It’s the end of the day, you’re exhausted and can’t wait to get into your soft, cosy bed, but being the skin care enthusiast you are, you can’t sleep until your make up is thoroughly removed, your precious retinol is applied, and you’ve lathered your complexion in a dew-drenched moisturiser, right...? However, if you’re not so versed in nighttime skin prep and confused about the best night care routine for your skin, join us as we dive headfirst into what regime you should be carrying out and in what order...
STEP ONE: CLEANSE
No night care routine for skin can start without melting your make up (and day) away. Whether you have sensitive skin, suffer from dryness or have an oilier complexion, a hardworking cleanser is the perfect pillar for an effective nighttime routine.
The Best Cleansers:
Like a spa-in-a-jar, start your regime right with ELEMIS’ Pro Collagen Cleansing Balm. Transforming from a nourishing and decadent balm to a luxurious oil and restorative milk, this famed formula not only removes dirt effectively, but boosts hydration and releases a dreamy scent of calming chamomile, lavender and eucalyptus.
If you sit on the more sensitive side of the skin care, get to know The INKEY List’s Oat Cleansing Balm – a gentle, simple solution formulated with minimal ingredients. Powered by oat kernel oil and colloidal oatmeal, it helps maintain the skin’s natural moisture levels, reduces the look of redness and soothes irritation.
For those partial to a gel texture, Ulé’s Pure Anti-Pollution Gel Cleanser blends three powerful plant oils to form a lightweight foaming face wash that quickly and effectively cleans — without making skin feel stripped. Packed with lavender extract, it not only lifts away impurities and evens skin tone but minimise dark spots too.
Whether you’re wanting to tackle fine lines and wrinkles smooth texture, reduce pigmentation, battle breakouts or revive tired eyes, your nighttime routine for skin is the perfect opportunity to smear on your actives.
Whether you’re enjoying a full 8 hours or catching 40 winks at night, Summer Fridays’ Jet Lag Overnight Eye Serum nourishes, hydrates and minimises the look of tired eyes. Supercharged with glycerin, ceramides and licorice root extract, this bedtime buddy not only diminishes dark circles around your delicate skin, but brightens for plump and radiant results come morning.
Dubbed the ‘overnight facial’, Alpha-H's Liquid Gold with 5% Glycolic acid is the award-winning serum that works overtime (while you catch some zzz) to revitalise dull skin while tackling texture, enlarged pores, blemishes and pigmentation. Powered by its pioneering formula, this ‘sleep on’ liquid peel gets to work by stimulating cellular activity while accelerating your dermis’ repair and renewal process.
On a retinol journey? Medik8’s Crystal Retinal Serum has four strengths to suit your skin’s needs and tolerances. Helping complexions look collagen-rich, plump and firm this super serum boosts radiance and clarifies while retexturizing — all without having those nightmare inducing side effects associated with typical retinols.
If pigmentation is your concern, NOID’s RE: Pigment Serum treatment is the secret afterhours answer to battling uneven tone and the look of redness. Highly saturated but impressively lightweight, this emollient is powered by gallic acid, azelaic acid and glycine to brighten and retexturise . What’s more, with an added shot of shiitake ferment and red evodia fruit extracts it tackles dark spots while encouraging radiance.
A luxurious, weekly treat for depleted complexions, indulge in an overnight face mask and supplement your evening routine with their replenishing formulas and oh so relaxing soothing fragrances... Ideal to quell Sunday scaries while levelling up your regime.
Dreamt up with the brand’s renowned black tea complex of kombucha, black tea, blackberry leaf and lychee seed extracts, fresh’s Blak Tea Firming Overnight Mask inhibits free radical damage and improves skin’s elasticity while dousing the complexion in much needed moisture as you doze off.
For something more soothing and night time appropriate, SISLEY-PARIS Velvet Sleeping Mask with Saffron Flowers is dedicated to dry complexions. With a nourishing blend of thyme honey, shea butter and macadamia oil, this formula intensely moisturises lacklustre skin, working with the nocturnal activity of your complexion to help your complexion repair itself.
