Soph and I have very different skin. Hers is sensitive and reactive, and the fastest way to upset it is to give it too much to think about. Mine is oily and acne prone, and I have spent years working out what it will actually tolerate before it turns on me.
So our routines have ended up in completely different places, which I think is the interesting part. The one thing they have in common is the mask.
People often ask us what we use, so here it is, product by product. None of this is meant as a prescription for anyone else's skin. It is just what the two of us have arrived at after a lot of trial and error.
Soph's routine
Soph is a less is more person by nature. Her skin is sensitive enough that one new product can turn into a week of redness and inflammation (photo evidence on our IG) so she has kept things short on purpose. Some mornings she will happily admit she does nothing at all.
The mask is the one step she is genuinely consistent with. Three times a week, and it has been the biggest driver of change in her skin.
In the AM
Refresh: Avène Thermal Spring Water
Most mornings Soph reaches for a mist instead of a cleanser. It is thermal spring water and not much else, so there is nothing in it to set her skin off first thing, and it wakes her face up without stripping away everything her skin has done overnight. On the mornings she skips the rest of her routine, this is still the bit she does.
Brighten: La Roche-Posay Pure Vitamin C12 Serum
A 12% vitamin C, which sounds like a lot for sensitive skin, but this one is formulated gently enough that Soph has never had a reaction to it. It is doing the antioxidant work during the day.
Protect: Rationale #3 The Brilliance Tinted Serum SPF50+
SPF50+ with a light tint built in, it behaves like a serum rather than a sunscreen, so there is none of that heavy film feeling, and the tint is enough that she skips base makeup on most days.
In the PM
Cleanse: CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser
There is nothing OTT going on here and that is exactly why it works for her. It takes the day off without leaving her skin tight, and because it is a cream rather than a foam her barrier is kept in good shape.
Treat: Medik8 Crystal Retinal 6
Retinal sits a step above retinol in strength but tends to be far less irritating in practice, which is why it suits sensitive skin like hers. Soph worked her way up to this very slowly, a couple of nights a week to begin with, and now uses it for texture and fine lines. It is the one properly active thing in an otherwise very gentle routine.
Treat, gentler nights: Raeso Yellow Moonbeam Retinal Elixir
Soph alternates between two retinals depending on what her skin is doing. This is the softer of the two, so it is what she reaches for in a week where things are feeling reactive, or after a few nights of the stronger one. Swapping between them means she gets the benefit of a retinal without ever pushing her skin past the point where it complains.
Moisturise: Round Lab 1025 Dokdo Cream
Hyaluronic acid and ceramides doing the hydrating, with a texture that is rich without ever feeling heavy. Soph says this is the most hydrated her skin has ever been overnight, and it is what makes the retinal manageable for her. It was built for dry, sensitive skin, which is more or less her exact brief.
Mask: the so mask, three times a week
If you asked Soph what changed her skin, this is the answer she gives. The mask generates its own microcurrent the moment it is pressed onto the face, so the actives are carried further into the skin than they would go sitting on top of it. There is no device to charge and nothing to remember beyond putting it on. For someone whose whole approach is to do less, a step that does more of the work on its own is the only kind that was ever going to last.
My routine
A history of acne makes you cautious in a way that is quite hard to shake. I spent a long stretch of my twenties testing things, breaking out, going back to the start, and being suspicious of anything that might be comedogenic. So now that I have a routine that works, I do not move away from it very often. This one has been in place for about a year.
I would love to keep it as short as Soph's, but oily and acne prone skin seems to need a bit more managing than that, or at least mine does. I still try not to add anything unless it is earning its place.
I have also just finished the protocol, which is two weeks of daily mask use, so my skin is feeling extra fab at the moment. Outside of that I am on the mask three or four times a week.
In the AM
Cleanse: Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta AHA/BHA Daily Cleansing Gel
This cleanser does not leave my skin feeling stripped, but it really does feel like it washes away the dirt of the day. I use the same one morning and night, and I cleanse for a full minute so I know I am not missing anywhere. That minute makes more difference than I expected it to.
Serum: Emma Lewisham Supernatural Vitale Face Elixir
I love this because it is a much more gentle approach to wrinkle reduction than using a vitamin A. I am already using a prescription retinoid at night, so the last thing my skin needs is more of the same in the morning. This gives me the same intention with none of the sensitivity.
Moisturise: Emma Lewisham Supernatural Face Crème Riche
This is hydrating without feeling oily, which for my skin is really the only test that matters. It is such a high end experience for something you use twice a day. I also love that it has a refill option, so I am not going through as much packaging every time I run out.
In the PM
My night time routine only differs in my serum and one added step at the end. I swap the face elixir for a prescription retinol, then finish with a face oil to lock in hydration overnight.
Cleanse: Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta AHA/BHA Daily Cleansing Gel
Same cleanser, same full minute. There is a version of me that would enjoy a whole separate evening cleanser, but I have found that keeping this bit identical takes one decision out of my night, and my skin has been better for the consistency.
Treat: ReTrieve, prescription tretinoin
This is the strongest thing in my routine by a long way. Tretinoin speeds up how quickly your skin turns over, which means it is working on texture and pigmentation at the same time as it is keeping my pores clear. For acne prone skin it has been the single most useful active I have ever used. You cannot buy it online because it is prescription only, so the link above is just information. If you think it might suit your skin, talk to your GP.
Moisturise: Emma Lewisham Supernatural Face Crème Riche
The same moisturiser I use in the morning, sitting on top of the tretinoin to keep it comfortable. Using a retinoid without something properly hydrating over it is how I have ended up with flaky, irritated skin in the past, so this step is not optional for me.
Lock it in: Sunday Riley Juno Antioxidant + Superfood Face Oil
A girl in the reviews of this said that she and her boyfriend now take turns buying it, because he borrowed it once and became obsessed. For some reason that is what sold me. If a product is good enough to make a man want to use it and spend proper money on it, then something special is happening there.
I always assumed a face oil would break me out, and badly formulated ones genuinely have in the past. Using a tiny amount of this before bed keeps my skin hydrated without blocking my pores or leaving me with pimples in the morning, which I would not have believed a year ago.
Mask: the so mask, three or four times a week
My routine is otherwise quite careful, so the mask is where I get to do something a bit more advanced without any of the risk that usually comes with it. The piezoelectric layer creates its own microcurrent as soon as you press it onto your face, which carries the actives deeper than they would ever get sitting on the surface. Nothing in it has ever congested me, which is a sentence I do not get to say about many products.
And when I want a reset: the so protocol
The protocol is sixteen masks used across fourteen days, which is as close as you can get at home to the conditions of our clinical study. That study showed a 20.14% reduction in the number of visible wrinkles and a 21.21% improvement in the appearance of pigmentation. I finished mine recently and my skin has not looked like this in years. I will be doing it again before anything I actually care about.
The bit our routines have in common
The mask is the only overlap, and it is the step we would both keep if we had to lose everything else. And yes it is us being loyal to our own product but it is also just that a step which does the work itself, without asking your skin to tolerate anything new, turns out to be the only kind that suits both of us.