I had, at one point, twelve products in my morning skincare routine. Twelve. I had read too many articles, watched too many videos, and convinced myself that more was more.
My skin during that period was confused, reactive, and expensive to maintain.
The skincare industry has a financial incentive to make you believe that your routine requires many steps and specialised products for each step. That incentive is not aligned with what your skin actually needs.
What skin actually needs
Cleanse. Moisturise. Protect from the sun. That is the non-negotiable foundation. Everything else is optional and some of it is genuinely useful but none of it is useful if the foundation is not right first.
A good cleanser that does not strip your skin barrier. A moisturiser with ingredients appropriate for your skin type. A sunscreen with SPF 30 minimum every single morning, regardless of whether you plan to be outside.
Most skin problems, dryness, breakouts, uneven texture, premature ageing, can be traced to a disrupted skin barrier. The skin barrier is disrupted by over-cleansing, using too many actives, not moisturising adequately, and not wearing sunscreen.
What I kept when I stripped back
A gentle low pH cleanser morning and night. A niacinamide serum because it does multiple things well. A simple moisturiser. SPF 50 in the morning. Retinol three nights a week at night. That is five products total.
My skin is calmer, clearer, and more consistent than it was with twelve products.
The rule I now follow
I do not add a new product until I have been using the current routine consistently for at least six weeks and can see what my baseline skin looks like without the variable of constant change.
Skin is slow. It needs consistency and time. Stop rotating. Pick the things that are right for your skin type and use them long enough to see what they actually do.
