Wanna Go Makeup-Free? Then You Need A Consistent Skincare Routine

Not lucky enough to have been born with perfect, flawless skin? Er, who is? Truth is, glowing, makeup-free skin isn’t a given, but requires work with a consistent skincare routine.

Makeup is great. It covers a multitude of sins, makes our best features way better and helps create the illusion of a chiselled jawline or defined cheekbones – even if you were right at the back of the queue when those were handed out.

However, makeup is not a permanent solution for healthy skin. And, heck, sometimes you don’t even want to apply foundation, anyway. Just look at Hollywood right now. The ‘no makeup’ movement is becoming a real thing thanks to stars like Pamela Anderson who, frankly, is looking more gorgeous than ever while showing off her clean, natural skin on the red carpet. And we’re sure she would attest to the fact that the real solution for healthy skin is to find a good, consistent skincare routine.

So, if you’re looking to pare back your makeup routine by cutting out foundation or ditching the bronzer, your skincare needs to be absolutely spot on. Read on for the important steps we believe are the key to getting you there…

Your Daily Must-Dos

The morning might be your busiest, most frantic time but it’s not one in which to skip essential parts of your skincare routine. A regular morning routine is extremely important for your skin because it sets you up for the rest of the day, giving your skin protection from environmental aggressors while maintaining much-needed moisturization.

Set aside ten minutes or so to crush these five crucial steps every morning, without fail.

Cleanse

Everyone’s skin is different, so how you cleanse your skin and with which formulations you choose to do it are totally up to you. There are a few important rules to follow, however.

Number one, don’t think facial wipes will give you a thorough cleanse. Hands down, they won't. Proper cleansers are always best. Number two, spend an extra minute massaging your skin as you cleanse – it's a great way to boost circulation and help lymphatic drainage. And number three, never use scolding hot water as this’ll strip important oils and lipids from the surface of your skin, upsetting the balance of your barrier function and potentially causing dehydration.

We have some fantastic cleansers to suit most skin types, wants and needs but to really help get your morning glow on, we recommend Vitamin C Brightening Cleanser.

Tone

Not everything can be bothered to tone, and that’s OK. But, truthfully, if you want to do the best you can for your skin and want your complexion to really shine without makeup, toning is a great step that literally takes seconds. Not only do toners often contain incredible ingredients to help hydrate, sooth and brighten your skin, but they also help the rest of your skincare penetrate better into your skin. And who can say no to that?

Try our Ocean Minerals Super Toner which contains vitamin C and glycolic acid to protect, brighten and improve skin turnover.

Treat

After toning and prepping your skin, it would be remiss not to apply some kind of treatment to your face and eyes. We like to apply serum then eye cream to really get the skin going for the day. Again, the products you use are totally in your court but mornings are made for collagen-boosting peptides, hydrating hyaluronic acid, energizing caffeine or antioxidant ingredients like vitamin C, vitamin E and niacinamide.

Our current favorite morning combo is our new Caffeine Facial Serum followed by Depuffing Longevity Eye Cream which helps deal with morning eye bags. No concealer required!

Moisturize

A great moisturizer is one of the most important ways to keep your skin ticking along nicely all day long. It’ll help seal in your serum so all of its ingredients get to do what they’re supposed to, plus it strengthens and fortifies your barrier function to help your skin retain water and repel toxins. And all this plays nicely into the hands of gorgeous skin that’s ready to take on the world – with or without makeup!

Your choice of moisturizer will depend on your skin type but Firming Collagen Day Lotion is a great option for almost anyone as it does everything a moisturizer is supposed to do, with the added extras of boosting collagen and enhancing your skin’s youthful good looks.

Protect

Finally, what kind of morning doesn’t call for sunscreen? Answer: no mornings, literally none of them. In fact, sunscreen shouldn’t even have to be something you think about, you should just do it. Applying sunscreen every day will improve the tone and texture of your skin like nobody’s business. Plus, it’ll ward off the signs of premature aging like no other skincare product can even dream of.

The good news is that daily sunscreens have come on leaps and bounds in the last few years. Current formulations are extremely lightweight while maintaining effective, broad-spectrum protection, and they fit seamlessly into your skincare routine with zero effort. Saying that, we can only speak on behalf of our SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen with Vitamin C which checks all those boxes with flying colors.

The Nighttime Secrets

Day routine, sorted. But what about bedtime? Should your skincare stay the same before you hit the sack or does it need turning up a notch?

Well, as you sleep your skin goes into regeneration mode. Blood flow increases, collagen synthesis accelerates, your skin’s natural antioxidant system kicks in and cell turnover steps up. This means that, yes, you still need to cleanse and tone as you would in the morning to rid your skin of an entire day’s worth of sweat, oil and grime. However, your treatments and moisturizers can definitely benefit from a change of pace…

Treat

When it comes to your nighttime serum, sure you can stick with the same one you used in the morning, but to really up the ante and help boost the natural rejuvenation process your skin undertakes at night, we like to switch things up.

With what, we hear you ask? With retinol, of course (or bakuchiol!). Retinol is a smart little cookie because it has this innate ability to ‘communicate’ with your skin at a cellular level, accelerating the production of collagen and elastin, improving cell turnover and strengthening your skin to help refine lines and wrinkles and reduce dark spots and acne breakouts. It’s extremely potent, however, which is why it's often advised for nighttime use only. And this is when we like to apply it. Retinol in the evening... brightening antioxidants in the morning, FTW!

Give our Retinol Facial Serum a go for a fabulous overnight skin revamp, or try the equally as awesome Rejuvenating Longevity Serum with Bakuchiol (that’s nature’s gentler alternative to retinol if you didn’t know!).

Moisturize (With More Intensity)

Intense moisturizing in the morning is not everybody’s jam. And we’re sure that especially rings true if you have oily, combination or acne-prone skin. But rich moisturizers at night that offer an intense boost of hydration and nourishment without clogging up the skin? Now that is something we should all get on board with. And it’s what night creams were made for.

Our Vitamin C Deep Hydration Night Cream is a great way to support your skin as you sleep. Fueling your skin’s overnight renewal process with antioxidant-rich vitamin C and B5, plus aloe and MSM to hydrate and improve the overall health of your skin, we call it our 'smooth skin secret' because it truly helps give us the confidence to go bare-faced and makeup-free.

The Extra Add-On

Now you’ve got the daily stuff nailed down, there’s just one more addition you mustn’t forget: exfoliation. Regular exfoliation boosts cell turnover and reduces dead skin cell build-up at the surface of your skin. And that’s crucial if you want your skin to look naturally radiant and healthy.

Of course, if your skin can handle it and you use a super gentle formulation like our Vitamin C Gentle Face Scrub, you can potentially get away with exfoliating daily. But that’s not for everyone, so listen to your skin and find your exfoliation sweet spot – be that daily, weekly or somewhere in between.

Keep up this routine and you’ll soon notice healthier-looking skin that needs no help from makeup.

That’s not to say you should never wear makeup again, of course. We don’t know about you but we’d hate to give that up. But still, options.