Skin Cycling 101: The key to radiant and rejuvenated skin?
Post contains affiliate linksSkin cycling you say? Does it involve a bike and my skin? Don’t panic, it's not a spin cycle class - I genuinely think my soul would leave my body. There are so many trends online and some don’t actually work and I instantly know when I’m going to hop on a trend or completely scroll past it.
Last year the skin cycling trend went viral on TikTok and it’s here to stay!
The skincare world can be overwhelming, from what to use, how to use it and when to use it. Sometimes we create our skincare routines, throw in new products from time to time without actually knowing how the new product would interact with what we are already using. Created by dermatologist, Dr Whitney Bowe, enter - skin cycling!
What are the benefits of skin cycling?
Although we aren’t on a bike, we are still creating a cycle with this routine. It is a nighttime routine which is where you would use your retinols, exfoliants etc - so this makes sense. The principle behind skin cycling is that it motivates us to use products in a particular way to really enable our skin for success while still reducing unwanted irritation.
The main aim of skin cycling is to maximise the benefits of retinol while really minimizing the irritation that it can sometimes cause - we’ve all been there! More is not always better and that's why we end up with inflammation. The skin cycling routine stretches over four nights, two nights of powerhouse ingredients and products and two nights of recovery letting your skin rest.
The full skin cycle routine
💡 Tip - Nights 1 and 2 - Have your skin cleansed and ready as you normally would and follow up with your moisturizer as well.
On the first night it’s all about exfoliation - this is where you would use a chemical exfoliant in order to get rid of the dead skin cells which then prepares the skin to get the maximum benefits from night two.
On the second night - retinol - this is where you would use one of my personal favourite ingredients and one of the most powerful ingredients.
Night 3 & 4 - recovery and moisturizer - these two nights are all about giving your skin a break and focusing on repairing your skin barrier. Try to avoid any strong actives and use a product that has ceramides and hydrating ingredients.
Once you complete the 4 nights - rinse and repeat!
Does it work? Yes! Which products should you use? Let me break it down!
Night #1 Exfoliant
The type of exfoliant you use depends on how sensitive your skin might be. Exfoliants vary in strength, ones that should only be used once a week to ones that can be used multiple times a week. What I would personally suggest is a chemical exfoliant (after patch testing) rather than a physical scrub which can be quite harsh. If your skin doesn’t react well to a strong chemical exfoliant, you can try a more gentle one until your skin has built a bit more tolerance to the ingredients.
To get the most out of your skin cycling routine, for the exfoliant, I’d recommend using Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant, you can read my full review of this product here.
Paula’s Choice
Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant
Night #2 Retinol
The most important ingredient to include in the skin cycling routine is retinol. As much as the routine tries to decrease the amount of irritation you might get, you still need to be careful on the strength of the retinol. If you are using retinol for the first time, I wouldn’t jump onto a really high strength and think ‘the stronger the better’ - your skin will react. Retinols come in a variety of strengths and consistencies, which over time you can slowly increase, but it's important to choose one based on your skin’s needs and tolerance.
With that in mind, here are a couple I’d recommend to incorporate into your skin cycling routine:
Medik8
Crystal Retinal 1 30ml
The INKEY List
Retinol Serum
Night #3 and #4 Recovery and moisturizer
On these nights it's all about giving your skin a rest, you have just put it through two nights of actives! Really hydrate your skin with a nourishing moisturizer, like Skinfix’s Barrier +, or one of my personal favourites from Ole Henriksen (links below) to really lock in that hydration to help your skin repair.
💡 Tip - continue with your usual skincare routine whilst incorporating the skin cycling method on the other three days - but no actives!
Skinfix
Barrier+ Triple Lipid Peptide Cream
Ole Henriksen
Strength Trainer Peptide Boost Moisturizer
Is skin cycling for everyone?
Well yes I would say so. The whole point behind the cycle is to gain the benefits of active ingredients without the irritating reactions. For anyone with sensitive skin or anyone just introducing retinol for the first time, this is fantastic. But even those whose skin is well versed with retinol can just decrease the number of recovery nights to boost the benefits of the retinol and exfoliant. What's great about skin cycling is that you can tailor the cycle according to your skin type. If you end up experiencing any irritation, increase recovery nights - this would be more gentle on the skin. If your skin is ready for more you can include more active nights in the cycle.
How do I know if it’s working?
Listen to your skin, it will tell you if it's loving the routine or not. It’s also important to remember that we don’t have to try every trend going around. Before this trend you may have worked hard to get your skin used to retinol and you no longer get any irritation anyway, so there is no need to try something like skin cycling because it most likely wouldn’t offer you that many benefits. Overall I think everyone should have an exfoliant and a retinol in their routine and if you don’t this is such a great way to introduce them into your routine!
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