It’s the viral Tik Tok skin trend that’s going global, and we love it! Skin cycling might have a catchy new name and four easy-to-follow steps, but essentially, it’s a way of caring for your skin that our skin pros have been prescribing for years, so we’re right behind this trend. Want to know more? Here’s the lowdown:

What is skin cycling?

Skin cycling is a way of using different active ingredients on rotation in a way that suits you. Some people build up to using many more actives each week, others prefer to include rest nights. Here’s an example:

Night 1: Cleanse, chemical exfoliation, moisturise.
Night 2: Cleanse, retinol, moisturise.
Night 3: Cleanse, non-active serum or moisturiser.
Night 4: Cleanse, non-active serum or moisturiser.
And repeat.

This slow approach to chemical exfoliation and retinol means that skin is not overloaded with active ingredients and is given time to recover, which is ideal for those getting started with retinol or for anyone with sensitive skin. We like that it encourages everyone to focus on the bedrock steps of cleansing and caring for the skin barrier. You can make skin cycling your own, adding in more or less active nights depending on your skin’s needs. Personalised skin advice from a professional will help you to hit your skin goals faster, so don’t pass up the chance to connect to one of our pros and find out how to make skin cycling work best for you and your lifestyle.

Why should I try skin cycling?

We’re great believers in the power of both chemical exfoliation and retinoid products – retinol is clinically proven to reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles caused by collagen depletion. This is a routine that gently introduces both actives.

How to do Night 1

It’s always important to cleanse your skin to remove all the debris of the day. It’s not just makeup and SPF, tiny particles of pollution and other nasties can cling to our skin and damage it. Cleansing is a non-negotiable daily step. Next up it’s time to apply your chemical exfoliant, this is a product that contains an active acid which basically chomps away at the Velcro-like bonds that keep dead skin cells attached to the face and body. Skin looks brighter after a single application, but crucially it also becomes easier for skin to absorb more actives. That’s why it’s the step before the retinol, it makes skin ready to get better results from retinol. Blemish-prone skin? Speak to your pro about our Bright & Clear Solution, which gently exfoliates with a blend of lactic acid, salicylic acid and caviar lime. Suitable for most skin types our Enzymatic Peel exfoliates with natural fruit enzymes and 10% lactic acid. Exfoliating the chemical way promotes skin renewal, improves skin texture, and brightens skin. Finally, it’s time to rehydrate with a serum or moisturiser. Give your exfoliant time to sink into skin and do its thing, it might tingle a little – once it stops – smooth on your rich and smoothing moisturiser. If you have dry skin, you’ll love HydraDew, with its blend of sodium hyaluronate, shea butter, aloe and niacinamide. Skin cycling is all about your evening regime, but that doesn’t mean ditching your morning cleanse/moisturise/SPF. Just a little reminder for anyone getting overexcited, there’s a whole day to get through before we reach . . .

How to do Night 2

Start by cleansing again, because as we’ve just reminded ourselves, a whole day will have gone past with all kinds of events and enriching activities. We hope you drank your 2.5 litres of water, more on hydration over here, and your skin is feeling resilient and bouncy. Now it’s time to apply your retinol, this is a point where we highly recommend working with a skincare professional to determine what strength is best for you. Retinol has a reputation as an irritant, but our microencapsulated form means that the active is wrapped up and gently, slowly released throughout the night, so you get all the benefits without negative side effects. And wow the benefits! Regular retinol use will kick-start the skin and help to reduce the appearance of just about every skin ailment going, including lines, wrinkles and discolouration. It also has an exfoliating effect and it’s this that means it can be irritating to some skin types. We think we can leave you to figure out cleansing and moisturising on night’s 3 and 4, then return to night 1, simple! This easy way of rotating your active ingredients is a clever way to balance your routine and finishing with serum or moisturiser every evening will help to keep the skin barrier resilient, smooth and protected. This is skincare in moderation, and it’s a great place to start. The key to any skincare routine is consistency, so if skin cycling appeals to you, then you have our professional blessing to give it a go!