True Radical Honesty From Our Community

Whether you’re off to college, back at the office or doing the morning school run, life’s about to get busy. But don’t let your skin suffer; just 10 minutes is all it takes to get your skin ready to face the world again…

Summer is almost over and the goose is getting fat. No wait, sorry, wrong season. Thankfully, there are no fir trees and holiday lights to contend with quite yet, but still, with the kids going back to school, college life beginning and offices opening up for business, life is certainly moving up a gear. 

With the start of new beginnings comes the stress of juggling your morning skincare routine. And when time is of the essence, spending 30 minutes looking after yours truly is often the first thing to go. But your skin shouldn’t suffer simply because you have a million other things to do before getting out of the house by 8 am. You just need to hone your morning routine to maximize your time.

And that’s exactly what we plan to do with this 10-minute super-speedy step-by-step skincare routine that’s short on time, but big on benefits. Because even the minimum amount of effort can make the world of difference to your skin… and when you look good, you feel great.

Step 1: The 2-Minute Cleanse

Start strong by spending a good two minutes cleansing your face and neck. You shouldn’t have too much grime to contend with after washing your face before bed, but still, cleansing is a great way to boost blood flow and lymphatic drainage to bring oxygen and nutrients to your skin while flushing away toxins.

Use a radiance boosting cleanser like Vitamin C Brightening Cleanser which contains potent antioxidants and aloe vera to maximize your glow and set your skin up for success. Massage the pads of your fingers over your skin in circular motions, then rinse with lukewarm water and gently pat dry with a clean towel.

Step 2: Tone In 30 Seconds

Don’t be tempted to dismiss toner, just because you can’t be bothered. This is the speediest step of all and toning’s a great way to drench your skin with extra moisture and feed it with nutrients and antioxidants. What’s more our Ocean Minerals and Rose Water toners both come in handy spray bottles, so all it takes is a few spritzes over your face and you’re done. In all honesty, 30 seconds is being generous. You could probably nail this step in 10.

Step 3: Set Aside 2 Minutes For Your Serum

As soon as you’ve toned, apply your favorite treatment serum straight away, while your skin is still damp. This will help lock all the moisture and goodness into your skin – plus that’s an extra 30 seconds saved, right there!

Dispense just two or three drops of serum to the pads of your fingers, then gently pat and press it evenly over your face and neck. You don’t need to spend too much time massaging it in because its small molecular makeup should allow it to absorb into your skin with very little effort.

We have many serums to choose from, depending on your skin type and concerns, but our current go-to for instant get-up-and-go skin is Vitamin C Super Serum+. How so? Because it’s literally chock-full of everything your skin needs to face the day. We’re talking vitamin C to brighten and protect; hyaluronic acid and glycerin to hydrate; niacinamide to strengthen and plump up your skin, plus a list of skin-loving essential oils as long as your arm. It also contains salicylic acid to exfoliate your skin into the bargain – so no need to add that extra step into your morning routine.

Step 4: A Minute On The Eyes

Next, spend just a mere minute dabbing a moisturizing treatment around your eyes. Much better than slapping moisturizer all over the eye area which can be too heavy and cause puffiness, a targeted treatment will hydrate and moisturize the skin around your eyes while attacking things like dark circles and bags at the same time.

Pat or press Hyaluronic Acid Eye Cream all around the eye area, using your ring fingers to reduce unnecessary pressure and remember, a tiny amount goes a long way.

Step 5: Multi-Task For One And A Half

OK, now’s the time to breathe and relax for a couple of minutes to allow your serum and eye cream to fully absorb into your skin. This is super important if you don’t want to end up with pilling – that’s when too many products build up on the surface of your skin and form annoying little flakes or granules.

Take this time to brush your teeth, make some coffee, shout at your kids, pack your bag or whatever else might float your boat.

Step 6: Moisturize In 2 Minutes

After a few minutes resting time, apply moisturizer to feed your skin with oils and nutrients and to help seal in hydration.

