Ways to Bring Your Skincare Routine to the Next Level

Taking care of my skin is really important to me, but I’m going to be honest: I don’t always have a ton of time. Over the last few years, after not really having a skincare routine and being unhappy with my skin, I’ve figured out a regular skincare routine that is reliable and — very importantly — efficient. And if I thought it was hard to make time for a consistent skincare regimen before, I had no idea what was coming for me when I became a new mom!

8 Ways to Bring Your Skincare Routine to the Next Level

I stick to a five-step routine that only takes me a few minutes — and because it’s so quick, I can stay committed to doing it every. single.day. Really… I almost never miss! Especially if I’m wearing make up that day. Here are those five steps:

• Wash 
• Tone
• Serums (see below)
• Moisturize (see below)
• Eye Cream

(Remember: We all have different skin! Skin types vary (dry, oily, acne-prone, aging), which means the ideal skincare routine varies from person to person, too. What works for me might need to be tweaked to fit your skin type, so think of this is a starting point.) 

Those are the basics, but there are times when you just want to take an extra step to treat yourself, right? When I can make the time in my schedule, I love to add these things to my routine to take it to the next level:

Give yourself an extra glow (serums & moisturize).

My basic skincare routine (above!) keeps my skin feeling healthy and balanced on a daily basis, but every once in a while, I like to throw in some skincare bells and whistles! These fun extras make me feel like I’m really indulging and investing a little more time in myself. Plus, they leave my skin looking even better.  Win-win.

Few things give me a better confidence boost than a nice little glow on my face. My favorite skincare extras to get that glow?

• AM: First, there’s the Vitamin C serum, which I put on in the morning after I cleanse and tone and before I moisturize. It evens my skin tone and gives me a pretty, natural glow! 
• PM: This Overnight Peel (not actually a peel) is another great way to get glowing. I love using an overnight resurfacing peel before bed — also between cleaning my face and moisturizing it — to shake off dull-looking skin. When I wake up, my skin always looks noticeably brighter and healthier. I switch this up with this Clarifying Serum.
• LASTLY, don’t forget to moisturize. It is so important to give your skin that boost regularly! I love this face oil or the multi-purpose cleansing balm, which I use as a moisturizer, overnight mask, and even sometimes as a face wash.

Limited edition Vitamin C Serum + Overnight Resurfacing Peel HERE!

Treat yourself to a mask.

As a new mom, I’m always looking for ways to work small, accessible luxuries into my routine. Enter face masks. Adding a face mask into your regimen once or twice a week is a fantastic option for upleveling your standard skincare. Doing a face mask always makes me feel like I’m at the spa and leaves my skin looking extra gorgeous!

No matter how consistently we clean and take care of our faces, our skin can always use a little help. Being a human is messy… and our pores sometimes pay the price for that. That’s where a good mask comes in. I love using one any time my face is feeling a little oily or my skin looks more uneven than I’d like. I always feel better about my complexion when I’m done! I use that one 2x week, and try to remember my eye masks a few times a month!

Keep everything clean.

Obviously, I’m a big fan of clean beauty. (And clean everything else, too!) But here’s the truth: no matter how clean your skincare and beauty products are, if you’re not cleaning your makeup brushes and sponges regularly, your regimen isn’t as clean as it could be. Often, if your skin is suddenly having issues, dirty brushes are to blame! Before you panic and start swapping out all of your products, I highly recommend spending some time cleaning them.

While there are plenty of makeup brush cleaners out there on the market, my personal preference is to use a Beautycounter charcoal bar on my brushes. Everything else I’ve tried has caused a breakout or is made with ingredients that I’m not especially excited about. I feel really confident using the Charcoal Bar to clean my makeup brushes and it helps make my skin look that much better.

Here’s the best way to clean your brushes:

• Lay out a clean towel
• Gather your brushes
• Get your sink going with warm water
• Wet brushes and lather the charcoal bar onto them, washing them through the water, adding more of the cleanser as needed, until clean.

Exfoliate.

Fun fact: I exfoliate three times a week! Exfoliating regularly is important because it removes the barrier of dead skin cells clogging your face and uncovers fresh new cells below. Doing this makes your skin look brighter, but it will also make the other skincare products you use more effective. After all, if serums and moisturizers can’t effectively penetrate your skin because it’s so clogged with dead skin cells (yikes!), they’re not going to do you much good. 

