Skincare Routine Check: Discover What You Actually Need in Your Routine

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Who do you turn to when it comes to skincare advice? Some head straight to their favourite beauty influencer. Others lean on Facebook communities for skincare enthusiasts. Then, there’s always Doctor Google. But if you’re able to, it’s best to ask the experts for their input, namely dermatologists and medical professionals, who can guide you and give evidence-based advice. Kelli Clifton chats with dermatologist Dr Vanessa Lapiner, and GPs with a special interest in aesthetic medicine and skincare, Dr Sujata Garach and Dr Parushinee Naidoo, about what you really need in your skincare routine.  

What makes a ‘great’ skincare routine? 

“A great skincare routine involves making the time in the morning and evening to clean the skin free of makeup and apply the correct ingredients to your skin,” says Dr Garach.  

“Use an antioxidant vitamin C serum and sunscreen for the day. The aim of your nighttime routine should be to increase your skin cell turnover, with retinol being a must.  

“As we age, the skin cell turnover increases from a 28-day cycle in our twenties to around 64 days in our sixties. A renewed cell turnover removes the dead stratum corneum and replaces it with new cells, resulting in glowing skin with less discolouration or imperfections. 

“It is also important to have a look at your hair care products and makeup, as other skin issues, such as acne, may result from their use,” advises Dr Garach. 

This is how many products you should be using in your routine: 

“The skincare industry is ever expanding, and the choices of products grow exponentially each year,” says Dr Naidoo.  

“Building a good skincare routine should not involve hundreds of products in your cupboard. You can have a skin routine that protects, maintains, and treats your skin with just four to five products. Start with a good quality cleanser; if you have oily skin, pigmentation, or want to address the signs of ageing, opt for a cleanser that has AHAs (alpha hydroxy acids) to help resurface and exfoliate the skin. 

“For sensitive and acne-prone skin, using a gentle cleanser with fewer active ingredients may be better suited. During the day, use a moisturiser to hydrate the skin and give you barrier support. Choose one that contains hyaluronic acid, peptides, or ceramides. Multitasking moisturisers decrease the need for many products. The next step is the most important in your routine: sunscreen.  

“Your night routine generally consists of more active products that treat your skin concerns. Nighttime skincare should include ingredients such as retinol. Alternating your skincare products at night can also help expose your skin to different ingredients while minimising irritation. 

“I recommend starting with this basic routine and then slowly building up to adding additional serums, eye creams, and exfoliators. By adding one new product at a time, you prevent irritating your skin and damaging your barrier,” explains Dr Naidoo.

If you have built your routine up to using multiple products, here’s a morning order for applying your skincare: 

• Cleanser
• Serum 
• Eye cream
• Moisturiser
• SPF 

Seasonal skincare routines 

“You need to listen to your skin during the different seasons of the year,” suggests Dr Lapiner.  

“I use the same skincare products year-round but, if it’s really dry, I may add in a barrier cream over my nighttime skincare products. I still want the benefit of the skincare actives I’m using, but I want to support my skin barrier more. If I’m on a summer holiday and my skin’s been exposed to excess heat, chlorine, and salt water, I’ll pare my routine back to cleanser, moisturiser, and sunscreen.” 

Dr Lapiner’s summer skincare tips: 

1. SPF becomes the hero of your regimen. In summer, if you’re prone to pigmentation, you might want to layer a tinted sunscreen over your regular sunscreen for the iron oxides, which prevent melasma flare-ups. 

2. Antioxidants become an even more critical morning step to boost the efficacy of your sunscreen’s UVA defence.  

3. Make sure to double cleanse at night to remove all sunscreen residue. Use this as a guide to see if you’ve removed it all. Splash water on your face after you’ve cleansed. If it doesn’t run down your cheeks but remains as little droplets on your skin, that’s a sign that you still have product on your skin and not cleansed adequately. You may want to switch from a creamy, milk-based cleanser to a gel, foaming cleanser in summer. 

Dr Lapiner’s winter skincare tips: 

1. Protect your skin lipids by using a cleanser with gentle surfactants, and dial back the exfoliation. Avoid alkaline soaps with harsh surfactants.  

2. Level up your moisturiser. Pack away the lightweight moisturisers and lotions in favour of richer barrier creams, ointments, and products with high oil content or apply a rich barrier cream over your regular moisturiser. 

3. Listen to your skin. If your skin starts to feel sensitised or dry, give it a break from your more active skincare functional ingredients (e.g. L-ascorbic acid, retinoids, or chemical exfoliants such as AHAs and BHAs) and focus just on restoring the skin barrier. 

Here’s what the doctors use… 

Dr Lapiner:  

“I use the five products in the root4 Advanced Regimen Mini Trial Set. It consists of a cleanser, multifunctional antioxidant and peptide-rich serum, multifunctional moisturiser, mineral sunscreen, and a retinoid oil. I also use a lactic acid-based exfoliating mask twice a week.”  

Dr Garach: 

“I use products that contain ingredients that help to minimise the skin ageing process by increasing cell turnover and helping to improve skin luminosity. I never go without sunscreen, both indoors and outdoors, as infrared, UVA, and high-energy visible light (HEVL) are present indoors. UVA light penetrates glass and into the deeper layers of the skin. 

“I love SkinCeuticals products and have been using them for the past 15 years.

