoids, which are chemical derivatives of Vitamin A, are over the counter formulations (La Roche-Posay Effaclar Adapalene Gel is a good one.) There are also stronger ones that dermatologists may prescribe to deal with skin conditions like acne. Not everyone’s skin tolerates retinoids well, however, and if used in conjunction with other ingredients it’s not ideally suited for, redness and irritation can result.  

Our suggestion if you can’t handle the retinoids? SkinCeuticals’ Phyto A+ Brightening Treatment allows you to achieve the same clear, even-looking skin that acids and retinoids typically achieve. And don’t get us wrong — retinoids are super-effective, but for those with more sensitive skin, such vigorous treatments can actually throw off the skin’s delicate pH balance, causing inflammation, breakouts or even discolouration, particularly in skin of colour. Pairing Phyto A+ with a good daily use moisturiser can achieve similarly visible results, but without the side effects.

Nights 3 and 4 — Recovery 

This is the part where you allow your skin to rest so that its barrier has the time and space to repair itself. This requires using products that moisturise and hydrate.

In our tropical climate, especially given the challenges with Sahara dust and recent extremes of temperature — either very hot and dry or very rainy and humid — hydrating skin is really important. Skinceuticals offers a wide range of effective moisturising products. Its Hydrating B5 Gel also works wonders when it comes to hydrating skin. 

Results 

After you’ve stuck to Dr. Bowe’s routine for two cycles, you skin should retain more of a natural glow, and feel a lot more healthy, radiant and properly hydrated. If you continue to intermittently work skin cycling into your routine, she’s found that it can even have an impact on reducing the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and hyperpigmentation, and lessening the occurrence of breakouts. Dr. Bowe says it works really well for sensitive skin too, though we’d be conservative about the retinoid night depending on what you skin can tolerate.  

Takeaways 

Here are a few key things to remember: 

• Don’t overuse skin care products; less is often more

• Your skin will respond in its own unique way to skin cycling — or any skin care routine, for that matter — so don’t compare, and don’t be afraid to adjust the process to suit your needs

• Sometimes, you’ve got to rock the boat to bring about positive change

• Have fun with it — we’re sure the results will be worth it