We love Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer as a morning skin pick-me-up. Work a quarter-sized amount between the palms of your hands and fingers, then place your hands in a prayer position on either side of your nose and smooth your hands up and out towards your hairline. Repeat this a few times to ensure an even coverage, then repeat the same action over your forehead, chin and jawline.

Step 7: 60 Seconds For The Finishing Touches

Great skincare means you shouldn’t need much makeup, but good news, you have a whole minute left to use as you please. SPF is vital, of course, so apply this first, then finish with lip balm, gloss, mascara or whatever you need to face the day.

And stop the clock, you’re done!

Your skin, and how you look after it, can deeply impact your emotional well-being. Here’s how to boost your confidence and lift your spirits by learning to love and care for the skin you’re in.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month and we firmly believe your skin can play a major role in your state of mind.

Think about how you feel when you look at your face in the mirror. Those ‘off’ days when your complexion looks kinda lousy rarely fill you with confidence. But other days when your skin seems to naturally glow from within? Priceless for your self-esteem. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. More serious skin concerns like rosacea, eczema or hormonal acne can often stop people from leaving the house and living a normal, day-to-day life. In a 2014 study carried out by the National Rosacea Society, for example, a massive 90 percent of rosacea patients reported low self-confidence and over half said they avoided regular face-to-face contact.

The fact is simple: your skin plays a vital role in the way you feel about yourself. When it looks and feels awesome, you feel better about yourself. It’s just the way the human psyche works. But the thing is, we’re all different and your skin and its condition should never define you. Yes, your crow’s feet might drive you crazy and sure, that zit on your chin is as annoying as hell. But remember, 1) you're not alone – imperfect skin is perfectly normal and 2) nobody notices your 'flaws' as much as you do. 

If you’re feeling stressed about your complexion, however, here are a few ways to help you fall in love with your skin again – and up your self-confidence levels at the same time.

1. Enjoy A Consistent Routine

While trying new products and upping your skincare game is fabulous within reason, having a consistent skincare routine allows for true noticeable results to start happening. This makes it one of the best ways to maintain healthy skin. You wouldn’t skip brushing your teeth every other morning, would you? Then respect your skin in exactly the same way.

Set aside five or 10 minutes or so each morning and evening to gently cleanse, tone, treat and moisturize your skin using the best ingredients and formulations for your skin. And remember, apply them according to their instructions and always in the correct order. Look after your skin – especially before bed when it’s getting ready to regenerate and revive itself – and your skin will look after you.

Having a regular morning and evening skincare routine doesn't just benefit your skin, however. It also helps give you structure, grounding and has been proven to improve mental stability. Studies show that people who have more consistent routines throughout the day are less likely to suffer with mood problems and depression. To boost your state of mind even further, use products that make you feel good and you enjoy using like our Vitamin C Super Serum+ which contains essential oils like pink grapefruit, lavender and ylang ylang to help lift your mood and alleviate anxiety.

2. Get Your Glow On With A Weekly Pampering Session

Taking care of your skin is awesome for your mental health because it allows you to focus on yourself and stop worrying about all the other stuff that might be stressing you out. Set aside one hour a week to pamper your skin and you will immediately improve your well-being (not to mention your complexion) without even thinking about it. Lock the bathroom door, light a candle, run a bath, play some calming music and drink wine (hells yeah). Whatever you need to switch off and concentrate on you.

During this time, you might also want to think about indulging your senses with a little facial massage. Massaging your skin is one of the best ways to boost circulation and help lymphatic drainage for firmer, smoother, more radiant skin. This relaxation process also sends messages to your brain that it’s time to be calm which lowers the production of cortisol (the stress hormone) and simultaneously reduces your anxiety levels. Try a two or three minute facial massage as you cleanse your skin with warm water and our skin brightening Vitamin C Daily Cleanser. Close your eyes to focus your mind, then work the pads of your fingers all over your face and neck using gentle but firm circular motions.

Sidenote: when your skin looks glowing and radiant, nobody will even notice your wrinkles or age spots. Oh, the power of a little me-time.

