AM vs. PM Routines

The Need for Skincare Morning & Night

Have you ever wondered why skincare medical professionals and specialists encourage full routines morning and night?! Like, doesn’t that seem a little excessive sometimes? Well, the simplest way to explain it is each time of day has a different role: morning routines are for protection, while evening routines are for repair + correction. This episode of Skincare School breaks it down…

AM = Protection

Let's start with essential products for the morning routine:

1. Vitamin C–our version is Liquid Gold, which has all the skin brightening and UV protection benefits of a typical 15% L-ascorbic vitamin C serum, but so much more. We added multiple other antioxidants into one serum (simplified skincare, amplified results!) for the optimum protection against free radicals and sun exposure. (Examples of free radicals you’re fighting against are cigarette smoke, external pollution, household chemicals and environmental toxins. Woof.)
2. SPF–the culprit for an estimated 90% of premature aging (i.e. fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots and more.) Wearing a daily SPF on your face, neck and chest is the number one thing you can do to delay all of these visible signs of damage. And even if you can’t see them now, most UV damage is lying under the surface. Check out what this UV camera exposes!

Let's go back to that running a marathon analogy…vitamin C and SPF, plus any other products you decide you use in the AM, are helping fuel and shield your skin from damaging stressors you encounter throughout the day (those tomatoes Jordan discusses in the video). So don’t skip the morning, or your skin could in fact, look like it ran a marathon.

PM = Repair + Correction

The key products for your nighttime routine are:

1. Retinoids–retinoids, like RetinAL Skin Therapy, enhance and accelerate what your skin is already doing naturally at night. Typically, the peak regeneration window is between 11pm-1am. This is why we advocate for a full 8 hours of sleep—it really is “beauty” rest for skin cells.
2. More Vitamin C–but whyyy? Well, your skin has to run a marathon again the next day, so just like you would need electrolytes to recover, your skin is craving antioxidants to recover as well.

Now let's add in skincare pads (AHAs and BHAs), serums, and moisturizer and your PM routine is helping clear your skin of the dirt and debris from the day, aiding in healing, and boosting collagen and elastin to fight the good fight again the next day. Just like your body needs to rest and recharge…your skin requires the same.