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While you may want nothing more than to hit the sack after the end of a long day, there’s one essential thing that you need to do each night before you cozy up in bed; carry out your nighttime skincare routine.
Why is this so important? Read on as VouPre explains!
Meeting Your Skin’s Nighttime Needs
The skin is an impressive organ. It has its own circadian rhythm, which means that it’s able to tell the difference between day and night. As a result, it carries out different functions at different times of the day. If you want to give your skin cells all that they need to thrive, then this means understanding how their nighttime needs contrast with their daytime requirements.
Cell Regeneration
One of the most vital of your skin’s nighttime functions is cell regeneration. This is when your skin cells get to work repairing DNA damage, with research confirming that this activity peaks at night. This is also when your skin produces new skin cells, which, in 30 or so days’ time, will replace the skin cells that are currently on the surface of your skin.
Sebum Production
The skin is constantly producing sebum. This is the oil that enables your skin to keep itself moisturized. However, the rate at which it produces sebum varies depending on the time of day. At night, sebum production declines significantly. This lowers skin moisture levels, which can leave it feeling dry.
Temperature and Acidity
Although your body temperature slightly drops in the evenings to help you fall asleep, it starts to rise again after you’ve drifted off. This leads to the skin heating up.
At the same time, its pH level changes too. It becomes more acidic. This, coupled with its warmer temperature, can contribute to the skin drying out overnight.
Skin Barrier Function
Studies have found that skin barrier function is something else that fluctuates depending on the time of day. It’s not quite so active at night, which has a few repercussions.
Firstly, this increases transepidermal water loss, which is when your skin’s moisture evaporates into the air. The more transepidermal water loss you experience, the drier your skin will be.
Secondly, it leaves the skin more susceptible to external irritants. During the day, your skin barrier works hard to keep the skin protected from all of the impurities that the environment throws at it. However, in the evenings, it takes a break, which is why the skin can often feel more sensitive and itchy at night.
How is a Nighttime Skincare Routine Different From a Daytime Skincare Routine?
Now that you know more about the changes taking place in your skin each night, it’s much easier to understand why a dedicated nighttime skincare routine is so important. Even if you already have a solid routine that you follow during the day, it would be a good idea to adjust it slightly to cater to your skin’s nighttime needs.
What changes should you be making?
Well, as you can see, there are quite a few different factors that contribute to dryness overnight. To counter this, your nighttime skincare routine should be much more hydrating and moisturizing. It should focus on restoring the feeling of moisture to your thirsty skin cells.
A nighttime skincare routine should also contain products and ingredients that soothe the feel of the skin. The decline in skin barrier function coupled with temperature and pH fluctuations can leave the skin feeling irritated, sensitive, and inflamed. Ideally, your nighttime skincare routine should be tailored to calm your complexion.
It’s also worth keeping in mind the upside to how skin barrier function slows down in the evenings. Sure, this may cause a few issues when it comes to impurities entering and irritating your skin, but it also means that your skincare products will be able to access your skin cells so much easier. Product permeability is at its highest at night, so your evening skincare routine should take full advantage of this. It’s the perfect time to pamper your skin with potent actives since this is when they’ll be most effective.
The Best Nighttime Skincare Routine to Follow
Need some inspiration when it comes to creating your own nighttime skincare routine? Here are the most important steps to follow:
Step 1: Remove Your Makeup
If you don’t wear makeup, then you can obviously skip this step. However, if you do, then make sure that you completely remove it before doing anything else with your skin. If not, you could end up pushing those particles deeper into your skin when you continue on with your skincare routine, which would end up causing oxidative damage to your skin cells.
Step 2: Cleanse Your Skin
Now that your skin is makeup-free, it’s time to properly cleanse it. This will remove all of the dirt and excess oil that has built up on your skin’s surface over the course of the day. It’s important to stop these from penetrating further into your skin, where they’ll clog your pores and trigger inflammation.
However, since moisture loss is such a major issue at night, don’t use an overly harsh cleanser. Ideally, you want to retain a good amount of your skin’s natural oil, especially since your skin doesn’t produce as much sebum at night.
