Building a skincare routine that holds up

Most routines fail for the same two reasons: too many products, and none of them used long enough to work. Here is the shortest routine that actually holds up.

The five that matter, in order

1. A cleanser you will actually use at night. If it strips your skin you will skip it. If it does not remove sunscreen you are wasting the rest.
2. A hydrating serum. Hyaluronic acid or glycerin, on damp skin. This is comfort and plumpness, not anti-aging.
3. A moisturiser. Its job is to hold everything else in.
4. Sunscreen, every morning. Not "on sunny days". Every morning.
5. A retinoid, at night, eventually. Start twice a week. Build slowly.

The two that change how skin ages

Of those five, only two meaningfully affect the long-term trajectory of your skin: the sunscreen and the retinoid. Everything else improves how your skin looks and feels this month. These two change where it is in five years.

Sunscreen prevents the collagen breakdown that UV drives. A retinoid increases cell turnover and supports collagen production. That is the whole anti-aging conversation, and both are inexpensive.

What to stop doing

• Switching products every three weeks. A retinoid needs twelve weeks before you can judge it.
• Layering acids. Glycolic in the morning, salicylic at lunch and a retinoid at night is not a routine, it is a barrier injury.
• Buying for your skin type instead of your skin's condition. "Oily skin" can still be dehydrated — and usually is.

If your skin stings, tightens or flakes, you are not being thorough. You are overdoing it.

Where treatments fit

Professional treatments accelerate what a good routine is already doing. They do not replace it. A facial every month with no sunscreen is a poor trade; sunscreen every day with a facial every quarter is a good one.

Bring your current products to your next consultation — it is the fastest way to find out which of them are earning their place.