If you listened to all the advertising about skin care products, you’d have a closet of packed shelves and an empty wallet. As dermatologists and physician assistants specializing in skin care, our patients come to us for clarity. They want to know the real deal about what skin care products they need and what they don’t. One question that arises often is, “Do I really need two different sets of skin care products – one for the morning and one for the nighttime?” The truth is yes, daytime and nighttime skin care do need to be approached differently.

Daytime vs. Nighttime Skin Care

The goals of your skin care products are different during the day and at night. During the day, you’re in defense mode. Your skin is encountering sun exposure, pollution, natural oils, debris in the air, and more. Your morning skin care routine should focus on protecting your skin against all these irritants and age accelerators.

At night, your skin is in reparative mode, recovering from the day. This is the time to focus on age-defying products and stimulating your collagen production.

Your Daytime Routine

Everyone’s skin is unique, so there’s no perfect lineup of skin care products for every person. But in the morning, you should follow these basic steps:

• Cleanser to wash away your nighttime products and oils
• Lightweight moisturizer
• Sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher

For some added defense against the sun, some patients choose to add an antioxidant serum in the morning as well.

Your Nighttime Routine

The evening is when you want to focus on fighting skin aging. Some of them make your skin more sensitive to light, so you want to avoid using them in the morning. Here’s a basic list of skin care products we recommend to most patients:

• Makeup remover
• Cleanser to remove the oils, dead skin cells, and other pore-clogging culprits
• Some type of retinol, anti-aging serum, or reparative serum
• A richer, more nourishing moisturizer

We know that blogs like these are helpful to our patients who are just looing for some quick tips. Remember, though, that your skin is as unique as you are, and if you’re really serious about revitalizing your skin, you should schedule an appointment at our medical spa at our dermatology practice. Our skilled and experienced providers can personally evaluate your skin, listen to your concerns, and recommend the best skin care products (and treatments if necessary) for you. To keep seeing our latest blogs and skin care tips, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.