So, go with a gentle formula, such as the VouPre Radiance Facial Cleanser. It’s a sulfate-free formula that cleanses the skin with gentle surfactants. It also contains vitamin E, which will help your skin barrier to feel stronger, rather than weaker, post-cleanse. The glycerin in the formula hydrates your skin, which, as we mentioned earlier, is extremely important at night.
When cleansing your skin at night, try to avoid using hot water on your face. This strips away the skin’s protective barrier, which is something that you need to try to preserve. Lukewarm water will be far kinder to your skin.
Step 3: Dab on a Toner
As we’ve discussed, hydration is vital at night. Ideally, your nighttime skincare routine should contain as many hydrating elements as possible, which is why it’s worth adding in a hydrating toner.
A toner serves a few different purposes. Not only does it clear away any residue left behind by your cleanser, but it also gives the skin a burst of hydration when it’s at its most receptive. This is why toners feel very similar to water – they’re designed to effortlessly sink into freshly cleansed skin. They beautifully elevate the cleansing process and can make a huge difference to your complexion.
When shopping for a toner, look for a hydrating formula, meaning one that doesn’t contain drying alcohols. The VouPre Hydrating Toner would be a good choice. It’s packed with aloe vera leaf juice and cucumber fruit extract to hydrate the skin, along with chamomile extract to soothe the complexion. Since sensitivities can soar at night, using this toner will enable your skin to feel calm and relaxed.
Never used a toner before? It’s easy. Simply saturate a cotton pad or cotton ball with the solution before gently dabbing this across your face. It will soak in in seconds, after which you can then move on to the next step of your skincare routine.
Step 4: Apply a Couple of Serums
With product permeability being at an all-time high at night, this is when serums can really help to transform your appearance. Since most serums are targeted toward a specific visible skin concern, pick formulas that will do what you need them to do.
You don’t need to limit yourself to just one serum either – feel free to layer a few different serums onto your skin at night. Simply start with the thinnest and work your way up to the thickest. Of course, don’t go overboard with the number of serums that you apply – three is plenty!
Not sure which serums to go for?
Well, since you want your nighttime skincare routine to be as hydrating as possible, your first pick should be a hydrating serum. VouPre’s Aqua Hydration Serum from the Aqua Collection is a great example. In addition to hydrating the skin, it also contains vitamins A and C to counter the visible signs of skin aging.
The VouPre Vita C Serum is another product that’s particularly beneficial at night. Vitamin C helps with hydration, the appearance of aging, the visibility of dark spots, and so much more. This formula contains two forms of the ingredient, offering a potency that’s perfect for evening use.
Another fantastic all-rounder is the Cannabis Facial Serum from our Cannabis Collection. Hemp seed oil is the star of the show here, an ingredient revered for its hydrating capabilities. It also feels incredibly soothing on the skin, making it a great one for calming the look of nighttime sensitivities.
Step 5: Moisturize
The final step when it comes to encouraging moisture retention overnight is to apply a moisturizer. This will form its own layer over the surface of your skin, basically replicating the feel of your skin’s barrier. As a result, your skin barrier will feel thicker and more fortified, which will help to keep transepidermal water loss to a minimum.
Some moisturizers will also be capable of tackling specific visible skin concerns, which will complement your use of serums in the prior step of your skincare routine.
If you’re looking for a new nighttime moisturizer, check out VouPre’s Revitalizing Night Cream. It’s infused with shea butter, an ingredient that’s revered for how it keeps the skin barrier feeling supported. This is exactly what you want from a night cream.
The Corrective Facial Cream from our Thermal Collection would also be a great nighttime choice. It’s brimming with a long list of vitamins and antioxidants, which will help your skin cells while they’re repairing the appearance of damage overnight.
Summary
All of the changes that your skin goes through every night mean that it can really benefit from a little extra help, and this is where your nighttime skincare routine comes into play. Follow the steps above and you’ll be able to keep your skin cells feeling supported and replenished as they go about their nightly tasks, which will mean that you’ll find yourself waking up to a much brighter, clearer, and healthier-looking complexion.
Enhance your skincare routine even more with these cutting-edge bestsellers from VouPre.