3. Break Your Bad Beauty Habits

Do you touch your face all the time, therefore spreading germs, chemicals and bacteria all over your skin? Perhaps you just can’t resist picking at your pimples, always making them so much worse… Bad habits are often a sign of stress, anxiety or just plain boredom, and while some are harmless, the aforementioned spell disaster for your skin.

Take control of your bad beauty habits by understanding when and why you do them. Figuring out your triggers allows you to understand the reason for your actions and enables you to find alternatives that don’t totally screw up your skin. For example, if you find yourself picking your face in the evening when you’re bored watching TV, find something else to do with your hands like knitting. Can’t resist scrutinizing your skin before bed looking for something, anything to squeeze? Then throw out your magnifying mirror. Nobody ever sees your skin at such a close range, so gouging out that tiny blackhead and risking more damage than reward? So not worth it.

If you're looking for support with mental health issues or would like to help raise awareness of Mental Health Awareness Month, please head to Mental Health America for more information.

Why does balancing combination skin that's oily in some places and dry in others have to be so hard? Actually, it doesn't. So, let’s take away the headache once and for all.

We all crave for that elusive ‘normal’ skin, but as skin types go combination is the one most of us end up with. You know the kind of skin we mean. Your cheeks might feel dry and little bit tight after cleansing, yet two hours later your forehead and nose look shinier than a bald man’s head. Yeah, that.

Combination skin is defined by skin that’s oily in certain areas and dry in others due to unbalanced sebum production. It’s never the same for everyone, but excess oiliness is usually concentrated around your t-zone where the sebaceous glands are often larger and more active. And those dry, sensitive patches? Well, you’ll find those primarily on your cheeks or around your eyes.

Just like your height and hair color, your skin type is the luck of the draw and is totally down to what you inherit from your parents. So, if you think you can alter your skin type, think again. Yes, you can control and manage it with smart skincare, but completely change its biological structure? No way.

That being said, certain factors will affect the levels of sebum and dryness in your skin – and this will be especially noticeable if it's combination. For example, your t-zone will be oiler in the summer thanks to warmer, humid weather, but in the winter humidity and temperature levels drop, causing certain areas to feel drier, more dehydrated and even a little irritated. It may also become oilier and possibly break out during your period, when hormones cause your skin to over-produce sebum. Fun times.

The moral of this story is that yes, combination skin can be a bit of a b*tch to control. But, it’s perfectly doable with a few smart skincare choices. Just remember one thing: it’s all about balance.

How To Care For Combination Skin

1. Use A Gentle Cleanser Morning & Night

One of the biggest mistakes when cleansing combination skin is to concentrate solely on the oily part of your skin. We know it’s tempting to whisk away all those oils with harsh, astringent cleansers, but this will do you no favors in the long term. For one thing, it’ll cause your skin to produce even more oil in areas you don’t want it, and on the flipside it’ll irritate any dryness you have, causing redness, itching and more.

Instead, use a gentle, pH-balanced cleanser like our Vitamin C Daily Facial Cleanser which contains MSM, vitamin C and tea tree oil to balance the skin and prevent breakouts, along with aloe vera and rosehip oil to soothe and moisturize. And if you’re really concerned about excess oils? Then try using our Skin Clearing Charcoal Face Wash on your t-zone at night.

2. Avoid Hot Water On Your Face

Never, EVER wash your face with scorching hot water. Hot water makes your skin look flushed and red thanks to excess heat forcing your blood vessels to dilate. It also strips the skin of essential healthy oils, which compromises your barrier function, causing your skin to feel tight, dry and irritated. For combination skin types this will make dry areas doubly worse, and oily areas, well, ditto.

3. Embrace A Balancing Toner

Some skin types are happy to skip toner, but if you have combination skin, we cannot recommend this step more. A good toner that’s high in antioxidants (rather than alcohol) can help balance and nourish your skin, while minimizing oiliness without making those dry areas drier.

