Night is an essential time to renew your mind—and your skin. Adding a lotion before bed creates softer, more hydrated, and better-looking skin the next day. It also helps seal in moisture and repairs the skin barrier that's compromised by dry air and harsh cleansers.
A popular Korean skincare tip advises applying moisturizer within 3 seconds of washing your face. Damp skin is more likely to absorb topical ingredients than dry skin. High levels of hydration can still occur up to one minute after washing your face.
After you apply a facial cleanser or use your cleansing brush, rinse your face with warm water. You may also want to use a clean wash cloth to gently pull away any remaining cleanser and wipe away any dead skin that remains. 6.
MOISTURIZER DO: APPLY IT IMMEDIATELY AFTER CLEANSING
When you're done washing your face, don't towel off completely. That's because applying skin cream to a damp face can help lock in hydration. The same thing goes for the rest of your body—apply lotion to damp skin after showering.
You should absolutely moisturize your skin even if you have active acne. It's an absolute myth that moisturizing your face will worsen your acne. In fact, moisturizers are necessary to keep acne-prone skin as relaxed as possible.
Throughout the day your skin attracts dirt and pollution which will not simply “go away” at night. When you wash your face thoroughly, you free it from impurities that can create problematic skin and allow it to heal and repair. Clean skin while you sleep is so important for the natural cycle of cell regeneration.
You do not need to wait until right before bed to wash your face. Starting your nighttime skincare routine at 7pm or 8pm will make you less likely to skip it. Even if you do not wear makeup every day, you might have touched your face all day long and that makes it the dirtiest part of your body.
When to moisturize
“It's good to put moisturizer on after you cleanse your face,” Jaliman says, which can be twice a day, morning and night. Plus, moisturizing immediately after bathing or showering will help seal in moisture.
Moisturizing your face at night helps keep your face properly hydrated while also keeping your skin soft and youthful looking. However, while moisturizing your face overnight seems simple enough, you must apply the moisturizer properly to avoid ending up with a greasy pillowcase and dry skin.
Both Emer and Zeichner agree that if you're only going to wash your face once a day, nighttime is the best time to do it. "Most dermatologists recommend face-washing twice daily, once in the morning and once before bed," says Zeichner.
You can use the same cleanser for morning and night
In fact, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using the same skincare products for both day and night.
Believe it or not, your skin can accumulate environmental debris in your sleep, so it's necessary to wash them off in the morning. “Dead skin cells and allergens may collect on your pillowcase and be transferred to the facial skin throughout the night,” Palm says.
So even if you wash your face at night and your pillowcases often, an a.m. cleanse is best practice. Plus, if you're putting on products like treatments, serums, moisturizers, or night creams before bed, you'll want to wash those off in the morning before putting on your daytime products.
You could develop more wrinkles.
That's right: Leaving moisturizer out of your routine today could lead to deeper wrinkles later on. "When the skin barrier is compromised, which is what we see when it becomes dry, there's actually a low-grade chronic inflammation that occurs in the skin," warns dermatologist Dr.
Not only does a night cream soothe and hydrate skin after a long day, it can also help induce repair by amplifying cell turnover. While moisturisers for the day usually protect against the elements—pollution, dryness, cold, heat and UV rays—night creams are better focused on the reconstruction process of the skin.
“Skin cells do their greatest renewal and repair while you sleep at night, so applying hydration and moisturizer [at night] is encouraged to maximize absorption and to enhance the skin barrier,” explains Rachel Nazarian, M.D., FAAD, of Schweiger Dermatology Group in New York City.
While you can certainly use two different moisturizers for day and night, it's all up to personal preference. If you prefer to have fewer steps in your routine, you may want a cream that does double duty. However, if you're already using separate SPF and serums, one moisturizer might be all you need.
It can actually worsen your dry skin. “By over-moisturizing, you can cause the skin barrier function to weaken and risk clogging pores,” explains Sobel. Add those together and you get both dry skin and body acne — the allover equivalent of combination skin.
How Often Should You Use a Face Moisturizer? Generally accepted advice about the use of moisturizers is to apply it twice daily––every morning and every night. It's the most commonly accepted practice because it ensures that the moisture content of your skin remains constant throughout the entire 24 hour period.
Use both hands to apply moisturizer to clean, still-damp skin. Use short but firm strokes with your hands to spread the moisturizer over your body and smooth it into your skin. Be sure to apply moisturizer in the direction of the hair follicle and don't rub too hard to avoid skin irritation.