My Stripped-Down Skincare Routine

Six months ago, if you would have told me I’d happily be using only two products on my face in the morning, I would have cackled and said, “No way. Not possible.” When I stopped using Proactiv in October of 2018, I adopted an elaborate routine curated for me by the lovely ladies at my local Sephora. It went like this:

Fresh Soy Cleanser
Indie Lee Co-Q10 Toner
Olehenriksen Banana Bright Eye Cream
Olehenriksen Truth Serum (morning)/Caudalie Vinopure Salicylic Acid Pore Minimizing Serum (night)
Biossance Squalane +Probiotic Gel Moisturizer
Glossier Invisible Shield

All of it, every day, layered on, then layered under makeup. It worked for a while…until it didn’t. I started to see every pore on my chin clogging. Hard, colorless bumps started to form under my skin. What seemed like a promising new routine wasn’t so promising.

I hit my limit after sprouting three hormonal spots on my chin in May. I was feeling so down on myself. After pouring so much money, time, and attention into my skin, why was it doing this?

I turned to Corrective Skincare after seeing them pop up on other acne-sufferers’ Instagrams and hearing a rave review on the podcast, That’s So Retrograde. I met with esthetician Maddie and we talked about my current routine before she performed a facial. The extraction process was intense, and she said I had a lot of buildup on the surface of my chin, likely caused by my extensive routine. My favorite part about my first visit, though, was going home with a step-by-step, just-for-me, skincare routine.

I was shocked when I looked at the routine.

AM
Cleanse
Ice cube (run over face for 20-40 seconds)
Eye cream (if I want)
SPF

PM
Cleanse
Ice Cube
pH pads one night; nothing following second night; benzoyl peroxide gel third night; nothing fourth night; etc.

“But why?” I asked Maddie. She explained that the whole concept is to have as little on your skin as possible; the more that’s on it, the more of a chance you have for getting clogged pores. The ice acts as a way of reducing inflammation and helping prevent further inflammation. The pH pads offer exfoliation, and the benzoyl treats/prevents bacteria.

The first week was an adjustment, to say the least. First of all, I didn’t believe so little product could benefit my skin. Secondly, I was as dry as an August day in Palm Springs while my skin learned to balance itself out without my excessive moisturizing routine. My face felt tight and patchy for several days, but miraculously, by the end of the week, it started to feel…great.

I will be able to add in some products as I continue, but I’m five months into this routine and my chin is no longer home to a bevy of blackheads.

Since May, I’ve worked my way up to alternating pH pads one night, benzoyl the next, and so on. I very rarely use moisturizer. Honestly, I use it maybe once a week, max. Aside from discovering, for my skin, I don’t need much for it to thrive, I’ve also learned how sensitive my skin is. For example, my face broke out in a bumpy rash when I first tried Corrective Skincare’s sensitive face shampoo. The culprit? Higher percentage of citric acid in the ingredients.

Maybe the biggest thing I’ve learned, though, is that my skin may not be 100%, 100% of the time, and that any bump that pops up despite my efforts is going to go through its cycle and then pass. It also doesn’t mean anything about me that I can’t always keep my skin clear (I have a tendency to tie meaning to and blame myself for breakouts). Turning 30 changed my skin, then going off hormonal birth control after 13 years of use changed my skin in an even more massive way. It’s always going to be a process, and I’m OK with that now.

And now, because a skin story is nothing without a picture of actual skin, a recent, unfiltered selfie. Mind you, I’m wearing makeup, but not much on my skin.

Wishing you a GREAT skin day,
Kailey