Looking for the perfect fit for your combination skin? Then try our newly packaged but same great formula Ocean Minerals Super Toner (formerly referred to as Daily Facial Super Toner). Packed with MSM, vitamin C and skin-loving peptides like Matrixyl 3000, it’s a great way to finish your cleansing routine and leave your skin fresh and glowing. Oh, and it also contains glycolic acid to boost cellular regeneration plus witch hazel to deal with enlarged pores and excess oils. And if you think this sounds like it could irritate those pesky dry patches? Think again, aloe vera, jojoba oil are also included to take of that.

4. Spot Treat Your Oily T-Zone

When it comes to treating your complexion Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum is always a great shout for combination skin. Hyaluronic acid is a clever little cookie that draws water into your skin like a sponge, making it great for hydrating your skin without overloading it with pore-clogging oils. Apply it morning and night before moisturizing to balance and soothe your skin.

If your combination skin is super oily in places, you could also try Tea Tree Clear Skin Super Serum over your troublesome t-zone. Apply one drop to the tips of your fingers, then gently apply it to your cheeks, nose and forehead two or three times a week.

5. Choose Your Moisturizer Carefully

Moisturizing your skin is probably the trickiest area to nail if you’re a combination type. Go too light and dry patches won’t get enough help, but choose a super heavy cream and you could end up blocking your pores and exacerbating oiliness. Decisions, decisions.

You have two options here. Your first is to invest in two moisturizers: one light, gel-based formula for your t-zone and a richer, oil-based cream or balm for your dry areas. This kind of sucks in terms of effort and money, but it’s often the best recipe for many combination skin types, especially if have extreme combination skin (aka very oily and very dry).

Your other option is to look for a noncomedogenic moisturizer that contains humectants to draw water into the skin and emollients to lock it there. And we have just the guy for the job: Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer which contains aloe and glycerin to hydrate thirsty skin without weighing it down, plus jojoba oil and shea butter to seal in moisture – again, without blocking your pores.  

“Deep hydration with no greasiness,” explains one customer review. Literally everything combination skin wants in a moisturizer.

Overnight skincare won’t transform your skin literally overnight, but apply a few carefully chosen formulations before turning in for the night and your skin will reap the benefits in the long term.

Some skincare sceptics firmly believe that night cream is a marketing con. Fools. The thing is, your skin has very different needs at night than during the day. If all you’re looking for in your routine is the basics (clean, moisturized skin) then sure, you’re going to be just fine with a couple of products for day and night. However, if you want to target, treat and prevent more pressing concerns such as fine lines, dark spots and acne, you’ll be sorely disappointed by the results a bog-standard cleanse and moisturize routine will offer.

An effective morning routine, for example, requires antioxidants and sunscreen to protect you from environmental stressors and free radical damage. It may also benefit from lighter day creams that give your skin almost invisible moisturization – the perfect base for priming your skin and facing the day.

In contrast, when you’re asleep, your skin kick-starts a whole regeneration process making it one of the most important times for rich, collagen-boosting products that help improve the health, look and feel of your complexion.

Studies show that people who get between seven and nine hours of sleep each night have skin that’s more moisturized and better able to protect and heal itself than those who sleep for five hours or less. How so? Because when your body rests, blood flow to your skin increases, collagen production ramps up, free radical damage gets repaired and your skin’s super important barrier function is restored. Cut back on your sleep and you deny your skin this precious time to repair itself. This means that compared to the lightweight, protective formulations your skin thrives on during the day, overnight skincare should revolve around boosting collagen, enhancing moisture, replenishing oils and therefore helping to repair and replenish your skin's protective barrier.

Convinced you need to step up your bedtime skincare routine but unwilling to spend hours in the bathroom before turning in for the night? Then you’ve come to the right place because we believe you need just three nighttime skincare formulations to care for your entire complexion. 

