Maybe your skin just needs a break. Similar to the latest trends toward skin cycling, we’ve seen an increase in minimalizing skincare routines to restore moisture barriers and reveal your best, most radiant skin yet. The latest term taking over the metaverse? Skinimalism. Basically, to get back to homeostasis, we’ve got to do an elimination diet of sorts, but for your skin.
What Is Skinimalism?
We’ve all heard tales about individuals who never wash their skin or put nothing (literally nothing) on their faces and have the most glowing complexion. Chalking it up to urban myths, recent findings show some truth to these routines. In a world where everyone (even Brad Pitt) has a skincare line and more skin products are on the market than ever, pairing it back and focusing on only a few targeted formulas.
What Sparked This Skincare Movement?
Whether it was lockdown or the evolution of TikTok, this movement is coming after a time of excess treatments, devices, and ingredient spotlights. The simple truth is that we use way too many products and active ingredients at once. This can result in irritated, blotchy, dry, or broken-out skin.
How To Detox Your Skincare Routine:
Start with the basics. If you’re dealing with inflammation or irritated skin, scale back active ingredients and first focus on gently cleansing and moisturizing your skin. This could involve swapping your go-to face wash for a milk cleanser or cleansing balm and replacing heavy creams or retinoids with serums or oils to replenish the skin's moisture barrier.
You'll want to avoid formulas that make your face feel tight or taught after washing — these are most likely too harsh for everyday use.
Once you’ve developed a healthy routine that works for your skin, you can add back targeted treatments (minimally) where needed. Say a retinoid one night or brightening eye creams to banish dark circles. If skin cycling isn’t for you, instead of using all of your tried and true formulas at once, consider using them periodically when needed. You'll likely notice much more impact by allowing a single product to penetrate when needed.
