Most skincare professionals suggest moisturizing twice a day: once in the morning and once at night. This ensures your skin's moisture will remain constant both throughout the day and while you sleep, so you can always look forward to supple, healthy skin.
"Skin's oil production peaks at midday, and there is less oil production at night. Therefore, when you lose that protective layer of natural oils, your skin loses more water, so it's important to replenish the water loss with a moisturizer overnight," says Sobel.
Moisturizer
Dr. Farber says that it's fine for those with oily or normal skin to moisturize once a day—though your skin will be, well, drier—but it's not wise to skip this step if you have dry skin. "Let your skin serve as your own barometer to tell you what it needs," agrees Dr. Zeichner.
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.
“When you use moisturizer every day, you run the risk of making your skin older, not younger,” he said to Refinery29. “If you apply a lot of moisture, skin will become sensitive, dry, dull, and interfere with natural hydration.”
If you're regularly washing your face — even just with water — you should be moisturizing too. If you have oily skin, skipping moisturizer won't prevent acne and will lead to premature signs of aging. If you have dry skin, skipping moisturizer will result in skin cracking, itching, flaking, and becoming tight and red.
Most skincare professionals suggest moisturizing twice a day: once in the morning and once at night. This ensures your skin's moisture will remain constant both throughout the day and while you sleep, so you can always look forward to supple, healthy skin.
In short, yes. "A daily moisturizer is necessary to maintain your skin's moisture barrier and to prevent environmental damage to your skin," Weinstein explains.
Gohara urges everyone to moisturize their body at night. "Even if you don't want to lube up your whole body, give extra love to your knees, heels, elbows, and any other patch of skin that tends to get really dry," she says.
“Sleep and relaxation have been proven to help moisturize the skin naturally,” says Marmur. Prioritizing a good night's sleep in addition to using a good night cream or lotion will help your skin retain moisture and eliminate dryness.
It protects your skin's natural barrier
Your skin works hard all night building its own natural barrier against the world (a layer of helpful oils keeps skin soft), so why strip it all away as soon as you wake up with a face wash? “Washing your face in the morning can strip your natural defense barrier,” says Carlen.
A morning skincare routine, however, can help to protect and preserve the skin throughout the day. Skipping your morning skincare routine has the potential to cause a variety of issues, such as clogged pores, acne, and leaving the skin more susceptible to damage caused by pollution and the sun's harsh rays.
Aesthetic dermatologists have observed that habitual, daily moisturising over a prolonged period can actually age the skin. This induced ageing occurs because the same fibroblast cells which produce GAGs (the skin's moisturiser) also produce collagen and elastin, which help maintain the skin's elasticity.
The rest of the product then sits atop your face and forms a thin layer of oil, bacteria, and other ingredients. This layer will then clog the pores and whenever cores get clogged, pimples and zits form. So, yes, moisturizer can cause acne but it only typically happens whenever you over-moisturize your skin.
Be sure to moisturize your face at least 1 – 2 times daily. Also, take advantage of the 3 best times to apply moisturizer, which are in the morning, after showering/cleansing/swimming, and before bed. Doing so will ensure that skin is protected, optimally moisturized, and hydrated.
Why should you moisturize active acne? 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.
Cleansing is usually part of a skin care routine. A standard morning regimen begins with washing your face, followed by moisturizer to hydrate and sunscreen to protect. Before bed, cleanse the skin again and exfoliate once or twice a week to remove lingering grime and dead skin.
Generally, aim to use a product over at least six weeks, once or twice daily, to notice a difference. Tip: With any skin-care product, apply in order of consistency — from thinnest to thickest. For example, cleanser, toner (if you use it), serum, and then moisturizer.
Honey for inner beauty:
Before you go to sleep and after you wash your face, apply a generous amount of honey onto your face and wait for a little over half an hour and wash it off before you take off to sleep. The cleansing qualities of honey can work wonders and help you get that glowing skin.
Moisturiser cannot by itself make your skin dark or fair . Moisturisers are only meant to give the hydration a skin needs. In very humid climates, it is better to avoid moisturiser as a whole.
What to do instead: Use acne treatments as directed. If your skin feels dry, apply a moisturizer made for acne-prone skin. You'll want to apply the moisturizer twice a day, after washing your face. You also want to avoid using astringents, rubbing alcohol, and anything else that can dry out your skin.
I find the best time to do your morning skincare routine is as soon as you wake up. Applying your skincare first thing allows the products time to fully absorb. You can then have a cup of tea, breakfast, get dressed, brush your teeth etc before applying your makeup.
“You should wash your face in the morning for various reasons,” she says. “Bacteria can accumulate throughout the night and, also, you should prime your skin by cleansing it for your morning skincare routine, not to mention to remove your nighttime creams and serums used the night before.”