Overnight Must-Have #1. A Skin-Restoring Serum

If you’re serious about looking after your skin, you should always apply an overnight facial serum after cleansing. Serums are light, fast-absorbing formulations that have a much smaller molecular structure than moisturizers, meaning they’re able to deliver active ingredients deeper into your skin. We truly believe everyone needs two serums in their skincare lives – one for the morning and one for night – but the formulation you choose will obviously depend on what the issues you want to address. For dryness, HA is always a winner; for dark spots we love vitamin C or niacinamide, and for acne, serums containing salicylic acid or tea tree oil are always a great shout.

If you’re looking for the true gold standard of overnight face serums, however, try a formulation containing retinol like our fabulous Retinol Serum. Retinol is a clever little ingredient that derms, beauty editors and A-listers all swear by. When applied to your skin it triggers and activates certain genes to increase collagen production and stimulate your skin to turn over more efficiently. This not only helps soften, thicken and plump up the skin but offers no end of benefits for enlarged pores, acne, pigmentation and aging skin. If this wasn’t enough to convince you of its superpowers, research also shows that retinol has powerful antioxidant properties to help combat free radical damage.

Overnight Must-Have #2. An Awesome Eye Treatment

Lack of sleep is hell on the skin around your eyes, causing redness, fluid retention, dark circles, lines and wrinkles. Why do your eyes take the hit so badly? Because the skin in this area is thinner, more fragile and contains fewer sebaceous (oil-producing) glands than the rest of your face, so it ages lightning fast. If you think about it, the skin around your eyes also works pretty hard thanks to repetitive movements like blinking, smiling, squinting and so on. Without a targeted eye treatment product, therefore, it stands no chance in the fight against premature aging. And what better way to repair and replenish it than overnight when your eyes are less subject to the constant, repetitive movements of, well, being awake?

Some of the most powerful ingredients to look for in an overnight eye treatment are hyaluronic acid, peptides, vitamin C and retinol. Hyaluronic acid (HA) helps your skin retain water, vitamin C brightens and repairs, while peptides and retinol boost collagen. All great stuff for the skin around your eyes, we think you’ll agree.

Try our Eye Cream which contains potent antioxidants such as vitamins B5, C and E, plus plant peptides and HA. Share a pea-sized amount between both eyes and smooth or tap it gently onto the skin, using your ring fingers for a lighter, less skin-damaging touch.

Overnight Must-Have #3. The Perfect Night Cream

If you have a highly moisturizing serum on the go, you might think you can do without night cream. Big mistake. Serums rarely contain emollient or occlusive ingredients which are important for sealing water and oils into your skin, so while serums are great for delivering ingredients deep into your skin, you still need to follow with moisturizer to lock all that goodness in. Whatever your skin type.

Our new Vitamin C Deep Hydration Night Cream has been formulated to work with your skin’s overnight renewal system to support your skin, stimulate collagen production and strengthen that all-important barrier function. As well as containing one of our favorite antioxidants – vitamin C – this decadent night treatment comes bursting with nourishing and healing botanicals such as aloe, cocoa butter and rosehip oil. For the best results, apply it nightly as the final step in your bedtime skincare routine.

And you're done. See, that wasn't too time consuming, was it? Sweet dreams, y'all ;)

There’s nothing worse than spending a gazillion bucks on skincare, for it to go ahead and do zip. But if you know how your skin likes to do business and use formulations that contain researched, proven ingredients, you’re well on the way to nailing a great complexion.

We’ve all been lured by the latest gold-infused miracle skin potion that promises (but always fails to deliver) flawless, younger-looking skin in days. To be fair, wanting to believe glossy skincare commercials gets us all every now and again. But those days are over because we now know that a) skincare cannot perform miracles and b) the most important steps for achieving and maintaining fabulous skin only work if you know your skin type. Then and only then are you able to make informed decisions about which products to apply and what to realistically expect.

So, is your skincare routine working out for you? If not, think about what you could be doing wrong. Chances are, it’s one of the following…

1. Do You Know Your Skin?

Understanding your skin and knowing, not only your skin type, but how it to reacts to changes in the weather, the time of the month, even your diet goes a long way to nailing an effective skincare routine.

