AM Skincare Routine

If you’ve been like me during quarantine, you’ve been really focusing on prioritizing your skin. With all this extra time for selfcare, why not?! A few months ago I shared my AM Skincare Routine on stories (+ saved it to highlights) for you all. However, I’ve since done somewhat of an overhaul. Today, I’m getting in to why I switched up my routine & sharing my current AM Skincare Routine. Let’s get glowing, friends!

AM Skincare Routine

I not only recently switched up my AM Skincare routine, but my PM skincare routine & my supplements. I’ll share the latter soon with you all! A few months ago I switched up my birth control, which if you’ve ever done you know it totally throws your hormones out of whack. Lucky for me (sarcasm here..) this led to melasma on my forehead AND cystic hormonal acne. I’m not kidding when I say I don’t think I’ve ever seen my face have so much trouble, y’all.

If you’re someone who has dealt with either of these skin conditions (melasma or acne), or any, I feel for ya. It really can affect your confidence, which impacts your mood,  your desire to socialize, & so much more. It’s super frustrating to deal with & go through the trial & error of what works & what doesn’t. If you’ve been there, you feel me. I’ve taken the last few months to switch up my routine, try new products, & really try to invest in my skin. What I’ve discovered is that sometimes, less is more. I’ve been your guinea pig & am happy to report back that minus one blemish right before that time of the month, I’ve really cleared up the acne I was battling. My melasma is a work in progress, but hasn’t gotten worse despite summer, so that’s great. Let’s get more in to my current routine below! I’m sharing what I’m doing now & what has worked in hopes that it can help some of you with various concerns you may have.

1. Cleanse: I wasn’t washing my face in the mornings for a while, but then I heard a skin expert on a podcast explaining that if you have products like retinol left over on your skin from the night before & then go into the sun you can actually do more harm then good. Plus, you want to start on a clean note. I use Tula’s foam cleanser (use code: ALOPROFILE for 15% off all Tula products) in the morning because it’s light weight, but effective.
2. Tone: Next up, tone the skin. Depending on how my skin is looking, I either use Tula’s resurfacing toner. It’s super light & I feel like just sort of preps my skin for the day & for the products that follow.
3. Calm: I started using Skinceuticals Phyto Corrective Calming Gel when I had breakouts & I noticed such a difference. It has aloe so it helps reduce redness & inflammation if you are broken out or feel breakouts coming on. If my skin is totally clear & I don’t see any blemishes that could be popping up, I’ll skip this step.
4. Prevent: Next up is Vitamin C. If you are not using a Vitamin C, you 100% need to be! It has so many benefits for your skin & helps prevent future damage from sun & things in the environment that can disrupt your skin. I used to use Skinceuticals CE Ferulic, but have switched to their Phloretin CF, which is recommended for more problem skin. At one point, I was using both of these & Drunk Elephant’s C-Firma (another great Vitamin C option & a ‘green & clean’ brand) every morning. I was just piling them all on hoping one would work & it ended up doing more harm than good. I keep it simple with just one now! If my skin fully calms down, I’ll probably switch back to the CE Ferulic. Regardless, both Skinceuticals Vitamin C products are some of my holy grail products that I swear by. If you buy one thing, it should be that.
5. Treat: After I prevent damage, I treat damage. I’ve been using Lytera 2.0 to help with melasma (AKA those very pesky dark spots on my forehead). It hasn’t gotten worse which is great! If I don’t notice the spots getting better soon, I’ll check in with my derm & perhaps switch to something a little stronger. I’ve heard this product is great! Using SPF (see below) & always wearing a hat in the sun is super important to help prevent melasma from worsening, too.
6. Moisturize: Depending on how my skin is feeling, I’ll moisturize next. Some days it doesn’t feel like it needs it, but usually I’ll put at least a little something. I love the Tula Breakout Star moisturizer. It’s light & oil free, so it doesn’t clog up my pores. It has FDA-approved 2% salicylic acid which treats & prevents acne. Plus, it has azelaic acid, which brightens marks left by past blemishes. If I am really broken out, I’ll use the Derma-E Very Clear Moisturizer. I’ve used this stuff on & off for years! It really helps & is a very clean product, which I love.
7. SPF: I alternate between using Supergoop’s Glow Screen sunscreen or Tula’s Protect + Glow sunscreen, both of which give you such a pretty glow! I’ve used the Supergoop for years & love it. I just started using the Tula recently & am a big fan as well.
8. Spot Treat: If needed, I’ll spot treat any blemishes last before jumping into my makeup routine for the day or just going bare faced. I love using End Zit because it treats & acts as a concealer. I get shade medium. However, I will note if I use this too much it will dry out the area around any breakouts & leave some stubborn dry skin in it’s wake. I’ll usually use this just once or twice on a new blemish to help do some damage control. Otherwise, I’ll use Burt’s Bee’s tea tree oil. I’ve used this stuff since I was a teenager & it works so well! If you can spot a blemish early, I swear this stuff can prevent it from surfacing.

Also, if I need a little eye cream, I love this one from Drunk Elephant.

Two important things I’ve learned: More is not always more & sometimes you gotta switch it up. I found myself layering on all the skin products, but when I used more than one Vitamin C in the past, I was actually stripping down my skin’s barrier & doing more harm than good. I added in this product (just using at night right now) to help. Also, sometimes you have to give your skin what it needs & you can switch up your routine. This is particularly true with my PM routine, but I switch it up as needed in the mornings, too.

>Related: Sephora Favs

I hope you all enjoyed hearing more about my AM skincare routine & hopefully found a new product or two to try! I will share. my PM skincare routine & the vitamins + supplements I’ve been taking as a part of my full morning routine with you all, soon. Feel free to reach out or comment with any questions. I’d also love to hear any holy grail products you all swear by! XO