I use a few different methods to exfoliate, so you can try different options to see what works best for you:

• Scrub: A good scrub or cleanser is a great place to start with exfoliating, since it does some of the work of getting rid of those dead skin cells and revealing new ones. I use this in the shower 2-3x week. If you have sensitive skin, look for a more gentle scrub!

• Shave: This might sound crazy, but stick with me here — shaving your face on a regular basis will help you exfoliate your skin and look extra healthy! Think about it: shaving is widely used to remove hair, so why wouldn’t a razor also remove dead skin cells? Well, it does. I like to use eyebrow razors like these to exfoliate since they’re designed with the sensitive skin of your face in mind. (And if you still need a little extra convincing to give this a try, it’s worth noting that shaving your face also helps makeup apply more smoothly and moisturizer penetrate the skin better.)

• Overnight Treatment: There are plenty of awesome skincare products out there that don’t require scrubbing, rest overnight, and can do the work of exfoliating while you sleep. One of my favorite things to use is the overnight resurfacing peel. It’s not an actual peel! It exfoliates and does wonders overnight.

Be prepared for lazy nights.

I take my consistent skincare routine pretty seriously, but I’m also a realist and I know I’m not perfect. The truth is that there is always going to be a night here or there when I’m too tired to go through my usual cleansing routine. These days, it’s not out of the question for me to totally crash on the couch, since I’m a new mom still working out baby Skylar’s sleep schedule. 

Since I know those nights are inevitable, I like to have a plan for them in place. It’s always better to plan! For me, the best way to get ahead of these moments and make sure that I still keep my skin clean and fresh is to have plenty of cleansing wipes on hand. With just a few swipes, I can get all of my makeup off and clean my face in one step. With a quick layer of moisturizer on top of that, I can go to bed with the peace of mind that I still gave my skin the TLC it deserves.

Focus on quality over quantity.

I’m hardly the first person to use this expression, but I do think it’s especially relevant to skincare. In my experience, upleveling your skincare routine isn’t about buying more products — it’s about taking the time to feel really good about the products you use, even if there are less of them. 

I’ve been pretty open about the fact that I got involved with Beautycounter because I feel so strongly about the way the company is disrupting the larger beauty industry. Beautycounter is working hard to fight the lack of regulation that exists among personal care products here in the U.S. Did you know that a major federal law governing the industry hasn’t been enacted since 1938? Isn’t that wild? Think about everything that’s changed in all of those years! Why hasn’t the beauty industry changed to make us safer? I talk about greenwashing and resources to check your current products in this post.

It makes me truly upset when I think about how unregulated the products so many of us put on our bodies really are. There are so many potentially harmful ingredients (read my post on fragrance here) in the mix! Knowing that, I personally prefer to have a smaller collection of high-quality, safer skincare products. I know that’s way better for me than a larger inventory of products made with ingredients I can’t trust.

Try some fun tools.

Treating yourself to some special skincare tools is a really fun, indulgent way to uplevel your skincare routine. Again — I’m all about the little accessible luxuries! Here are a few to consider…

• Jade Roller: You’ve probably seen these pretty products around, but they’re not just nice to look at. They have great health benefits! Jade rollers are exactly what they sound like based on the name — a beauty tool made of jade or other stones that’s used for face massage. According to Glamour, jade rollers can improve circulation and lymphatic drainage in your face to decrease any puffiness you might be experiencing and help you glow! 
• Gua Sha Stone: Per Province Apothecary, Gua Sha is a traditional Asian practice that translates to “scraping the pain away.” It involves stroking crystal stones across your face and neck to encourage lymphatic flow, increase circulation, and lift the skin. It’s closely tied to jade rollers, but you can use different kinds of stones, as well. 

This set includes both a jade roller and a Gua Sha stone for you to try! 

Drink more water!

They say that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This basically means that you’ll have a lot fewer problems to manage if you’re actively preventing those problems in the first place. 

When it comes to your skin, one of the best ways to prevent issues is to stay hydrated. According to the University of Wisconsin Health Center, drinking at least eight glasses of water a day can go a long way to rid the body and skin of toxins, which can help minimize blemishes, keep your face from getting dry, and generally boost your glow. Staying hydrated will make your face a healthier canvas for other products and skincare hacks! 

Skincare Promo Codes:

• Primally Pure Discount code is LEXI for 10% off your entire purchase.
• For Beautycounter deals, email me at LEXI@Lexiscleankitchen.com.

I can’t wait to hear about how upleveling your skincare routine makes you feel healthier and adds a self-care moment to your days! This post main contain affiliate links to help you get the best prices on products and support this website. There is no additional cost to you, and all opinions are 100% my own.