The best way for you to learn about your skin – right now – is to gently cleanse and dry it, then leave it for a few hours without applying any product or makeup. After this time, look at your skin in the mirror and touch it (with clean hands, of course). If it looks and feels pretty normal then, surprise surprise, you have normal skin. But if it's already shiny or greasy, you have oily skin. If it feels tight, maybe a little rough and looks flaky, you have dry skin. And if it’s a bit of both? You have combination skin.

Only by scrutinizing your skin in the moment, can you really know what’s going on with it at that particular time. Yes, you may have oily skin as a rule, but perhaps it’s currently feeling dry in certain areas thanks to a little dehydration from too many boozy nights. Or perhaps your skin is generally pretty normal, but it’s looking red and feels a tad sensitive due to your hormones or from using too many potent active ingredients.

Getting to know your skin in order to make informed tweaks to your lifestyle and skincare routine? Priceless.

2. Are You Nailing The Basics?

Eye creams, treatment serums and chemical exfoliation are all well and good, but you should never underestimate the powers of basic skincare – namely cleansing and moisturizing. The truth is, without a good cleansing and moisturizing routine, you may as well not bother with the rest.

Cleansing is the absolute foundation of great skin, helping to remove dirt, oil, makeup and bacteria from your skin that can clog your pores, cause irritation and age you up if left to sit around for too long. Good cleansing also prepares and primes your skin for the rest of your routine, allowing your products to penetrate the skin more effectively. To perfect your cleansing game, choose a kind formulation like our Daily Facial Cleanser which is ideal for most skin types and use it to wash your face twice daily – no excuses. Use your hands to gently massage it all over for one or two minutes to help boost circulation and encourage lymphatic drainage.

Another super important step in your routine is moisturizing, which should never be forgotten about. Depending on the formulation, moisturizing helps feed your skin with nutrients, but more importantly it locks in essential hydration to protect your skin’s barrier function. If you fail to moisturize morning and night after cleansing your skin will lose its strength and resiliency in no time.

3. Are You Being Consistent With Your Routine?

Making small changes to your routine is great if your skin is doing something it doesn’t normally do, but if it’s behaving as normal, a consistent routine is worth its weight in gold.

For the best results from your routine, always use your products regularly and as advised on the label. For example, potent retinols and antioxidant serums like our C-Plus Super Serum are best used just two or three times a week, whereas less powerful serums can be applied every day depending on your skin type. Of course, your skin’s tolerance may vary, but once you find your sweet spot, stick with it for at least a few weeks before upping your frequency.

4. Are You Being Realistic With Your Expectations?

Skincare that promises ‘miracle’ results overnight? All lies. While many ingredients have been clinically proven to offer awesome benefits for your skin (oh hi there retinol, vitamin C, hyaluronic acid and friends), they are never going to give you the same instantly dramatic results that you might get from Botox or fillers, for example. On the flipside, skincare costs way less and doesn’t involve needles or downtime. So, there’s that.

The main thing to remember is that yes, certain skincare products can give you instant moisturization, subtle brightening or cleansing benefits, but in order to work to their full potential, any product that works on a cellular level will need time (usually around four to six weeks) and a little bit of patience. So, don’t expect miracles. After all, those fine lines and dark spots didn’t just appear one morning; they built, grew and etched themselves into your skin over time. So, how can your skincare products possibly get rid of them overnight? Answer: they can’t.

5. Finally, Are You Overloading Your Skin?

One sure-fire way to irritate your skin and cause unwanted breakouts is to overload your face with way too many active ingredients.

You may think that bombarding your skin with countless serums containing high-performing vitamin C, glycolic acid, retinol and salicylic acid will give you a red carpet complexion much quicker than if you were to stick with one product, but oh how wrong you are. Unless these active ingredients have been carefully formulated into one treatment serum or a board-certified professional has prescribed them, cocktailing is a major no-no. Some ingredients should never be applied together, but do you know which ones they are? Thought not. So, instead, introduce serums into your routine one at a time to see how your skin tolerates it. It's also wise to patch test a new formulation before applying it to your whole face. And give it at least four weeks to take effect before dismissing it.