Dr Garach‘s morning routine entails: 

• SkinCeuticals Blemish and Age Cleansing Gel 
• SkinCeuticals A.G.E. Advanced Eye (for my eye area) 
• SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF (an antioxidant) 
• SkinCeuticals P-TIOX (“a wonderful add-on to my skincare regime as it is a potent winkle-modulating peptide serum that reduces contraction lines, improves radiance and refines texture and pores”).
• ZO Skin Health Brightalive Skin Brightener 
• Heliocare 360° Pigment Solution Fluid SPF 50+ 

Her evening routine: 

• SkinCeuticals Blemish and Age Cleansing Gel 
• SkinCeuticals P-TIOX
• SkinCeuticals A.G.E. Advanced Eye (for my eye area) 
• SkinCeuticals A.G.E. Interrupter Advanced 

Dr Naidoo:  

“My current skincare routine is iS Clinical based. My cleanser of choice is iS Cleansing Complex for both morning and evening. In the mornings, I use GeneXC serum and Hydracool serum, followed by my Colorscience Face Shield Flex SPF 50 in shade Tan. My evening routine alternates between iS Clinical Active Serum with Moisture Complex on one night and then Retinol Emulsion 1% on the next night.” 

Debunking common skincare myths 

We’re often fed incorrect information about certain skincare routine habits. These are the ones that stick out to the doctors: 

Sunscreen is necessary for light skin types only.  

“Using sun protection is more than about minimising the risks of skin cancer,” says Dr Naidoo.  

“Sun protection also limits UV damage that causes ageing and pigmentation, so all skin types should be using sunscreen. Remember, your sunscreen protection only lasts two to three hours at a time. Reapplication throughout the day is advised.” 

The higher the SPF, the better the protection. 

“Higher SPF sunscreens offer minimal extra protection than lower SPF sunscreens,” says Dr Garach.  

“The difference between the sunscreens is minimal. SPF 30 blocks about 97% of UVB rays, while SPF 50 blocks about 98% of UVB rays. Reapplying sunscreen and how much you use is more important than the sun factor.” 

Toners shrink pores. 

“Pore size is mainly determined by genetics, your age, oil output, sun damage, and skin elasticity,” says Dr Lapiner.  

“Toners can be astringent, which can temporarily ‘tighten’ your pore (remember that there are no muscles around the pores so you can’t open or close them) – you’re either irritating or drying out your skin, which isn’t a great long-term skincare result! Plus, your pores will just look the same after a few minutes, anyway. If your toner contains hydroxy acids, then they can reduce the amount of oil, debris, and dead skin cells in the pore, which will minimise their appearance.” 

Products need to tingle or have a stinging sensation to indicate that they’re working. 

“A tingling or stinging sensation is not a reliable indicator of a product’s efficacy,” says Dr Lapiner. 

“In fact, it can often be a sign that the product is causing irritation or sensitivity on your skin. If you’re using a chemical exfoliant, your skin will tingle temporarily and should settle once washed off and moisturised. Your skin should not feel irritated or sensitised.  

“Remember skin barrier, skin barrier, skin barrier”. 

Avoid using a moisturiser if you have an oily skin type. 

“Never skip moisturiser if you have oily skin! Adding extra moisture to an already shiny skin may seem counterintuitive, but the skin barrier in acne patients is usually impaired and often disrupted by irritating acne creams. Avoiding moisturiser application can actually send your oil glands into overdrive, leading to more breakouts. The key is to choose a lightweight, oil-free, non-comedogenic moisturiser that won’t clog your pores but that maintains a healthy skin barrier,” says Dr Lapiner.  

“Oily skin needs to be moisturised in order to achieve healthy, glowing skin. An oil-free moisturiser is good to help regulate sebum production and prevent breakouts,” adds Dr Garach.  

It’s dangerous to use retinol in summer. 

“It’s safe to use retinoids during the sunny months of the year. Retinoids are used at night only because they are broken down by UV rays, not because they sensitise your skin to the sun,” says Dr Lapiner.  

“The only caveat is that if your retinoid is irritating your skin and causing dryness, redness or flaking, your skin will then be sensitised to sunlight. In that case, you may want to drop the strength of your retinoid or use it less frequently, but there is definitely no need to stop it altogether.” 

Expensive skincare is always better. 

“There are many affordable products available on the market which are effective. Look at the key ingredients on the label to decide if the products will be good for your skin type,” suggests Dr Garach.  

“Price doesn’t always mean better results. Effective skincare is about the right ingredients for your skin, not the cost,” says Dr Lapiner. “Many affordable products contain powerful, science-backed ingredients that work just as well as luxury options.” 

We need to apply sunscreen only when it’s sunny outside.  

“UV rays penetrate glass and clouds, even on overcast days, so it is important to wear sunscreen every day, regardless of the weather both indoors and outdoors,” advises Dr Garach. “Please reapply sunscreen every two hours, immediately after swimming or sweating.” 

The SPF in your makeup is sufficient. 

“Not only are most SPF foundations or powders an SPF 15 only (read: too low), but in order to achieve even a low SPF, you would have to apply it 15 times thicker than you would normally wear it to get the UV protection promised by the SPF rating on the bottle,” says Dr Lapiner. Rather see your makeup as an added layer of protection and extra insurance over your sunscreen.”