The Importance of Night Skin Care Routine
Beauty sleep is a real thing – our body goes into full repair mode while we sleep, fixing damage caused during the day so that we wake up refreshed and ready for a brand-new day. We discussed the importance of protecting and preserving your skin during the day against external aggressors last week. Read How Morning Skin Care Can Protect Your Skin here. Today, we will be discussing how to give your skin a helping hand during vital night hours while it repairs itself.
The Nighttime Repair Process
Understanding the nighttime repair process is key to optimizing the recovery process and achieve beautiful, radiant skin in the morning. Our bodies are highly efficient – it works hard during the day to protect itself from external aggressors; in the night, it switches into recovery mode to heal and regenerate itself.
The process begins in the evening – 9pm to 11pm. During this time, the sleep hormone, Melatonin, rises to prep you for bed as it increases feelings of tiredness. It also increases the skin’s ability to repair itself at night and counteracts damage to the skin during the day from aggressors like UV rays and air pollution. At this time, the skin can best absorb topical treatments as DNA repair is boosted.
The next phase of repair begins from 11pm to 4am. The Human Growth Hormone (HGH) accelerates the skin’s repair and cell regeneration by doubling cell production and increasing cell turnover by three times. Deep sleep enhances the repair process as the secretion of the growth hormone helps repair and rebuild body tissues; the slower breakdown of proteins during this time works in the body’s favor since proteins are the building blocks needed for cell growth and damage repair.
Optimizing Your Skincare Routine
Your skin temperature is higher by half to one degree Celsius at night thanks to all the cell activity. This makes the skin more permeable – it is better able to receive the skincare products applied. The right night skincare products should therefore nourish the skin so that it has the right nutrition to optimize nighttime repair for radiant, glowing skin the next morning.
Step 1: Makeup Remover
After exposing your skin to external pollution all day, it is important to use a makeup remover to thoroughly remove impurities from your skin. This holds even if you don’t apply makeup – I’ve seen cotton pads turn grey from the dust on our skin after a day out!
The 61 Gentle Cleansing Milk is a mild cleansing milk that not only removes makeup but external impurities as well. Gentle and soothing, it is rich in minerals and trace elements to nourish the skin.
Step 2: Cleansing Gel
Now that you’ve thoroughly cleansed the outer layer of your skin, you need to deep-cleanse it. This step is necessary to remove all residuals of your makeup remover and ensure that your skin is fresh and ready to receive the other products you will be putting on later.
The 60 Refreshing Cleansing Gel contains natural sugars, Vitamin A, Vitamin E and Tamarind Seed Extract to deep cleanse the skin. The natural sugars exfoliate the skin for a smoother and more refined complexion while hydrating it – ensuring that your skin does not feel uncomfortably tight and dry after cleansing it.
Step 3: Toners
Depending on your skin need, a good toner should cuddle your skin and prime it for the other products you will be layering on for maximum results. If you have acne and oily skin, a good toner should eliminate bacteria and reduce shine; if you have dry skin, it should hydrate the skin.
The 64 Silky Soft Lotion is essential for supporting the skin’s ecosystem while intensively moisturising and soothing it with active ingredients like Algae Extract and Sea Lettuce.
Step 4: Essences
These essences are essentially vials of nutrition that are deeply concentrated with active ingredients to give your skin a boost. Different essences are recommended for different problems on the skin: a nourishing one for a dryer cheek, a mattifying one for an oilier T-Zone and one for the eyes and neck.
Step 5: Serum
Often neglected and less prioritized than moisturisers, serums are important for their higher concentration of active ingredients. Using a good serum can give your skin a firmer, smoother texture, as well as a refined complexion.
The 640 Lift Expert Serum contains Ice Wine Extract and Anti-ageing Peptides to stimulate fibroblast activity for increased collagen production and hydration while you sleep. Your skin will be tighter, firmer and smoother instantly.
Step 6: Specific Care
Specific care is important yet varies widely according to your skin needs: pimple cream for acne, anti-wrinkle cream for your eyes, dark spot correctors for pigmentation and more. These specific care products are often neglected – but can be the most important aspect of your skin care routine. This is especially with eye and neck creams as these regions are often the first to show signs of ageing.
The 650 Wrinkle Smoother is vital for those who are worried about puffy eyes, droopy lids and dark circles. Sweet almond proteins blurs wrinkles and smooths the skin; a peptide bioactive complex stimulates the skin to product more collagen and a shiitake extract restores the skin’s firmness.
The 90 Firming Neck Cream is specially tailored to the demanding skin of the neck area – it is a highly effective intensive care for the neck and decollete. Selected anti-ageing lipopeptides slow down the effects of skin ageing, smooth and increase elasticity and firmness of the neck.
Step 7: Moisturiser
Contrary to its name and common beliefs, moisturisers are not only for dry skin that need hydration. Moisturisers are available for different skin types with different needs; they treat the skin and help it achieve a nourished, radiant glow. Moisturisers only hydrate the skin: even if you have oily skin, your skin needs hydration – which is different from sebum regulation, which actually causes the oiliness. This is especially important as your skin is susceptible to “transepidermal water loss” at night.
The 660 Lift Expert Cream helps your skin to fight glycation and oxidation in the night to maintain the skin’s youthful appearance for longer. Using a new generation of anti-ageing peptides and precious ice wine extract to stimulate cell activity, your skin produces more collagen and elastin throughout the night for firmer, smoother skin.