Or, if it's one of ours, falling in love with it;)

Too much effective skincare can lead to irritation, dryness, even breakouts. And we doubt this was what you had in mind when you carefully chose the products in your routine, right? So, let’s have a look at some of the optimum amounts of product you should be applying.

Skincare has moved on since the days of 'cleanse, tone, moisturize and done.' Nowadays, there are all manner of eye treatments, serums, facial oils and retinols to contend with. And while we’d never suggest you overload your skin with gazillions of products, a carefully curated routine that contains a gentle mix of antioxidants, AHAs, night treatments and sun protection will go a long way to achieving younger-looking skin.

But it’s not just about what you put on your skin. Turns out, how you apply them, when you apply them and even how much you apply is just as important. We’ve covered the hows and the whens before, so hopefully by now you’ve nailed the art of skincare layering and applying your products like an absolute pro. But are you sure you’re applying the right amount?

Knowing how much of your skincare essentials you need can be confusing business, so here are some basic rules to follow to get to know your products’ sweet spots.

Always Read The Label

The directions on your skincare labels are not just there to fill space or look nice. They’re important and should always be followed for the best, safest and most effective results. Granted, skincare products don’t need FDA approval but they must still adhere to particular guidelines. And one of these is that both the ingredients and the finished product must be safe to use according to its directions.

This means it’s always vital to read the instructions for a guide on how much you should be using. Obviously these guidelines aren’t set in stone, but they’re a great starting point.

Know The Basic Numbers

All products are different, but generally speaking the amount you should be using rarely differs from the following:

• Cleanser – a dime-sized amount is plenty to effectively cleanse your face and neck. Anything less might not be enough to gently remove bacteria, dirt and oils, whereas using more will just be a waste.
• Toner ­– go for around four or five spritzes if you’re spraying toner directly onto your face, or enough to saturate an entire cotton round.
• Serum – treatment serums such as antioxidants, AHAs and retinols are super lightweight, but extremely potent, so less is always more. Stick with two or three drops for your entire face and neck.
• Eye Cream – a single pump or pea-sized amount is the sweet spot for both eyes. More than this will overload the delicate skin around your eyes, resulting in puffiness and/or irritation. Not cool.
• Moisturizer – moisturizing creams, lotions and gels vary a lot, but as long as you choose the correct formulation for your skin type, a pea-sized amount should be ideal.
• Sunscreen – the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) recommends about half a teaspoon of sunscreen for your face. This may sound like a lot, but failing to protect your skin increases your risks of premature aging and skin cancers. This is why sunscreen is one of the few products where scrimping is not an option. 

Understand That Your Skin Type Isn't The Issue

The amount of product you apply shouldn’t be dictated by your skin type. It’s far more important to choose the right product to suit your needs and concerns than to overload, or indeed scrimp on your application. For example, if you feel like you need to double up on your moisturizer, because your skin still feels dry, tight or dehydrated even after you’ve applied it, you’ve clearly got the wrong formulation and should up your moisturizing game with a richer or heavier cream or balm. Similarly, if you end up applying less moisturizer than the recommended amount because it sits on your skin and makes it feel oily or sticky, your product is likely too rich for your skin. In this case, switch it up with a lighter gel or lotion.

The only exception to this rule is if you wear heavy makeup and feel like your cleanser isn’t doing a good enough job. Gentle is ALWAYS the way to go so stick with a mild cleanser (tailored for your skin type, of course), but try a double cleanse on heavy makeup days.

Spread The Excess Elsewhere

If you do get a little over-excited and end up with too much serum or moisturizer on your hands, smooth any excess over your neck (which you should be doing anyway), décolletage or even on the backs of your hands. This is way more beneficial than smothering your face and increasing your chances of clogging your pores or causing redness or irritation.

And just think of the love you’ll be giving your neck, chest and hands as a bonus.