Working hard while you slumber, FaceGym’s Resurfacing + Brightening Tri-Acid and Prebiotic Overnight Mask resurfaces skin, so you wake up to firmer, clearer and a more glowing complexion come sunrise. Powered by a trifecta of acids – including 7% lactic, 2.5% succinic and asiatica – the components work in tandem to slough away dead skin cells, decongest clogged pores and reduce blemishes at the same time. What’s more, with the addition of prebiotic bioferments, it balances sebum production and strengthens your protective barrier for soothed, smooth and radiant results
The next call of overnight action? A hydrating nighttime cream. Created without the need to consider UV, blue light or environmental aggressors, these luxurious lotions nourish and promote restoration as you catch forty winks.
Replenishing your skin after hours with its proprietary Midnight Repair Complex (powered by saskatoon berry, peptides and dragon fruit extracts), the restorative Advanced Night Restore cream also combats free radical damage from sun and pollution. Plus, with the addition of the brand’s Ceramide Complex it fortifies the skins lipid barrier and boosts hydration so you wake up revived, restored and rested.
Dialing up the dew come morning, OLE HENRIKSON’s Dewtopia 5% Acid Firming Night Crème is packed with 5% AHA’s and specifically formulated to brighten complexions. Infused with edelweiss stem cells — which are antioxidant rich and anti-inflammatory – this hydrating cream supports the skin’s natural repair process revealing a softer, smoother sign off.
If you’re a conscious spender and want something that’s vegan, cruelty-free and inspired by the soft clouds on a starry night, Youth To The People’s The Superfood Air-Whip Moisture Cream is a whipped gel formula that’s light, creamy and instantly absorbed into skin. Conditioning the complexion and powered by vitamins C, E, K, hyaluronic acid and antioxidant-rich kale, this lightweight lotion helps retain moisture for a happy, healthy and hydrated finish.
Locking in all your skin prep and being the ‘duvet’ to your routine, night oils work as emollients to seal in moisture and deflect complexion aggressors. Formulated specifically with nourishing ingredients that replenish skin, these solutions ensure your complexion looks and feels soft, smooth and supple come the AM.
Sunday Riley’s Luna Sleeping Oil is the aquamarine potion that’s packed with blue pansy to soothe skin and reduce the appearance of redness. Ideal for dry, dehydrated and mature complexions, this hard-working solution works to reverse the day’s damage (we’re talking everything from oxidative stress and neutralised free-radicals) under the moonlight.
Powered by rosehip oil that’s crammed with omega fatty acids 3,6 and 9, Herbivore’s Phoenix Rose Hip and Sea Buckthorn Deep Renewal Facial Oil works to nourish and plump the skin. With the addition of sea buckthorn oil, chia seed CO2 and meadowfoam oil in the formulations means that the complexion looks and feels illuminated, hydrated and supported anytime of the day or night...
Helping to strengthen the skin and restore elasticity and firmness, Omorovicza’s Miracle Facial Oil unites bakuchiol, sea buckthorn berry oil, rose hip and sweet almond oil with the brand’s signature Hydro Mineral Transference complex. Lightweight yet oh so effective, it fortifies the complexion for a glow-giving finish.
Now you know all the steps to create your ideal nighttime routine, it’s time to cleanse, treat, moisturise and lock in all your hard work so you can get into your freshly changed sheets and indulge in a book (or Netflix) before drifting off into the ultimate beauty sleep...
Rina is Cult Beauty’s Midweight SEO Copywriter and has always had a passion for beauty and skin care (rich moisturisers are her obsession). What started as a love for The Body Shop and their famed Born Lippy lip balms (in ‘Watermelon’ of course!), she is now more interested in finding products with proven effectiveness instead of broken promises. A loud and proud VIEVE fan, Rina owns nearly every item of the range and recommends the brand to anyone who will listen... When she’s not intently reading ingredient lists, you can find her either immersed in multiple true crime podcasts or a fantasy romance novel, with an *extra* hot cappuccino in hand.
