How to build the best morning skincare routine

Whether you’re new to a skincare regime (welcome!) or want to get your skin back on side once and for all, a morning skincare routine is the very best place to start. The aim of the game? To prep and prime the skin and, most importantly, protect it for the day ahead - all while staying in tune with your skin’s specific needs. It all starts here - follow these five easy steps to happier, healthier-looking skin.

Step one: cleanser

The right cleanser can transform the health of your skin. By eliminating harsh detergents and drying alcohols, it gives your skin the best possible chance to recover and replenish.

If you’ve slept in your makeup (we get it, it happens) or want to treat skin to a deep clean, begin with an oil cleanser. The nourishing oils inside our Light Work Rosehip Cleansing Oil stick to the oil in your makeup and SPF – which make them easy to remove.

Next up is the really luxurious step – the cream cleanse. Apply Middlemist Seven all over the face and neck, then remove using the muslin side of the cloth included – this gives your skin a mini exfoliation to get rid of dead skin cell buildup. Rinse, then follow with a final sweep of the face with the softer terry side to ensure every last drop of cleanser is removed.

Step two: toner

Toners might seem like a skippable step. And truthfully, most are. Our Century Flower tonic is alcohol-free, vitamin-rich and all-natural. It doesn’t just refresh the skin, but it actually feeds it nutrients too, getting to work on specific concerns like redness.

We recommend you spritz your skin after cleansing, and before your serum - or face oil if that’s your thing - because the good news is it helps whatever follows to better absorb into the skin. Keep yours in the fridge for a refreshing facial mist which can be spritzed throughout the day whenever skin feels tight, hot or uncomfortable.

Step three: serum

Serums are the smart step. It might seem like they do the same job as a targeted moisturiser, but the way they’re structured means they work differently. Made up of much smaller molecules than creams, the ingredients in serums are delivered deeper into the skin - and they have a higher concentration of actives too. This makes them powerful at tackling specific concerns such as dehydration, breakouts or irritation.

This is another chance to really tailor your routine. Try our Back To Life serum for dry, dehydrated skin, or soothe redness with Instant Kalmer. All Becomes Clear is our hero serum for oily, blemish-prone skin, to bring it back into balance.

Serums should be applied to clean skin before your day cream. A little goes a long way – so just apply one pump to skin that is still damp from your mist of tonic for the best results.

Step four: moisturiser

Next up is your day cream. All skin needs moisturising, whether it’s dry, dehydrated, reactive or oily. The key is to find the right combination of ingredients that work for you. Mature skin naturally loses more moisture, so requires hydration on the inside as well as rich oils to prevent it from escaping the skin’s barrier; Salvation Jane does just that. Meanwhile The Anthemis or the buttery-soft Love & Haight take care of reactive or flaky skin types by drenching them with omegas.

Oily and combination skin absolutely needs moisture too – even if it feels unnecessary. By choosing a lightweight, non-clogging formula like our Pioneer day cream, skin is left hydrated without feeling heavy.

We recommend applying your moisturiser in sweeping upward strokes all over the face and neck – not only to nourish and protect the skin, but to ensure anything you put on top (makeup and SPF) sits evenly.

Step five: sunscreen

Finally, SPF - and yes, this is an all-year-round skincare step. Our skin faces UVA, UVB and blue light radiation every day, not just in summer - so broad spectrum sunscreen is essential.

The SPF – or sun protection factor – doesn’t indicate the amount of time you can spend in the sun. It represents how many more times it protects the skin from harmful rays than the skin can by itself. The higher the factor, the better protected your skin.

The trick is to find one you love so that it becomes a pleasure, not a chore. Look for lightweight, non-greasy formulas that sit well under makeup - we designed British Summer Time SPF 30 to do exactly that. It uses non-nano Zinc Oxide, a mineral filter that’s well tolerated even by sensitive skin.

We recommend applying two fingertip-sized amounts evenly across the face every morning; then reapply as needed throughout the day.

So there you have it: a morning skincare routine that covers all the key steps - but if you’d like a more tailored regime, we’d love to help. Book in now for a free online skin consultation with our experts for advice and guidance on all things skin, all from the comfort of your own home.