In the age of YouTube beauty gurus and skinfluencers all over Instagram, pretty much everyone’s a “skincare expert” these days. Or at least they’ve got some very strong opinions on walnut-based facial scrubs. The thing is though, when so much of the skincare routines we set up and follow are directed by other people or come from the well-meaning but not-quite-right gifts you’ve gotten from friends and fam over the years, you can end up with a routine that’s okay, even good, but not great.
When it comes to dealing with spots and acne-prone skin in particular, an unplanned or randomly assembled nighttime routine simply isn’t going to do you any favours. We’ve spoken about the bedtime habits you should be adopting for excellent mornings, but what about a deep dive into an effective, simple night routine? One that includes the skincare step you’re probably missing and aren’t likely to come across in your scrolling through those glossy #skincareselfies on Instagram?
If you’re looking for a nighttime beauty routine that you’ll be able to stick to and actually works, here’s what our years of skincare experience and testing have taught us.
1. Cleanse appropriately
Any nighttime skincare routine worth its salt pays attention to the important step of properly cleansing your skin. Consider: you’ve been out, all day, wearing sunscreen, possibly wearing makeup, putting your face out in the elements, pollution, grime and, because we’re human, maybe even sweating a little. All of that needs to come off before we can truly get started!
The cleanser you use will depend on your skin type and how heavy-duty your makeup may have been that day, so what we’re going to say is cleanse gently but thoroughly.
If you were wearing long-wearing makeup and water-resistant SPF, we’d start with an oil cleanse, followed by a gentle and ph-balanced gel, foam or cream cleanser. Think of the first step as grime-removal, and the second as your true skin cleanser.
2. Apply Nexcare Acne Absorbing Covers to any active pimples
Once your skin is cleansed and dry, tackle any pimples with a careful application of a Nexcare Acne Absorbing Cover. These bandages gently draw pus and impurities out of pimples to help reduce their size, keep them protected and speed them along their way off your face again.
Because the Nexcare Acne Absorbing Covers are so discreet and work while you’re sleeping they’re one of our go-to nighttime acne treatments. While it might not always feature in our routine every single night (we do have clear skin days, you know, thanks to this solid nighttime routine) we’ll pretty much always have a box of these covers on hand.
One thing to note? Make sure you’re applying them before any serums, moisturisers, face oils or any other skincare goodies. Other skincare products underneath could make them less effective and more likely to fall off in your sleep because they haven’t stuck as well. Hence, why we put the Nexcare Acne Absorbing Covers as step two. 👌
Shop the Nexcare Acne Absorbing Covers, $9.99 from Priceline.
3. Use a gentle serum or treatment
After your spots are well protected, take care of the rest of your skin with a gentle serum or treatment. If you were really not feeling it, you could omit this step, but using a light serum with just one or two active ingredients is a great way to help your skin along to where you’d like it, without overloading it with a tonne of layers and competing products with a million ingredients.
Keeping things pared back also means that it’s a lot easier to tell what is, and isn’t working in your nighttime routine. How’re you gonna tell what product might have broken you out if you’re currently packing on a 14-step Korean beauty inspired routine? If that’s your bag, more power to ya, but we’d err on the side of KISS: keep it simple stupid.
4. Moisturise how you want to
Finally, the last thing we’d stress is that even if your skin is oily, even if you’re sleepy, even if you’re just feeling really lazy, moisturising your skin is very important. Think about it, when we wear makeup and SPFs, we need to take it off. And no matter how gentle your cleansers may be, inevitably some of our skin’s natural oils and inbuilt moisturising sebum is going to be washed away. Follow your Nexcare Acne Covers and treatment step with a well-formulated moisturiser of your choice and drift peacefully to sleep, knowing that both your spots and your skin have been well taken care of.
Follow all pack instructions. Do not use 3M™ Nexcare™ Acne Covers with a medicated product or treatment. If your acne becomes worse consult a health professional.
Related stories
Bumpy blemish-prone skin? This duo has your back…
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Remembering Liam Payne: Special Tribute Issue
On sale now