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As a millennial with a long history being advertised skincare products, I’ve watched the “skincare routine” rise to popularity over the past decade. It’s not unusual to go through a 10-step process morning and night. In recent years, I’ve read articles about the benefits of gua sha massage, exfoliation, as well as hyaluronic acid, various serums, peels moisturizers, blemish spot treatments, and countless other “secrets” to perfect, ageless skin. These have even become trendy for preteen girls. But are they actually as vital as advertisers would have you believe? Could you spend less time and money on an easy skincare routine and still have the same results?
My Indoctrination
I used to be similar. As a teen, I read women’s magazines that explained what was required. I shopped and learned from product labels all the “problems” that my skin could have. I learned from my mother what kinds of things were required, spending ages at the Clinique counter waiting while she talked to the saleswoman and reading pamphlets to figure out if my skin was normal, dry, or oily.
Every morning and evening, I went through a litany of “steps.” I grinded my perfect 15-year-old skin with apricot scrub, then rubbed salicylic acid all over my face. Of course, the one thing that was missing from my routine was sunscreen. I didn’t want anything to interfere with getting a tan!
Over the years I’d hear about new products and add them to my easy skincare routine until it ballooned into a multi-step process starting in the shower and ending with various creams or a mask. When acne products dried out my skin, I shopped for new moisturizers to counteract the effects. When thick moisturizers clogged my pores and caused acne, I shopped for anti-acne products to get rid of it. A few times a year, I’d get dry, flaky patches around my eyes and buy products to treat it, never finding a truly successful one. Meanwhile, I’d leave the half-empty bottles of the unsuccessful treatments cluttering my bathroom. I wouldn’t want to waste the product I’d spent money on, after all.
A Wakeup Call
A wakeup call came when I was 32. That summer I broke out in hives. Alarmed, I saw a doctor who referred me to an allergist. I did a skin prick test and found I was allergic to methylisothiazolinone and linalool. The specialist gave me handouts which explained that both are commonly used in cosmetics. The former is in many shampoos and body washes, and the latter is in just about any scented cosmetic. Confused, I asked how I could be allergic to these things and not have any issues until my 30s. She explained that first of all, you can develop skin allergies from repeated exposure to certain ingredients. And secondly, for mild allergies, it can be a matter of buildup. I could probably use a little without a reaction, but piling one product on top of the other eventually forced my body to fight back.
And what were symptoms you may see besides hives? Well, dry flaky skin, for one. And this wouldn’t necessarily occur at the exact place where the allergen had been applied. Often the most delicate skin on the body would react first, such as around the eyes. Aha – so that’s what that was.
The Effect of 15 Years of Skincare Routines
The bottom line of all this? I had given myself allergies to some of the most common ingredients in cosmetics through years of a nonstop skincare regimen. It was depressing to think that I had had all the discipline and good intentions of taking care of myself and only ended up causing harm. Ironically, I had been attempting to treat dry skin resulting from irritation by slathering on more of the products that caused the irritation.
First Attempt: Changing My Skincare Strategy
Now shopping for cosmetics is a pain. I have to read labels and almost every time, one or both of these ingredients is on the list. For a while, I tried to refill my skincare routine with compliant products. Sometimes I’d start to notice flaking skin then go through all the fine print and realize I had accidentally bought a mascara or something that contained one of the no-no ingredients. And then I’d be back to square one with shopping for a replacement. It was tiring.
And yet somehow, I never questioned any of it. The process of applying and removing varieties of serums, masks, tonics, and creams to my skin every morning and evening had always been a part of my life. Downsizing to an easy skincare routine didn’t even occur to me.
Second Attempt: Consulting an Expert
As we came out of the pandemic, I suddenly realized that I was in my mid-thirties, and I should probably have some sort of more intense anti-aging skincare regimen. In fact, I was likely too late and headed irrevocably to haghood already! I booked an appointment with a cosmetic dermatologist to get expert advice on how to combat the enemy called aging.
But the appointment didn’t go as expected. The busy doctor bustled in, heard that I was interested in an anti-aging regimen, and gave me a printed piece of paper with just a few (suspiciously few, in my opinion) lines on it. I’ll save you the $175 this consultation cost and give you the secret expert-backed regimen right here:
Morning
Wash with gentle cleanser
Vitamin C Serum
Apply moisturizer with SPF 30
Evening
Wash with gentle cleanser
Apply moisturizer
Apply prescription retinol cream
I stared at the handout, baffled. There was no way this super easy skincare routine was legit. It was way too few steps, first of all. And she wasn’t even recommending any specific miracle products. How could this possibly be expert advice from a cosmetic dermatologist? Chalking it up to a waste of time and money, I took the prescription for retinol but threw the paper in a pile and otherwise continued with my typical routine.
The Solution: A Minimalist, Easy Skincare Routine
As I started taking minimalism more seriously, I recognized that my bathroom cabinets were bursting with bottles and jars despite several decluttering cycles.
At the same time, I was learning about essentialism, and critically evaluating what I spend time on. I realized I did not enjoy the massive time suck that was my beauty routine.
I thought back to that paper the dermatologist had given me. Could a skincare regimen really be that simple?
Slowly, I began phasing out products. Taking the concept of a “reverse pilot” from Greg McKeown’s Essentialism, when I ran out of a product, I didn’t replace it. I waited to see if my skin would take a turn for worse.
I think you can guess what happened. My skin remained exactly the same, but my schedule and my cabinets became gradually less cluttered. Most of this routine had been a waste of time, money, and effort.
While it’s painful to consider all that waste, I can now move forward unburdened. I have an easy skincare routine without worrying that I’m not anti-aging hard enough. My mornings are less rushed and my skin no longer reacts to all the junk I’m pouring on it.
My Advice to You: Embrace an Easy Skincare Routine
Please, learn from my mistakes. Free yourself from the multistep skincare routine that advertisers have convinced you that you need. They’re not going to stop – of course it’s profitable to sell you products to fix one issue that in turn cause more issues…which you’ll need to buy more products to fix.
Consider how much money, time, and counter space your skincare regimen is taking up in your life and think about how much freer you’d feel if you could just let it go.
If you’re interested in other ways minimalism has opened my eyes, check out…
10 Unexpected Things that Happened When I Became a Minimalist
8 Surprising Things I Learned by Designing a Minimalist Wardrobe
